Member Info for thurgarton

Adding to the confusion, the AIM 26 statement on the Velocys web site now reads:

Shareholders owning more than 3% of the Company at 31 May 2020 were as follows:
Lansdowne Partners (18.5%)
Ervington Investments Limited (12.9%)
Ruffer LLP (8.3%)
Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (6.9%)
Amati AIM VCT plc (5.9%)

It previously read:
Shareholders owning more than 3% of the Company at 31 May 2020 were as follows:
Ervington Investments Limited (21.4%)
Lansdowne Partners (21.2%)
Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (11.5%)
Amati AIM VCT plc (10.4%)
Interactive Investor (4.5%)
(Total 68.6%)

This comment is unchanged:

As at 16 July 2020 there were in issue 1,063,756,057 shares of Velocys plc, none of which is held in treasury.
At the time of the last analysis of our share register on 16 July 2020, approximately 31.9% of our shares were classed as being not in public hands since these are held either by shareholders who own more than 10% of the Company or by Company directors.

The latest amendment suggests that 52.5% of shares are owned by IIs holding >3%. These figures do not accord with the statement that 31.9% are not in public hands as the >3% holding has fallen from 68.6% to 52.5%. Once again it would appear that the company has failed to properly update its web site.

XPB: Any basis for this suggestion other than pure speculation? Until the list of investors on the AIM 26 facts sheet is updated us poor PIs have no idea who has invested significantly in the company. Moreover, we still haven't been told if Shell and BA took up their ALTALTO option. The VLS PR machine seems to be suffering from its usual malady, and we are being treated like mushrooms as a result.

XPB: "Given this was in the news all day, I didn’t see any impact on the sp?" Any view on the large after hours share buying? Given your track record I presume you are once again "in" - this just might be a boat that would be a shame to miss. I'm still wondering who were the IIs that got the good deal (presumaby the updated AIM 26 will reveal all), and why anyone with half a brain would sell right now unless they were desperate for the money.

Thanks for the very full reply. I assume that when the company updates the list of shareholders >3% matters will become a little clearer. Regarding RA, and in the light of yesterdays news regarding Russian attempts to hack COVID 19 vaccine data, could it be that the Russian state has an interest in the VLS technology which would explain his long term investment. After all the Russian economy is heavily reliant on oil for its income.

You are almost right and yet you missed the point I was making. The total holdings quoted for the IIs on 31 May was 68.6% ( and did not included the admittedly almost insignificant BoD holdings). Today's update, which includes the BoD holdings, is, according to VLS, 68.1% , which implies that the IIs holding as a percentage has reduced slightly (around 6 million shares by my maths). I reproduced the text from the VLS web site - only the percentage figure in brackets was added. I believe that my comment was valid.

Norma Investments = Ervington = Abramovich. Not quite sure what point you are trying to make.

Velocys have today updated their AIM 26 statement on their web site. Points of interest:

Shareholders owning more than 3% of the Company at 31 May 2020 were as follows:
Ervington Investments Limited (21.4%)
Lansdowne Partners (21.2%)
Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (11.5%)
Amati AIM VCT plc (10.4%)
Interactive Investor (4.5%)
(Total 68.6%)
As at 16 July 2020 there were in issue 1,063,756,057 shares of Velocys plc, none of which is held in treasury.
At the time of the last analysis of our share register on 16 July 2020, approximately 31.9% of our shares were classed as being not in public hands since these are held either by shareholders who own more than 10% of the Company or by Company directors.

Effectively what this shows that the situation post the fund raise remains pretty well unchanged which implies that all the IIs have averaged down the value of their holdings and remain in place. The IIs are obviously better informed than us poor PIs as to VLS's intentions and seem happy to remain "on board". Question is what do they know that we don't?

