With Raspberry Pi (RPI) trading at a healthy premium to its IPO (initial public offer) price UK technology seems to be in the ascendancy, so it was pleasing to see computer product maker Concurrent Technologies (CNC:AIM) announce its largest-ever contract last month.

The firm, which makes mission-critical solutions for customers including the military, secured a contract to provide a major US defence and aerospace contractor with computer plug-in-cards for a Department of Defence programme to upgrade sensing equipment on a range of aircraft.

‘We had the right products available at the right time to satisfy the needs of our customer, enabling us to participate in this important upgrading of capability for the US Air Force,’ said chief executive Miles Adcock.

Not only is it the firm’s largest ever contract, it’s also its largest ever design win, and with an anticipated lifetime value in excess of $40 million it represents ‘a significant opportunity for the company with sizeable purchase orders expected for the next seven to 10 years’ explained Adcock.

WINEMAKER SEEKS INSPIRATION

The board of Chapel Down (CDGP:AIM) announced late last month it was weighing up funding options in order to put in new vineyards, a new purpose-built winery ready for the 2026 harvest and to develop of its ‘brand home’ at Tenterden in Kent.

Options range from the usual debt or equity raise to a potential sale of the business and the firm is now an ‘offer period’.

Major shareholders include well-known businessman, philanthropist and wine connoisseur Lord Michael Spencer, or ‘Spens’, who owns 26.7% of the company, and businessman and entrepreneur Nigel Wray who has a 12.4% stake.

The business itself is on track to deliver double-digit sales growth this year, with demand for its rosé English sparkling wine no doubt set to soar after it won ‘Best in Show’ at the latest Decanter World Wine Awards.

CHECKIT CHECKS OUT

It has been a busy few weeks for business software and solutions firm Checkit (CKT:AIM), starting with another attempt to take over rival Crimson Tide (TIDE:AIM) in an all-share deal.

Checkit had tried to engage with Crimson Tide several times in recent years, and on paper a deal makes sense – combining the two firms to create a scaled workflow software company would be more attractive to investors and could potentially result in a higher valuation.

However, its offer represented just a 12% premium, and although it upped its game with a revised bid it wasn’t the only player in town as Crimson Tide revealed it had received a significantly higher offer from Nottingham-based Ideagen, leaving Checkit to check out.

There was happier news in terms of its tax situation, with HMRC ruling it was entitled to input £1.2 million of VAT recovery from late 2019 to mid-2022 meaning it no longer had to take a contingent liability.

Also, the firm announced a further 32-month contract worth £250,000 per year with an energy supplier who is an existing customer, with potential for more to come as the client firm rolls out more locations.

SHAREHOLDERS vs STAKEHOLDERS

After R&Q Insurance (RQIH:AIM) revealed at the beginning of March it was exploring ‘strategic options’ for both its Program Management business, Accredited, and its Legacy Insurance business, shareholders were probably hoping for a generous payday.

R&Q had lined up funds advised by Canadian private equity firm Onex Corporation (ONEX:TSE) as buyers for Accredited, but in mid-June Onex put forward an alternative proposal to a straight sale which involved the UK firm suspending its shares, filing for liquidation in Bermuda, selling Accredited and disposing of the remaining assets.

Remarkably, the board concluded the alternative proposal represented ‘the best option to secure value’ while at the same time admitting there was ‘little if any chance of any value accruing to shareholders’.

At the end of June, R&Q announced that following the appointment of liquidators Accredited had been sold to Onex for $420 million in cash, which would be used to ‘implement the separation of the business from the company’, pay down some of its secured revolving credit facility and ‘provide limited funding to help facilitate the orderly wind-down of its remaining legacy businesses’.

The board claimed once again this process provided ‘the best possible results for the company’s stakeholders’, which begs the question what are shareholders if not stakeholders?

GOODBYE AND GOOD NIGHT

Investors in bar group Nightcap (NGHT:AIM) must be asking themselves the same question after what might be described as a series of unfortunate events.

The firm announced a capital raise of up to £3.5 million in May and confirmed last month it had raised a total of £2.25 million, with some of the shares set to be admitted to AIM on or before 25 June.

Yet on 28 June the company proposed canceling the admission of its shares to trading on AIM and re-registering as a private company with new articles of association saying it was ‘in the best interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole’.

Later that same day, the company said dealing in £1.5 million of new shares was expected to begin on 1 July, but subject to approval at a general meeting convened for 17 July trading on AIM would be canceled on 29 July leaving a very narrow window for investors to climb through in order to salvage any value from their investment.

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