Gusbourne: Wine maker faces delisting from London’s AIM as shares plummet
Shares in Gusbourne dropped more than 34 per cent this morning after the English winemaker announced it would consider delisting from London’s junior stock market, AIM.
In an announcement to the London Stock Exchange, Gusbourne said it had received a letter from majority shareholder Lord Ashcroft, requesting it to hold a meeting to consider going private.
The future of Gusbourne, which has been listed on AIM since 2012, has been uncertain since last July when former conservative chair Lord Ashcroft opened a “strategic review” of the company’s options. This included a possible sale.
This strategic review has now concluded, and Gusbourne has “terminated discussions with other parties” and is “no longer in receipt of any approaches”.
A meeting to discuss the possible delisting will be called in no less than three weeks, pursuant with the Companies Act 2006.
If Gusbourne delists from AIM, it would follow a multitude of companies who have left London’s junior market in the last few years.
Just under a hundred companies delisted from AIM last year, the largest number in 23 years. This left AIM with 688 firms, its smallest number of companies since 2001.
It also has a dearth of new firms: IPOs on London’s junior stock market totalled just 11 last year, the same number as in 2023 and below the 13 recorded during the 2008 financial crisis.
Gusbourne was launched in 2004 by Andrew Weeber and acquired by Lord Ashcroft in 2013 for £7m. Weeber retained a 13 percent holding and became non-executive chairman in 2013, holding the position until 2023.
Ashcroft owns over 40m shares in Gusbourne, equivalent to 66.8 per cent of the company. In addition to his majority stake in Gusbourne, a company owned by the Ashcroft holds a £20m long-term secured deep discount bond.