CloudCoCo (LON: CLCO) is selling its managed IT services business for £9.2m. This will discharge liabilities, including the MXC loan notes, and leave cash of £950,000. If the sale does not go-ahead management will need to consider if there is a future for the group. There are also discussions concerning the sale of the Connect business. The focus will be on the product reseller business. The share price soared 160%, having more than trebled at one point, ending the week at 0.325p.
MicroSalt (LON: SALT) had a sharp share price boost on Thursday afternoon and this initially continued on Friday, but the low-sodium salt developer said that there has been no change in trading and operations. That rise meant that the share price moved up to 57.5p, but it ended the week 46.5% ahead at 52p.
Mothercare (LON: MTC) shares returned from suspension 40.4% higher at 5p, the highest level since July, following the 2023-24 results publication and refinancing. There is a new £8m two-year loan facility from Gordon Brothers, which receives 43.4 million warrants exercisable at 8.5p/share. There is also a joint venture with Reliance Brands, which will acquire 51% of the businesses operating in the Indian sub-continent for £16m. In the year to March 2024, underlying pre-tax profit dipped from £3.4m to £3.1m. Overall revenues continue to decline, and Cavendish expects a small loss this year.
An acquisition vehicle set up by Joshua Alliance is offering 40p/share in cash for each share in N Brown Group (LON: BWNG) – the share price has not been this high since February 2023. The Alliance family and related parties already own 53.4% of N Brown. This bid values the fashion brands company at £191m. The chief executive and finance director of N Brown will elect for a share alternative. Frasers Group (FRAS) owns 20.3% of N Brown and is accepting the bid. The share price rose 39.6% to 39.1p.
FALLERS
Emmerson (LON: EML) says that the regional authority in Morocco have made an unfavourable environmental recommendation relating to the Khemisset potash project. The full decision is not yet available. Emmerson had previously appealed against the regional authority’s decision not to approve the project under environmental grounds. The share price slumped 72.1% to 0.725p.
Armadale Capital (LON: ACP) proposes a cancellation of the AIM quotation because it believes that being public does not benefit the company because of the costs. Armadale Capital needs to reduce the cash burn and sell non-core assets. The resources company can be more flexible as a private company. A general meeting will be held on 1 November. The share price has fallen by 70% to 0.06p.
It is taking time to build up sales of the EpiSwitch EPE prostate test in the US and Oxford BioDynamics (LON: OBD) is reducing costs so that its cash lasts longer. Management is taking part of their salary in shares. Other diagnostic tests could be licenced or sold to raise money. Spinning off the US business is another option. There will be an update in January. The share price declined 69.5% to 1.115p.
Graphene technology developer Versarien (LON: VRS) is raising £450,000 at 0.0325p/share, which will fund in-house concrete and mortar testing capabilities and other external testing. Versarien has signed 3D construction printed products. There are commercial opportunities worth £1.6m and related grants of £3.1m. The share price dived 45.3% to 0.0328p.