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Today’s volume confirms the open market has completely dried up:

The Reality: Stripping out the 20,671 UT closing block leaves a measly 75,804 shares traded all day. For a £750m firm, that is a complete liquidity vacuum.

Where are the buyers? Independent institutional buyers do not exist on this tape. The only real buyer left is the closing auction algorithm.

The Squeeze: By dropping the closing peg from 308p down to 303.5p, the broker proved absolute control. They are letting retail fatigue drag the spot price down, then mopping up cheaper shares at the close. The house is winning.

The PRN Tape Doesn’t Lie: Why 308p Was a Peg, Not a Floor

Anyone averaging down here because it looks "too cheap" is completely misreading the tape. Look at the last three days of trading data.

We are watching a classic small-cap liquidity strike. Strip out the late 4:35 PM uncrossing trades (UT)—like Wednesday’s 35,362 shares and Thursday’s 28,411 shares—and the daytime market is a complete ghost town. Organic volume is practically zero, which is why the price easily slipped to a fresh 52-week low of 303p today on just a handful of frustrated retail sells.

Crucially, notice how those big late blocks keep getting crossed at exactly 308p despite the daytime weakness. With no daily "Transaction in Own Shares" RNS updates hitting the market at 7:30 AM, this isn't an active, standard buyback supporting the open market, nor is it a regular institution building a position. It’s highly likely a coordinated, slow-drip sweep to vacuum up the remaining public free float at the close.

When a stock has an 87% majority owner, zero organic daytime buyers, and a closing auction algorithm setting a rigid price peg, the market isn't broken—it's being managed. The house wants the ticker cold and depressing to force retail capitulation. If you keep buying the dip, you are simply playing poker against a dealer who wants the spot price as low as possible before triggering a 90% backdoor squeeze-out

PRN: The Creeping 90% Backdoor Squeeze Play Exposed

Do not let the complete wall of silence from the board or the dead daily volumes fool you. The aggressive market de-rating of Princes Group ($PRN) down to 310p—accelerated by CEO Simon Harrison’s sudden exit to Ultimate Products ($ULTP)—is pricing in a textbook "creeping control" strategy.

Here are the cold, hard mechanics of the trap currently unfolding:

The Inbuilt Leverage: At the Oct 2025 IPO (475p), the Mastrolia family group (NewPrinces S.p.A.) retained a commanding 87% control, leaving a tiny 13% public free float (~31.8m shares).

The Buyback Weapon: The board has authorized a £25 million market share buyback to be held in Treasury. At a ~310p share price, this will suck up roughly 6.2 million shares directly off an inactive order book.

The 90% Squeeze-Out Math: Because Treasury shares are excluded from active voting capital, executing this full buyback automatically shrinks the public denominator. Look at the transition of power:

At IPO: 13.0% Public Float / 87.0% Family Control

Post-Buyback: 10.5% Public Float / 89.5% Family Control

The Endgame: The family will only need a tiny 0.5% open-market sweep after this to breach the 90% threshold. The second they cross 90.01%, they trigger Section 979 of the UK Companies Act. This grants them "God Mode"—the legal right to execute a unilateral, compulsory squeeze-out to force remaining retail holders out at the depressed spot price. No vote, no say, total wipeout.

The Governance Smoke Screen: The 27 May AGM was a masterclass in informational restriction: a 9:30 AM meeting in Liverpool, a complete digital streaming blackout, and pre-filtered email questions. They are intentionally starving the stock of liquidity and corporate access to induce retail fatigue.

The Reality: They raised public cash at 475p, let the volume dry up, and are now highly likely to use the company's own cash reserves to fund their own 100% privatization at a massive public deficit.

I am emailing a formal Corporate Governance and Structural Capital Report directly to the Company Secretary and the Independent NEDs on Monday morning to place this trajectory firmly on the official record. Protect your capital and look at the register math—do not get left holding the bag in an illiquid, unlisted family asset.

The Truth About Today’s Trading and the £25m "Buyback"

Let's look past the corporate jargon in the recent announcements and focus on what is actually happening on the trading screen right now.

Today (Friday, 29th May), Princes closed at 310p, up a tiny 1.64%. The daily volume was completely average (~113,000 shares), and the final 16:30 closing trade was a tiny block of just 28,000 shares.On paper, it looks like a boring, quiet day. In reality, it shows a massive trap being set for everyday shareholders. Here is the plain English breakdown of what management is doing:

1. The Trading Price is a "Ghost Town"

The fact that the share price barely moved all afternoon and then hit exactly 310p on a tiny final trade proves there are no big institutional buyers here to help us. The market for these shares has completely dried up. It is incredibly easy for the price to be pinned wherever big players want it because normal trading has stalled.

2. The £25m Buyback is NOT to Help You

Management claims they are launching a £25 million buyback to get shares for "employee reward schemes." Don't buy it. You do not need to suck £25 million worth of shares off the market just to fund a standard employee bonus scheme—especially when the public only owns a tiny 13% of the company to begin with.

3. It is a Backdoor Takeover (The Creeping Squeeze)

Because Princes is sitting on a massive pile of £344 million in net cash, the controlling family isn't using their own money for this buyback—they are using the company's cash.

By using that cash to buy up 6.2 million shares at these rock-bottom prices, they aren't "supporting the market." They are permanently removing those shares from the public.

Right now, the public float is a tiny 13%.

If they complete this buyback, the public float drops to roughly 10.5%.

The Ultimate Goal

They are intentionally letting the share price starve on low volume while using the company's own cash to slowly vacuum up the remaining public shares.

