Barkby Group (LON: BARK) is considering the sale of sleep technology business Cambridge Sleep Sciences, which is set to generate revenues of more than £10m from licensing deals over the next three years. Management first said it intended to sell non-core investments back in July 2022 and the progress made by the company makes this a good time to seek offers. The share price jumped 166.7% to 8p. That is the highest it has been since the beginning of the year.
LungLife AI (LON: LLAI) chief executive Paul Pagano and finance director David Anderson each bought 7,123 shares at 69.84p each on 14 August. This helps to explain the share price rise in the middle of August. There was a further 18.1% rise to 117.5p.
Bushveld Minerals (LON: BMN) has signed a binding term sheet for a potential $69.5m-$77.5m investment by Southern Point Resources. This includes the acquisition of 50% of Vanchem and 64% of the Mokopane project, plus a $12.5m investment in Bushveld Minerals. There will also be a working capital facility provided. Southern Point Resources will take over marketing and sales of vanadium and other products. The stake disposals will lead to a book loss of $59.6m. The share price increased 13.6% to 2.3p.
Seed Innovations (LON: SEED) has sold 56.4% of Avextra, formerly Eurox, for around €2.9m (£2.45m), while maintaining a 3% shareholding. This represents a 62% return on the original investment. This takes cash to £4.6m with a further £2.5m coming in from the disposal of Leap Gaming. That means that there will be more cash than the market capitalisation. This is available for further investments, including short-term ones. The share price is 16.7% higher at 2.8p, valuing the company at £6m.
FALLERS
US-focused betting company Sportech (LON: SPO) plans to leave AIM and this knocked the share price by 43.2% leaving it at 55p. It says the burden of time and money is too great. A circular will be sent out to gain shareholder approval at a general meeting.
Beacon Energy (LON: BCE) confirmed that the Schwarzbach-2 well in Germany has encountered an excellent oil-bearing reservoir. The well could materially increase the company’s reserves and production by up to and ahead of the previous high case of 5.8mmbls. The well could generate $1.5m/month at $80/barrel. There are technical challenges, though. The share price slipped 26.9% to 0.1975p. That is still above the suspension price and much higher than the level when trading in the shares recommenced in April.
Delays in the construction of the CoalSwitch facility at Ashland, Maine has hit the Active Energy (LON: AEG) share price. Components and equipment are yet to be delivered and the facility is not going to be up and running until November. The share price fell 14.4% to 4.75p.
Litigation funder Burford Capital (LON: BUR) has lost some of the gains it made late on Friday after the release of a positive New York court judgment in connection with Petersen and Eton Park against the Republic of Argentina and YPF. The estimated award is at the higher end of expectations. Burford Capital has been funding this case since 2015. Shareholders were not compensated for the takeover of YPF by a tender offer as was required. It is estimated that Petersen should have been paid $7.5bn and Eton Park $900m with interest adding $6.8bn and $815m to the respective totals. Burford Capital is entitled to 35% of the Petersen net proceeds and 73% of the Eton Park payment. This means that the Petersen case could earn $5bn and Eton Park $1.25bn. The carrying value of these cases was $1.52bn at the end of March 2023. The share price dipped 7.15% to 1247p, but it is still above the level prior to the announcement.