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With a eye firmly on the long term I'm adding here, have done so last 3 day in a row. There are a number of factors which put us in this position, 1) FSP being concluded 2)armetis wanting out 3) tax year end 4) Covid-19 outbreak.
Point one was to be expected as investors looking for short term gain move on. Point 2 probably caused the majority of the drop back to 30p mark, they want out and had the time line of prior to year end for loss purposes, which forces the hand on the FSP no doubt. On point 3 I guess more widely some pi's may have taken the opportunity to do the same as Artemis. Point 4 nobody saw coming really, the impact has been significant across the board (with a few exceptions), however, with the proactis model where organisations are signed up to longer-term contracts and the fact that the service proactis provides is business critical for most firms, u can't see there being a significant business/revenue impact. Potentially the recent rate of new business may fall back in the short term, but has the potential to grow quicker in the recovery phase from Covid-19. As has been mentioned bpayd if marketed correctly and fully implemented, may gain real traction in the recovery phase. I feel proactis is in advent position to cope with the impact of the virus vs many other companies.

The level of debt is still a concern, but has been reducing over time so progress being made. The question of what it has cost to implement the strategy to turn the business around will remain unanswered until end of April, but I can't see it being cause for alarm. The management team have taken the time to restructure in a controlled manner.

Anyway, just my thoughts, figure if I say I'm buying I should explain my rationale.

I'm hoping that the 200,000 sell at 13:32 is Artemis offloading thier final chunk and we can stop being dragged down from here.

https://www.proactis.com/uk/company/news/2020/march/proactis-strengthens-partner-embridge-consulting/

That literally doesn't make any sense!

In my opinion sub 30p is as a result of Corona and although it's a little scary to see what has happened to the markets I expect it will be relatively short term... Although there will be casualties in specific markets I'm sure. As a result I see this as a rare opportunity and have added this morning. Although I expect I'll have to be patient to see the sp hit the levels where I'll start to cash in.

It's very tricky to work out their average as there were several other increases in June 2019, going up to 12.5% which they obviously reduced back to about 10%. Also, the 2017 purchase seems to have been of 3.7m share, but the number of shares in circulation back then was around 50m as it was before the perfect buyout. Again the picture is difficult to piece together. But I agree with you sums roughly, having now taken some time to look at it in more detail, I get that their average at the moment is around 54p, but until they bought the Artemis shares I estimate their average was around 78p. These guys clearly believe in the company and are prepared to wait, but for that they will expect several multiples on their average. I'm inclined to sit it out with the pros, but it ain't easy. I checked my average again last night after top ups in recent weeks and it's 37.5, so the benefits are there if I can stay patient and the company can complete the 180.

Got to be honest my patience are running thin. Can't be blaming the current market conditions for thus new low, as we shouldn't be anywhere near the level which has allowed this to happen. The market is suggesting that we are in a worse position than we were when the profit warning came out. Bepayd was dangled as an area for future growth, but a year on we have nothing, FSP was keeping us hanging on for a good 7 months with nothing at the end of it... Can't understand what happened during that process. There does seem to be an improvement in new business, but this is being countered by the revenue drop due to last year's rate of customer loss.

I can't see Tim getting another year, some significant improvements are required (which may be around the corner for all we know) or I think we'll all be pushing for a change.

I guess this and also the sells this morning is Artemis off loading the remainder of their shares, think they had about 700k shares left after they sold the 12m. Lombard will be rubbing their hands, they know the score, all the signs suggest that Proactis is on the recovery trail and looking strong for the future, few hurdles to get over in the short term but Lombard will be happy to wait.

For the past 6 months or longer the sp hasn't reacted as I would have hoped to some of the better news which has been reported. I wonder with Lombard now having such a significant stake if we will start to see the price rise, I guess there is a reason a shareholder with 30%+ is required to make an offer for the remaining shares, they have a lot of control over the sp at this point. Not sure how they managed to strike the 31p deal with Artemis for a 12m shares, but it's a great deal for Lombard, they could never have bought 12m share anywhere near that on the open market. From what I can gather their average might now be in the high 30s or low 40s. If they were to now buy another couple of million on the open market they could easily push the price back above 40 or 50. My point being that when one ii owns almost 25% of the company they can play a big part in share price movement and establishing new bases etc.. If they can nudge the sp up then this may restore some confidence in the sp, which is all this game is about anyway. If confidence comes back, then the sp could be heading back north soon. If Tim's email on the other board is to be believed, he seems confident and to elude to work together with Lombard to move the sp forward.

If they don't have something along those lines to push the price up, then they may well find themselves under real pressure!

I feel like with Artemis giving up their shares at 31p we might find ourselves sitting here for a bit. Is it true that if a shareholder accumulates over 30% that they are obligated to offer to purchase the remaining shares from other shareholders? At the highest price paid in the past year... Or is this some nonsense I heard? If so, Lombard are now the gatekeepers/enablers to this type of hostile takeover. With Lombard averaging down significantly the year high of 62p could be acceptable for them. The BOD may have been outplayed here, with so many shares held by IIs the board aren't in as strong a position as they may have thought and the IIs might now be showing their strength.

Something is underway... let's see how this plays out

"The Board recognises that this decision will not have achieved the desired outcome for some shareholders and the Board is committed to working with those shareholders to facilitate their objectives, where possible."

Seems to me that the board feel there might be a hostile and the above statement is the board asking the significant shareholders to come to them first before taking up offers from a hostile party... Just guessing of course, but it's an odd statement really.

Something going on, no single investor has this many shares... Lombard have 10.56%... Are there restictions within the FSP process which has casued them to abandon the process in favour of progressing a takeover/merge outside the formal process?

Another point is that we'll no longer get to see what the significant shareholders are doing... Or at least not so clearly. If one or more of the big guns have lost patients it could be a very difficult period.

Something broke down at the final step... I suspect Friday was the closing date... some of the parties involved wanted more time or info and the board decided enough is enough... Might not be the end of it, but at least it is no longer a focus. Medium term prospects look good, but the unwillingness to disclose the EBITDA is the concern on most people's minds... if they have turned the ship around how much has it cost.

The FSP has been a frustrating process for investors to be honest... fingers crossed it pays off. I hope if not the board have plenty of good news ready to flow.

I made two small top ups this morning and both knocked the price down... So I made a third at the low price as it was obvious mm games.

I still think it will be a few weeks before we hear about any offers. We need to give and bidders time to digest the TU and possibly chance to ask qs on it. Then I expect a couple of weeks for board to review and again potential clarify any details, before we get a final decision.

Just my thoughts, mid march wouldn't surprise me.

Nothing today regarding yesterday's sells. So therefore unlikely it was an II selling which is good news. Other options would be 1) a PI with a decent stack loosing confidence in a bid coming in 2) potential bidders using sub 1% holdings to manipulate the price... And given how significantly small trades impact the share price this would make sense as a tactic. 3) MMS playing games with their float to control the price, if they happen to have accumulated a load of shares at today's price and there is £1.15 bid tomorrow, they strike it rich like the rest of us. It would be in their interest to keep a lid on the price and soak up cheap shares if they believe an offer is likely.

Will be interesting to see if we get a notification tomorrow regarding the sells which went through today. Odd activity looking at the volumes and the patterns with Thursday rns in mind.