I presume that the results of the General Meeting will be known today, although not formally announced until tomorrow. It would appear to be a foregone conclusion as >70% of the voting power rests with the IIs, who would surely have been consulted prior to the company initiating the fund raise. Interested to see what the SP does this afternoon. Reaction of the SP so far was entirely predictable as are the current posts talking down the SP. I would hope that the company will update the AIM 26 holdings information although the ADFN board is suggesting (unsourced) that the Landsdowne holding will be 18.4% (currently 21.2%) after the new shares are allocated.

History doesn't always provide a guide to the future. This time around there is some potentially good news in the offing which may lead to a different outcome. Previous found raises have been dogged by negative news at the wrong time. Let's hope that this time nothing negative spoils the prospects before the Altalto project gets off the ground. Funding is the obvious issue but as yet only XPB claims in can't be done. Time will tell. All IMHO of course.

At today's sp my 5p shares are worth about 1k pounds more than I paid for them. Better than a kick in the teeth, especially to long term investors.

Both my sites - HSBC and eqi - are quite happy for me to buy shares from within
an isa. In order to do so your existing shares need to already be in that is a

That is old news. The question remains, did they exercise that option? As yet nobody from any of the companies involved has said anything on the subject.

XPB: You must always factor in the historical competence (or otherwise) of the Velocys PR machine. Therefore, there could be good news which is still in the pipeline and may surface next week (or not as the case may be). BTW I've seen nothing about Shell/BA exercising their right to buy into Altalto for £1. ISTR that if they failed to do so there was some sort of penalty clause.

ukog have already said that they will almost certainly appeal the decision as it goes against the planning officer's advice, was made on a 6:5 majority and based (according to ukog) on specious arguments regarding highways issues. So, off to the planning inspectorate (at least 6 months) then another decision and, depending on the outcome of that, further appeals and arguments. Not a good scenario, especially when you consider that the Altalto application took 6 months longer than originally specified to complete and cost at least £3m to achieve. Can ukog afford it, I wonder?

XPB: You forgot the F4C award, which, at worst, must be viewed as an endorsement of the Velocys case to date. However, in essence you are correct regarding progress so far. Nevertheless, recent activity and the fact that the IIs piled into last friday's fund raise rather suggests that your overall view is somewhat more pessimistic than theirs. Does that make you cleverer than them? I hope not.

If you do the math, you will realise that the placing offers little value to PIs. If you hold one million shares, this entitles you to 10000 shares at 5p ie £500's worth. Unless you plan to LTBH and the SP goes ballistic, there is no chance of a decent profit in anything other than %age terms. If you are wanting to average down, the same applies - if you hold one million shares at 10p, you would average down by just 0.05pence!! (9.95p). As I see it, the only real beneficiary is Velocys. They have taken good care of their IIs and offered scraps to the PIs like us. It remains to be seen if the ploy works in that either there is a takeover or Shell/BA come up with a very positive message on 30 Jun. It will be an interesting week.

121: Fundamentally I agree with your analysis. It would be interesting to know if either company was involved in the placing. What the placing has done is give RA a further opportunity to average down his 21.9% holding, which would be a very good move if a buyout appeared imminent. As you say, any announcement in the coming week could have a significant effect on the SP. I am now the wrong side of the profit line, but with no intention of selling any time soon.

whitto: I think you have the wrong prospective buyer, although your candidate would, I suspect, have a large say in anyone else bidding and I can't really see a hostile bid in the offing. Next week may prove enlightening on this issue. Did you have a price in mind for any prospective bidder?

XPB: QED! It would be nice to know more of the F4C thinking and timescale. However, I still think that Shell (and to a lesser extent BA) are more likely to provide us with some enlightenment in the near future. You have to presume that both companies will exercise their option to buy into the Altalto project next week. Hopefully there will be a press release to go with it. I still think, especially after Van Buren's comments to his employees, that there is a possibility of a buy out. Meanwhile I'm staying in. Where are you at this point?

He doesn't usually wait for an invite! Besides which those of us still on the board appear to be here for the long run and are therefore unlikely to be adversely influenced. Oh, and he does post the odd nugget from time to time.