Andrew Monk, the serial creator of stockbroking firms, today denied claims that he is trying to take his latest venture, VSA Capital, private.
The firm, which specialises in looking after oil and gas and mining companies, is planning to quit the junior stock market AIM but Monk said this was not an attempt to remove it from the public arena.
“We will provide a matched bargain facility for share trading through our registrars Capita,” he said. “That will be order-driven rather than quote-driven by market makers so it should be a fairer price.” Shares in VSA Capital have plunged from 4p to just 1.13p since it first said it would leave AIM just over a week ago.
Rebel shareholders using the website keepvsalisted.com claim they now have support from investors holding more than 10% of the firm’s equity who will vote against delisting.
The board, led by Monk, needs to win 75% support for its proposal, with the deadline for proxy votes a week today. Rebel shareholders say the company should remain listed and create value for existing shareholders rather than seeking fresh capital from outside the stock market.
Monk rejects this and said: “In the current stock market environment it looks less and less appropriate for small broking firms like ours to be listed on AIM”. He added: “AIM has particular issues with both Asian and American investors unwilling to put money into AIM companies.”
Monk created and sold at a big profit the broking firms Oriel Securities and Blue Oar, and merged his latest venture Third Quad Securities into VSA two years ago. He said delisting would enable it to raise fresh capital from sources which prefer investing in unlisted companies.
