The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
As recently as December 13th 2023 per the Modern Water (Chinese Website) - see CN at top
Modern Water was invited to participate in the Guizhou-UK Environmental Protection Technology and Equipment Sharing Symposium
On December 13, Tim Standbrook, Deputy Consul General of the United Kingdom in Chongqing, along with officials from the environment, climate and energy departments of the Consulate General, officials from the Northern Ireland Investment and Development Agency, and representatives from British environmental companies including Modern Water, visited the Guizhou Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment. .
Wang Yingxian, deputy director-level ecological environment inspector of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, held a discussion with Tim Standbrook, the British Deputy Consul General in Chongqing, and his delegation. Relevant personnel from the Cooperation Office, the Provincial Academy of Environmental Sciences, and the Provincial Monitoring Center attended the discussion.
The Guizhou Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment welcomed the visit of British environmental protection companies and gave a comprehensive introduction to the provincial ecological environment from five aspects: "high-standard pollution control, high-position rectification, high-quality development, high-level protection, and high-efficiency reform" The key work done by the Department in the construction of ecological civilization and ecological environment protection in recent years, and hoped to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two parties through discussions and exchanges.
Tim Standbrook
Tim Standbrook, Deputy Consul General of the United Kingdom in Chongqing, expressed his gratitude to the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment for the warm reception, introduced the purpose of the visit, and expressed his hope to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment. Six environmental protection companies including British Modern Water introduced their advanced environmental protection technologies and pollution control experience in their respective fields. Participants discussed ecological environment protection technology, environmental monitoring equipment and other aspects, and actively explored the possibility of cooperation and the next direction of cooperation.
Modern Water technology sharing
Modern Water China Regional Sales Manager Li Jie participated in the exchange as a representative and introduced the equipment advantages and application cases of Microtox biotoxicity and Microtrace heavy metal products to the participants during the British enterprise sharing session.
My mistake, but I noted SkinTrust's Tracey Ryan being involved and that the location was Cork, same as Glanaco.
Launching next week. Based in Cork.....
RNS from 15 December 2023: "Allergy Therapeutics plc (AIM: AGY), the fully integrated commercial biotechnology company specialising in allergy vaccines, announces that its auditor, BDO LLP ("BDO"), has informed the Company that it requires additional time to complete its audit for the year ended 30 June 2023, due to resource availability within the audit engagement team." - It's the auditor BDO who is the reason for the delay, not Allergy Therapeutics.
28 Nov 2023 First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off
Just noticed that the following is due to be announced tomorrow.
Looking very much like Deepverge scenario.....and still no audit.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03568010/filing-history
Https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/deferredshare.asp#:~:text=No%20longer%20commonly%20used%2C%20deferred,shareholders%20have%20received%20their%20distributions.
Not where I expected to be with this investment, however all may not be lost in 5-10 years perhaps?
Https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10205396/filing-history
As of 3rd October.
New website for Glanaco's UK expansion....
New Production Manager Stuart Buckham who was with MTST Structures Ltd at the same address: Ridge Farm
323 Woodlands Rd, Woodlands, Southampton, SO40 7GE
The head of Cork engineering services business Glanaco has said the firm “got out in time” from its former parent company Deepverge after a €1 management buyout.
Deepverge, an Irish-headquartered technology firm that does much of its business in the UK, bought Glanaco for €1.3m last year.
It has now agreed to sell Glanaco to Tony Ryan and Michael Fitzgerald, the current management and previous owners, for a price of €1.
The pair will be 50-50 owners of the firm, which employs 23 people.
Deepverge has been looking to dispose of several non-core businesses after developing severe financial issues which left it facing difficulties supporting several of its subsidiaries. In June, it was temporarily suspended from the UK-based AIM stock market due to the issues.
1:35
On This Day In History - August 10th
In a statement, Deepverge said: “Since the acquisition of Glanaco in March 2022 it has incurred costs and liabilities related to other parts of the group and has been left with insufficient cash to continue to operate as a going concern.
“By transferring the business back to management the business and associated jobs will be saved, and the group’s net creditors will reduce by approximately €0.5m.”
Nigel Burton, the interim CEO of Deepverge, said the move was done to save jobs at Glanaco.
Mr Ryan, the managing director of Glanaco, said issues arose because of how Glanaco was subsidising other parts of Deepverge’s business. “Glanaco is profitable. We saw they had layoffs in the US and York, so we made them an offer to buy back the company.
“We have some good contracts in the pipeline and thankfully it won’t affect us too much, I think we got out in time as we saw this coming.”
WHEN DO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS NEED THE APPROVAL OF THE COMPANY’S SHAREHOLDERS?
"As most directors will know, it is the board of directors that make the decisions about a company’s business on a day to day basis. But, there are certain circumstances where UK company law dictates that the shareholders of the company will have the final say.
The Companies Act 2006 sets out a number of circumstances where the board of directors of a company will be required to seek the approval of the company’s shareholders before entering into a transaction. Most of these circumstances relate to transactions involving a director of the company or (in many cases) a person connected with a director. The circumstances include:
· Where a company is buying a substantial asset (that isn’t cash) from a director of the company or any person or entity connected with a director or is selling a similar asset to a director or any person connected with a director;
· Where a company is proposing to make a loan to a director or provide a guarantee (or other form of security) for the benefit of a director; or
· Where a company is looking to enter into a service contract with a director which is for a fixed term of 2 or more years.
