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Monday, 27 November 2017

How the Crowd has no power in reality


The London Doctors Clinic raised over £800k on Crowdcube in 2016. They had already seen £1m invested by Oakfield Capital Partners, which gave them a controlling share in the company.


So when the company decided this year to raise another £2m, which had not been mentioned only a year ago in the Crowdcube campaign, investors had the right to vote on a 20% uplift clause.

According to Crowdcube's own site very few existing Crowdcube investors backed this change  - it might after all lose them 20% pro rata of any ROI should the company exit. It certainly has diluted their existing holding. Despite what appears to be an overwhelming NO, the raise went ahead and the company took in another £2m  - only £85k from Crowdcube investors. So much for the Crowd taking back power.

We dont know how the company is doing, as their accounts are now over 2 months overdue and they have a compulsory striking off filed against their name. It probably doesnt signify much apart from poor management. But then, that was why they raised the £2m - to improve the management side. It is just a shame they didnt tell anyone they were going to have to in 2016.

2 comments:

  1. By browsing some CC companies (especially the director´s history)on Companies House, the term "compulsory strike-off" often comes along.
    But I don´t fully understand it, does it necessarily mean the company is in financial troubles or can it just happen if they don´t hand in the required documents on time? Who can initiate a compulsory strike-off against a company?

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  2. Having a company with a CSO notice just means their is a late filing - either the AR or accounts. How late and if this is a continual problem over years is more important. It often doesnt signify anything if the filing is 1 or 2 months late but later and it might signal closure, VCL and phoenixing or other restructuring. Its an art rather than a science to guess which.

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