Couldn't make this up:12 Apr 2023 19:05
But despite going through the drawn-out process, Ince today said Arden has underperformed financially in recent months. A stock exchange statement said: ‘The most recent audited annual results of Arden for the year to 31 October 2021 show revenues of £9.28m and a profit before taxation of £0.85m, with net assets at 31 October 2021 of £5.76m.
‘Since then the Arden revenues for the current financial year to date have declined significantly. This decline is largely attributed to the increasingly challenging fundraising market and wider economic conditions in the UK since early 2022. As a result, Arden is currently loss making and the opportunities and benefits that were identified by Ince at the time of the acquisition of Arden are now not expected to be achievable for the group, given its current resources.’
As such, Arden is being sold to financial services group Zeus at a hefty mark-down price of £1m, albeit Ince noted it will be due a further £2m in earnout consideration payable ‘based on certain Arden revenues received by Zeus in the three months following completion.’