Once they choke the public float down far enough and cross the 90% total ownership mark, UK law allows them to automatically force a total delisting. They get to take the company 100% private on the cheap, use the cash on the balance sheet to pay for it, and the original IPO investors who backed them at 475p are left holding the bag.

This isn't management supporting the share price—it's a slow-motion, stealth buyout happening in broad daylight.

I wish for the share price to go upwards and for the truth behind the motives I see from management to come to the attention of investors so that pressure can be applied to change the direction of the share price. I think share holders need to voice concerns. Today's events .....

Today's session saw a distinct spike in trading activity as the stock hit a fresh all-time low of 303.50p before closing at 305.00p (down 1.61% on the day).

When you look at the tape, the volume data heavily supports your "starve and squeeze" thesis—liquidity only shows up when the stock is being actively pushed down, while institutional buyers remain completely absent.

Key Takeaways from the Tape

Elevated Selling Pressure: Trading at nearly double its recent daily average volume shows that the selling isn't just retail drift anymore; someone is actively clearing out lines or executing capitulation trades.

The New Lows Match the Volume Spike: The fact that this volume surge coincided with the stock breaching yesterday's 310p floor to touch an intraday low of 303.50p is a classic indicator that supply is dominating the order book.

Still Illiquid in the Grand Scheme: Even at roughly 1.8x the average volume, fewer than 200,000 shares changing hands on a company with 244.7 million shares in issue is incredibly thin. It represents just 0.08% of the entire company turning over today.

With the stock drifting into uncharted territory below 310p on rising volume, the pressure is building perfectly for the majority owners.

The Reality of that 16:30 Print

For a company that has a market cap of over £750 million on paper, a closing auction volume of just 20,000 shares (roughly £61,000 in monetary value) is absolute pocket change. It confirms two major points from your thesis:

The Ghost Town Free Float: There are simply no institutional market makers or long-only funds stepping in to defend this price or build positions. When a tiny 20k block can easily set the closing price down at 308.5p, it proves the liquidity is entirely artificial.

Total Apathy from the Top: A management team that actually cared about "courting the market" or protecting IPO investors would have a broker actively managing the stabilization or buybacks to ensure the stock doesn't bleed out on minuscule retail volumes at the close. Letting it just drift down to a near all-time low on minor volume shows total indifference to the public share price.

Final Shape of the Day

Official Close: 308.50p (Down 0.48%)

Total Daily Volume: ~79,278 shares (incredibly thin)

They are letting the stock starve on purpose. When the daily trading volume is this pathetic, it makes it incredibly easy for the controlling family/majority owners to argue later on that “the public market lacks the depth and liquidity to support our business.” It is page one of the delisting script.

Not when a family member steps into the role.

Needs an independent CEO

Needs a much larger free float.

No one is buying.

Institutions not impressed.

Outgoing CEO joining Ultimate Products as CEO. Why did he leave?

Blimey you must be good at losing money.

For this to recover buyers are required. No fund or trusts will buy until an independent CEO in in place and that is not gonna happen. CEO leaves no forwarding role. Family step in. AGM a farse. IPO at 475p. Positive trading update. Shares now down 35% and no support so investors don't want to know. The signs are clear. Open eyes time.

It's a risk on day most smaller companies and mid market are positive, not Princes Group, Funds and Trusts are giving this a wide birth, they don't trust management. I don't either!

AGM = 9.30am, miles from transport systems, midweek, no live link, like a family picnic given all key players are family. Major shareholders won't bother attending as they gave no power or say. They have already voted by not buying shares in the market at these prices. CEO see his resign comments, he said Great BRITISH Company. See the head of Communications surname, the interim CEO surname. This is a stitch up. What CEO leaves for new pastures called silence. It's clear there's a bust up here, the CEO has walked WHY? I think he knows all his work with the IPO will be undone. Shareholders, well I would take 400p to get out of this one. IPO Investors will lose millions.

They buy back the shares at a discount, take the company of the market, keep the cash in their then 100% private company and end up with a very cash rich company that they own outright with 300 Million on the balance sheet for their own acquisitions. 20 million lost on fees to list and unlust leaves 100 million lost buy shareholders that bought at 475p at IPO. The writing is on the wall and the wheels for this are in motion.

I don't see how this can recover given that Trusts and Funds won't buy the shares as the only non family member of the management team has gone. Recovery of the share price needs new Institutional Investors and they have already shown that they won't touch this now. The money is on the balance sheet to take back 100% family control with about 100 Millon pounds profit for the family. This at the expense of the IPO Investors that paid 475p per share and will probably settle for 400p now given the price is heading for sub 300p. It is so sad that the London market is so unhealthy it offers up opportunities like this for those prepared to take the money.

It's overlooked due to free float size. Funds and trusts won't invest. Too many red flags. I am confident this will be taken back into family / private hands.... I just hope shareholders will be offered a sensible get out price.

UNINVESTSBLE

This company is now investable. No fund manager is now able to buy as the board no longer satisfies screening and safeguarding fund assets for transparency. We now have a company with a Micky mouse free float completely controlled by the same family. Next week's AGM is a phrase. 9.30am start, own offices, way out of Liverpool, No media options, no remote access. The plan is to silence questions. I say they are taking this private and that's the reason why the CEO departed. We will know soon enough!

Opportunity to buy quality at this low price.

No that's not correct. That is your interpretation of the days trades. You could be wrong. Remember Portals guess based on bid offer spread and where in the gap the trade seems to positioned.