It is surprising how often these issues come up in relation to small companies. Whilst there are exceptions to the general rules, wherever a company is seeking to enter into an arrangement in which a director has an interest (whether direct or indirect), the board of directors will need to be conscious of these rules. A failure to obtain the necessary approval could result in the transaction or arrangement being completely void. "
The above taken from Howat Avraam Solicitors website
Assuming that this is a genuine contract, this would mean that the revenue from March-July would belong to the Deepverge Group. It should also imply that Rinocloud / Rinodrive would need to charge Glanaco for it's services going forward. Perhaps Rinocloud will get sold to Glanaco too? This level of sophisticated fraud needs to be properly investigated by the authorities.
Significant contract win
Glanaco, a subsidiary of DeepVerge acquired in March 2022, has secured a €10m (circa £9.3m) order from an existing customer in Central Asia for the design, assembly and supply of multi-function mobile equipment for use by municipalities for applications including cleaning, decontaminating, de-icing, and salting streets and public areas, with relevant data generated by the bespoke software designed by the Company's subsidiary Rinocloud.
The order comprises a design licensed to the customer, the initial c£3.2m revenues for which were included in the £17.2m (unaudited) total for 2022 announced on 9 January 2023, and production of 100 units which are contracted to be delivered in 2023, starting in March 2023, with revenues of c£6.1m. The order for 100 units will be managed by Glanaco's plant in Cork, Ireland where all assembly and testing will be undertaken.
Modern Water is pleased to announce it has appointed Inteprod LLC as an authorized service representative for its Microtox LX and Microtox FX acute toxicity analyzers. Inteprod is a contract manufacturing specialist for medical and life sciences technologies in Eagleville, PA, USA. Inteprod was instrumental in the design of both instruments and has deep knowledge of their design and performance.
Address: 2583 Industry Ln, Eagleville, PA 19403, United States
Modern Water post last month:
We are excited to announce that our new US warehouse is now open at 2583 Industry Ln, Eagleville, PA 19403! This new location will allow us to serve our customers in the US, Canada, and Mexico better and provide faster shipping times.
Glanaco in Cork, Interprod in Eagleville, PA - Modern Water is the only value left in Deepverge. We are watching.....
Summary of Glassdoor Reviews – Labskin:
“Growth opportunities are not fulfilled, very bad top management that led to layoffs, unrealistic expectations about services to be delivered” – May 11, 2023 - Lab Technician in Cork
“Awful management! They constantly recruit friends and family who are completely incompetent and regularly throw the other staff under the bus to avoid accountability. The management have also reinforced a strong blame and bullying culture here and the bullying members of staff are constantly rewarded with pay rises or promotions. They don't value their staff and rarely listen. I would strongly suggest to avoid working here, I doubt it will even exist in the next few years.” - Apr 5, 2023 - Anonymous Employee
“No direction or planning from those running the company, poor business decisions led to redundancies.
Advice to Management
Make sure that the business is profitable, and listen to the people who know how to do that” - Jan 23, 2023 - Quality Technician
“Upper management completely detached from reality as they are based in another country and don't show much interest in what is going on. Communication between upper management and York site is very, very very poor!” - Nov 16, 2022 - Anonymous Employee in York, England
“Terrible management. Chaotic, no clear direction. Most hires are friends or previous colleagues of management. Pay is not fairly regulated and the same positions have wildly different salaries. Atmosphere is very toxic. Expected to work over hours for no additional pay or compensation. No career opportunities.” - Sep 30, 2021 - Anonymous Employee
“Nepotism Unprofessional Poor and malicious team culture False promises and questionable ethics Don't waste your time
Advice to Management
Behave professionally and overhaul your ethics integrity and team.” - Sep 30, 2021 - Anonymous Employee
“Chaotic, unprofessional, dishonest, devious management” - Sep 21, 2021 - Anonymous Employee in York, England
Gerard Brandon, DeepVerge plc CEO commented:
"Today's AGM will of course discuss the outcome of 2020, which by itself was remarkable, but also focus on the future of each division within the Group. It is impossible to put in black and white what has, is, and will be achieved by the team at DeepVerge over the next 12-24 months, so I look forward, with Fin Murray, Chief of Operations, and Camillus Glover, Chief Financial Officer, to providing sufficient colour to allow you to see where the Company is heading."
Https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/LSE_DVRG_2021.pdf p65 re acquisition
https://newsnreleases.com/2022/03/17/deepverge-plc-acquires-engineering-services-company-glanaco-limited/ Glanaco numbers
https://www.modernwater.com/2022/05/19/modern-water-co-cork-expansion/ Modern Water expansion via Glanaco
• Glanaco Ltd was acquired by Rinocloud Ltd – Not Deepverge, which seems a little unusual!
• Per last year’s restructuring: Modern Water will focus primarily on markets in China, South Asia and EMEA.
• The full integration of Glanaco into Modern Water will create two sub-divisions within Modern Water – a solutions division for integrated solution sales and an equipment, assembly and logistics division run by Glanaco. Modern Water will focus primarily on markets where there is regulatory driven need for clean water.
• Labskin and Skin Trust Club business units will transfer to Rinocloud Limited, the software and AI company acquired by DeepVerge in May 2019. Rinocloud is focused on the use of AI for analysis of aggregated microbiome data extracted from human skin and environmental water, soil, flora and fauna. Following the recently announced material wins with IARPA, NOAA and Georgia Ports, this business will primarily be focused on and in the North American market.
• Glanaco Ltd’s unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021 show profits before tax of £218,315 on turnover of £1.362 million, and net assets at the year-end of £524,255. Quite a tiny company, being turned into the European HQ for Moden Water?
• Modern Water’s website – inconsistent email addresses. US and UK -> info@modernwater.co.uk; China -> sales.china@modernwater.com
info@modernwater.com at top of website, but not in the Contact us section.