Allied Minds (ALM) chairman Bruce Failing bought $4 million worth of shares in the tech incubator just days before investors voted in favour of the company delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
Once backed by fund manager Neil Woodford before his career hit the wall, Allied Minds was set up to commercialise bright ideas created by US academia and federal research laboratories.
The company has struggled in recent years, resulting in its share price falling by 99% since its peak in 2015.
Once valued at more than £1 billion, the stock is now worth a mere £19 million, and the company says it cannot justify the cost of retaining a market listing. Allied Minds believes it can save $2.2 million (£1.9 million) by becoming a private company. The London stock listing will now be cancelled at 8am on 30 November.
INSPECS HURT BY FOREX MOVEMENT AND DEMAND DROP
Elsewhere in the world of director dealings, various senior management at eyewear manufacturer Inspecs (SPEC:AIM) have rallied together to buy shares after a warning on 27 October.
Chief executive Robin Totterman acquired £198,534 worth of shares, taking his stake in the business to 17.5%. Chief financial officer Chris Kay and his wife Catherine bought £83,650 worth of shares, taking their combined stake in Inspecs to 2.1%.
MEANINGFUL TRADES
These are more than token share purchases which often happen after a warning. Typically, the rule of thumb is that deals worth less than £10,000 aren't meaningful enough to convince investors that current problems are only short-term.
Quite often directors are recommended by their advisers to buy shares following bad news so that it sends a positive signal to the market. However, most investors won't take these actions seriously unless there is a decent chunk of money involved. Inspecs' latest director dealings can be categorised as meaningful, although the share price has yet to rebound after last week's setback.
The optical specialist upset the market when it reported a 3% decline in sales, saying that growth has been impacted by unfavourable foreign exchange movements. Recent efforts to expand in Germany have now stumbled as the macro-economic climate and consumer confidence has slumped.
Its manufacturing operations in Vietnam and China have seen a decrease in orders which has prompted management to delay expanding operations in the former country and to hold off investment in a new factory in Portugal until at least the third quarter of 2023.
Frustrating investors further was news that chairman Lord MacLaurin was suddenly leaving without any explanation.
