Trading in Outsourcery shares suspended

SHARES in Manchester cloud services company Outsourcery, founded by former Dragon’s Den star Piers Linney, have been suspended with the shareholders at risk of getting “no, or limited value” from their investment.

The AIM-listed company was recently bailed out by Vodafone  and “has progressed with the previously announced restructuring, including discussions about the disposal of business assets in the immediate term”.

A statement from the company said: “Outsourcery has received a number of initial offers for its assets, though the potential proceeds from the current proposals would potentially leave no or limited value to equity shareholders.

“The board continues to carefully evaluate approaches for assets as well as a number of further options to strengthen the immediate and long-term financial position of the company.”

White that process continues, the board has concluded that it is no longer possible to present audited financial results for the year ended December 31 2015 by June 3.

The statement went on: “As such the Company has requested a temporary suspension of the under-mentioned securities from trading on AIM with immediate effect, pending publication of its audited financial results and the appropriate notification being made in accordance with the AIM rules.”

Linney, who has a 13% stake in Outsourcery, is its co-founder and, the same as co- chief executive Simon Newton.

Outsourcery also received £1m investment in September 2015 from UKFast founder and chief executive Lawrence Jones.

Lawrence Jones, founder and chief executive of Manchester-headquartered hosting provider UKFast founder, invested £1m in September 2015.
Linney left the BBC’s Dragons’ Den show in March 2015.