One would have thought that the concept of nearly $2 trillion from the latest US stimulus package would lead to euphoria, but instead it seems to be that buyers have adopted an orderly queue. Nevertheless, it seems that for the time being in the small cap space the mantra of “follow the money” seems to be the way to go.
We were reminded of this at tech investor Pires (PIRI) where serial entrepreneur Chris Akers was topping up his stake again, now over 16%. This was hardly surprising given the way that the week started with Argo Blockchain (ARB) topping up its stake in Pluto Digital Assets – a Pires investment – to the tune of £7m. The validation of both Mr Akers and Argo was enough to propel Pires shares up nearly 4%. Riverfort Global Opportunities (RGO) which also has a significant stake in the hottest pre-IPO of the moment, rose by over 6%.
The Chris Akers chequebook was also busy at another investment company, Gunsynd (GUN), where he topped up his stake to over 6%. This caused the stock to rise by 10%, as investors appreciated its portfolio mix of natural resources to technology, with Rincon Resources and Low6 – an investment it has in common with Pires, the highlights of the moment. Interestingly, in its final results in January Gunsynd said that its investment strategy may or may not lead to a reverse takeover. This ties in with the current SPAC / Shell / RTO mania currently doing the rounds on the London market.
Speaking of shell situations, there was yet another appearance in terms of the run of TR1s for Mountfield Group (MOGP). Here, as was pointed out on Twitter by a bright spark, we have seen Raglan Road Capital declare 4.53%, Christopher Potts 4.98%, and Richard Edwards at 3.78%. The latest, and perhaps the most significant addition to the TR1 frenzy / stakebuilding, has been Sanderson Capital Partners. This is because Sanderson has been described as a leading source of liquidity in the London small cap space. Shares of Mountfield were up 27% in the wake of the Sanderson move.
The was more interest than usual, and more trading volume at Dukemount Capital (DKE). Here the shares rose 10%, as traders started to take the view that as much as the company is a long dated income play in the property management sector, it could just as easily be described as a SPAC looking at opportunities in the real estate sector. On the basis of the latter description the current “shell” valuation of Dukemount at £3m could according to such a view be regarded as rather mean, and merely the result of the company coming to market 3 years before the concept of the SPAC was born.
Shares of Scancell (SCLP) were up 8%, climbing off the recent 20p zone support area. There has been a slow burn higher for the stock since the company was highlighted in an article in The Telegraph last month. Given the incessant Project Fear from the UK Government’s SAGE advisors, it is likely that the pandemic would only be finally put to bed by a “universal vaccine”, of the kind that Scancell is working on with the University of Nottingham. Happily for the pandemic extenders, such a cure could still be a year away.
Sabien Technology (SNT) remains one of the most followed fractional penny punts. Investors were alerted to the merits of the situation by last month’s saintly gesture by the Executive Chairman Richard Parris to buy £450,000 of shares at 0.1075p per share – well above the prevailing market price. The latest news from the company focused on building a portfolio of green solutions, in the heating, cooling and transportation sectors , is that it has incorporated Sabien, Inc, its wholly owned US subsidiary in the State of Delaware. The company will be operated from San Antonio, Texas. This left SNT shares up 12% at 0.12p.
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