bought shares some years ago in a company called property internet, does it still exist with a new name?

Question

thought the company had gone bust but was told recently it is now abraxus, can you shed any light ?

Answer 1

The London Stock Exchange site has a page about the company which includes their address. You could write to them to find out what the latest situation is.

The 2nd link is to a page, where one of the discussion forum entries dated 23rd August 2005 says "I recently sold some shares in the old property internet title with no problems. They are valid Abraxus shares even though in the old name. Sell away if you wish."

Do you have paper share-certificates or hold them in electronic form. If its in electronic form, your account should show them as abraxus shares. When name-changes or takeovers occur, electronic accounts normally get dated automatically.

If they are paper certificates, you may be able to sell them through a broker, if you explain they are now equivalent to abraxus shares. You may have to get the abraxus company to issue you with new share certificates. They can tell you what you need to do. They should have your details on the shareholder's register that they hold.

The company doesn't appear to have a website, but the growth company investor page (see link) gives some information. Click on the 'more' link on the page to get a pop-up list of company reports, news, etc. Growth company investor lists them as a 'cash-shell' company i.e. a company with cash, but no manufacturing/ retailing/ service activities or investments in other companies.

They may be in the process of returning the cash to the share-holders then winding up the company. However, sometimes a cash-shell is subject to a reverse-takeover. Having a listing on AIM is a valuable thing, as it takes several years of trading to qualify, so sometimes another company will agree to be taken over by the cash-shell to get a listing, then change their name back to that of the taken-over company.

The shares of the cash-shell suddeny shoot up in value if this happens. It may never happen at all though. Its an insiders game. Often, only the directors know what is going on.

Read the other links below as well. The annual report on the hemscott site says that the company's only asset is £1.6 Million in cash. If the firm was wound up, this would be divided among the shareholders in proportion to the number of shares held. Several shareholders have 5 or 6 million shares each, so if you only hold a few hundred or thousand shares, you aren't going to get much at all. If so, you can only hope for a reverse takeover.

I'm just an amateur shareholder. This does not constitute 'advice' under the financial services act. I just hope it helps.