Member Info for TotalWealth

Aquae - it's a little bit confusing in truth, as the MAR rules clearly state than an investors can stay anonymous if they want at this stage and to reveal their identity is a breach of those rules, but the Aim 26 rule seems to say differently.

In fairness to SOH and OPTi though, the MAR rules do prohibit the naming of the investor if they want to keep it quiet.

Under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), naming a stakeholder without their permission in certain contexts can be considered a violation. MAR focuses on preventing insider dealing and market manipulation by ensuring fair access to information for all investors.

Shareprof1 - are you SOH by any chance?

Maybe I should change my moniker. I don't know which "TW" people are talking about - me or Winnifrith !!!

Lord - the person I spoke to today was emphatic that was the case. No doubt if there isn't a TR1 by Friday then all sorts of things will be said again, but as far as I can gather a US insti that takes on UK shares in this way has no obligation to report it via a TR1. Having said that I'm not au fait with the rules on this in the US. We'll probably just have to wait and see.

Tom Winnifrith has said that if we don't see a TR1 by this Friday (30th) then he will conclude it was a "bucket-shop transaction" rather than a genuine placing. That is not exactly 100% the case. US companies have a totally different structure to the UK and are not obliged to notify via a TR1 their holding. The "institutional investor" that SOH alludes to holds just over 3%, which in the UK would require a TR1. I've done a bit of digging on this and come up with the attached, so if there isn't a TR1 on Friday that is purely down to the US company and not OPTI or SOH. I've also spoken to one of my relatives about this who says it's quite possible that any company in the US can take a notifiable stake in a UK company without issuing notice as they may eventually want to build a stake in that company as a prelude to a bid launch.

All very intriguing and the trade on Friday of the exact amount of shares which matched the £500,000 worth of stock confirms that a 3% stake is now floating around.

Here is the short article:-

In a scenario where a UK company issues shares in the US, the institution acquiring those shares in the US would generally not be obligated to issue a TR-1 form or notify the relevant stock exchange, as these notifications primarily apply to UK-listed companies and their major shareholders within the UK. The US has its own regulatory framework for shareholdings and disclosures, which would govern the institution's obligations in that case.

PGlancy - TW has NOT "advised his readers to sell".

See this exchange earlier on his website:-

Tom, there seem to be debates raging about whether you have issued a "sell" notice or not. From what I hear on your podcast you are NOT selling your shares in OPTI and you haven't "advised" anybody else to sell, all you have said is that it is up to the individual investor. Am i right or wrong?

1

0

Reply

−

Tom Winnifrith Mod

2 hours ago

about right

Fully agree shareprof1. There's been a lot of castigating of OPTI and SOH in the past few days, most of it in my view totally unjustified. I've always thought that the revenue for this year will surprise a lot of people to the upside when it's all finally revealed and that we are selling a lot more than people have given the company credit for.

Yes, I think it is Lord - but don't ask me how or what that is. I've heard of it but an ex-colleague of mine sent it to me and he's a bit of a whizz where IT is concerned. I got it just as I cut and pasted it and did notice there wasn't a name attached to it.

Yes, m4rtinu - an interesting piece. An ex-colleague of mine (also a shareholder) sent it to me earlier.

That's an interesting point about the new "US institution owning 3%". Maybe eventually if all goes to plan, there will be a bid for the whole company.

I've been sent this, this morning. A very interesting view of the placing. On balance I believe its positive and certainly there's been quite a lot of buying on the open market this morning, rather than the doom-laden plunge that many were expecting.

🔍 Key Highlights

1. Placing of £750,000 at 14p/share

• Dilutive event: 5.36 million new shares = ~5.5% dilution of existing equity.

• Price set at 14p, which is likely a discount to recent market price (depending on previous close).

• Accompanied by warrants at 21p (1 per 2 shares) exercisable over 3 years, offering a future source of funds if the share price rises.

2. New US Institutional Investor

• Subscribed £500,000 (i.e. two-thirds of the placing).

• Appears to have sector experience in weight management—a vote of confidence in OptiBiotix’s SlimBiome range.

• Could help with credibility and future US partnerships or funding.

3. Strategic Use of Funds

• Establishment of US warehouse/logistics, enabling domestic manufacture of 5–10 metric tonnes of SlimBiome.

• Aims to reduce current 12–16 week supply lead times to 2–3 weeks.

• Expand US and global commercial footprint, especially in India, Asia, Europe.

• Social media marketing spend for India—targeting Amazon, Flipkart, HealthKart.

• New US subsidiary formed to localise operations and mitigate tariffs.

⸻

🧠 Investor Takeaways

✅ Positives

• Strategic shift towards the US market is logical—more health-conscious consumers, higher margins, and better logistics if localised.

• Backing from an institutional investor in the US lends credibility.

• Demand-side interest is being emphasised (“growing number of ecommerce and retail partners”).

• Warrants at 21p suggest management believes in future upside.

⚠️ Concerns

• The fundraising size is modest (£750k), possibly only enough for short-term needs.

• Dilution and discounted pricing may pressure the share price near-term.

• Execution risk: they must deliver sales growth quickly, especially in the hyper-competitive US market.

• No mention of current cash reserves or burn rate—important to gauge how long this money will last.

⸻

📈 Market Impact

• If market was expecting a raise, limited surprise, but 14p pricing may weigh on sentiment short-term.

• However, if investors believe this marks the start of significant US growth, they might look through the dilution.

• A positive re-rating is possible if:

• US warehouse leads to faster delivery and increased sales.

• New partners materialise.

• Revenue traction in India via e-commerce improves.

⸻

📊 Technical Consideration

• Support/resistance around 14p and 21p now key levels:

• 14p = new perceived “floor” (placement price).

• 21p = upside target (warrant strike, possible overhang).

⸻

At least some good news coming in. Maybe TW will cool down a bit now and let SOH and the crew get on with making OPTi profitable. There appears to be a "pregnant pipeline" of good news out there and it's sad that recent events have clouded judgment somewhat, but hopefully today's news will gain wider recognition for OPTI and Slimbiome and there will be some positive reaction.

Thanks Mol. It seems you are uncovering more and more products with Slimbiome that we were all initially unaware of.

To me it can only increase the forecasts for full year 2025 revenues which we won't know about for another year, but £3m now looks to be left quite a bit behind.

This is where our useless PR comes in. Tom WInnifrith is 100% correct in wanting to fire them. Why do we pay them £3,000 per month for doing utterly nothing to enhance our brands.

We already have the new raspberry/chocolate bars out which are part of appetite suppression - you can purchase them through the website but why oh why aren't we shouting about it from the rooftops?

SOH is the no.1 brainchild behind OPTI but he's not on the ball where business and promotion are concerned.

Thank you Mol.

In hindsight, Lord, yes. Maybe SOH is going to be proved correct on every point all along.

Yes, as we all do Wig, but as I understand Tangerine Man's tariffs documents if the "finished product" is being manufactured in the US, regardless of where the components for it come from, then there are no tariffs.

I do agree, it's a complex issue and I don't think reflects specifically on OPTI but the US customs who don't seem to know whether they are coming or going as things seem to change on a weekly basis it seems.

Who knows? Who cares? It's today, 2025, that most investors will be focussed on - not something from six years ago.

To be fair to Tom Winnifrith Lord, he did make a very valid point in that SOH should have gone for a RCF instead of selling more SBTX.

That does make a lot of sense actually - but all in all I found the podscast very positive indeed - I can't understand though why it wasn't an RNS which would have had far more impact on the shares this morning. It's a very positive outlook, we're finally getting over the line, so the shares should be responding in tandem with our forward looking prospects.