Anexo Group’s majority owners secure 20m shares at 60p ahead of delisting from the AIM market.
The majority owners of provider Anexo Group will pay £12 million to acquire the remaining minority shares before taking the company private.
Anexo, which operates both a credit hire business and the Liverpool-based law firm Bond Turner, confirmed on Friday that its offer to purchase shares at 60p each was heavily oversubscribed. Shareholders submitted valid applications to sell more than 32 million ordinary shares, well above the 20 million shares available for purchase.
The joint bidders — asset management firm DBAY Advisors, Anexo founder Alan Sellers, and managing director Samantha Moss — will buy the full 20 million shares on offer. Before this transaction, the trio collectively owned about 63% of the company’s stock.
The move will end Anexo’s five-year run on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The owners have made clear their intention to cancel the AIM listing entirely, taking the company into private ownership.
The buyout marks the culmination of a difficult period for the group. Anexo’s share price has seen significant volatility over the past year, trading at 68.4p as recently as 21 July but dropping sharply to 38.8p last week following the public announcement of the takeover plan.
Embed from Getty ImagesDBAY Advisors’ involvement in Anexo dates back to 2020, when it purchased a 29% stake at 150p per share — more than double the current offer price to minority shareholders. By joining forces with Sellers and Moss, DBAY has now secured the means to acquire the remaining shares at a substantial discount to that original investment.
Anexo’s business model combines legal services through Bond Turner with credit hire operations, positioning it as both a law firm and a specialist in providing replacement vehicles to non-fault accident claimants. The integration of these services allows the company to manage cases from initial accident reporting through to settlement, a strategy that has historically delivered steady revenues but has also attracted scrutiny over governance and growth potential.
The planned delisting follows the company’s failed attempt at further capital raising and its decision to withdraw from IPO ambitions in previous years. The group cited a combination of capital shortfalls, challenging market conditions, and a sustained decline in share price as reasons for moving away from public listing.
A spokesperson for Anexo said the buyout offer represented a fair and immediate value for minority shareholders given the volatility in the legal services market and the company’s desire to pursue long-term strategic goals away from the pressures of quarterly public reporting.
Market analysts have noted that while the offer price of 60p represents a premium on the most recent trading levels, it is well below historical highs. Investors who bought shares during stronger trading periods, particularly around DBAY’s initial investment in 2020, will be crystallising significant losses if they sell in this transaction.
The oversubscription of the offer suggests that many minority shareholders were eager to exit at the offered price, potentially reflecting scepticism about the company’s future performance or concerns about the lack of liquidity once it becomes privately held.
The acquisition and delisting process is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, after which Anexo Group will operate entirely under private ownership by the three joint bidders.
For Bond Turner, the law firm at the heart of the group, the change in ownership structure could provide more operational flexibility and allow management to focus on strategic expansion without the constraints of public market expectations.
However, industry observers warn that delisting also reduces transparency, making it harder for the public and potential investors to monitor the performance of a firm that has played a significant role in the UK’s legal services market