Aortech Share Discussion Threads

[papillon88] 07/1/2013 11:35

not looking good

[bearfoot] 05/1/2013 10:18

Harrogate, interesting points.... My understanding is that our largest shareholder with almost 20% of the company, Active Capital (previously chaired by our erstwhile Chairman and possible saviour, Bill Brown!), is suspended pending an immediate winding up of the company and disposal of its remaining assets.....so there's (at least) 20% of the business which is seeking an immediate buyer (at the right price)....so I don't see how this stacks up with continuing the company's interest with a JV....at least not unless there is some sort of reasonable buy-out offer to existing shareholders.... In any case, did we not already announce the way forward was to sell the company? If that strategy has changed then Bill and the board need to tell us PDQ.

[harrogate] 05/1/2013 08:57

I just wonder how this will work in a practical sense. If we sell the polymer business for say £1.40 a share ( £8m after dilution ) how will we get this money ..it will have to be paid by way of a dividednd and so subject to income tax which would be a pain give the capital loss on the shares. If we then end up in a JV on the heart valve that could take years to come to commercial reality how do we get value out or are we destined to stay in AOR for years to see if it all works ( Sounds familiar). We are clearly better off than we were and it is great that we stuck it to StJ but I am not sure we are as shareholders in as good a spot as we think in terms of a nice clean 3/4 month resolution. Any thoughts?

[gac141] 04/1/2013 11:45

Piccolino3- I think we may find that some sort of JV will take place on the Heart Valve.

[piccolino3] 03/1/2013 21:19

Just a word of caution re the heart valve. It is a little surprising that St J being a major player in that market would not have taken an option on the percutaneous opportunity. Secondly, few major players would jump without some clinical data, and that takes millions to obtain

[1prophet] 03/1/2013 17:32

Keep selling if you wish but that may be a mistake.

[papillon88] 03/1/2013 13:33

sellers below the bid price now :-(

[gac141] 03/1/2013 09:55

Papillon- 5000 buy and 1000 sell.. Seen it a lot worse than that...

[papillon88] 03/1/2013 09:35

The stock is difficult to sell and very easily offered which suggests a further fall in the share price

[way2000] 02/1/2013 15:58

1Prophet: Every chance if the Heart Valve is as good as others and Company are saying.

[1prophet] 02/1/2013 13:04

So AOR are positioned. Could shareholders get their £3.75 back? I think so.

[tadders2] 02/1/2013 12:06

Yes..Happy New Year.

[way2000] 02/1/2013 11:25

Could be a happy and sucessful early start to the New Year. Broker says he has heard that there are several V.interested suitors.

[harrogate] 02/1/2013 09:31

We all second that !!! Happy New Year

[gac141] 02/1/2013 09:30

Happy New year to all holders here. It has been a very rocky road but phase 1 of 3 is complete. I have confidence that the focused Management will conclude the two deals needed to make 2013 a good year for us. My hope and expectation would be for this to be wrapped up in 4 months.

[1400] 30/12/2012 15:13

Very funny harrogate the best laugh of the day.

For me I was always for the heart valve and if we haven't fallen behind the game I don't see why it shouldn't be a very valuable asset. With the right partner who knows, but the transcatheter percutaneous heart valve is a very exciting place to be in.

Good luck to Bill and Eddie I really thank and commend them for the extreme effort they have made over this crisis period. Also, I am very grateful we have come out of this with plenty of skin in the game. Peter

[way2000] 30/12/2012 15:02

Clearly focusing on the wives rather than his paid day job. He has been a failure on biblical proportions.

[harrogate] 30/12/2012 12:50

If he lives in Utah he might have a few wives to look after and so need the money.

[harrogate] 30/12/2012 09:27

Are we really based in Utah?

[gac141] 30/12/2012 09:23

Medical materials maker confident of finding buyer for polymer unit

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on Friday 28 December 2012 00:00


AORTECH, the former Glasgow life sciences firm now based in Utah, will hold talks in the New Year to sell its medical polymers business.


The Aim-quoted business, which produces plastics used to make medical devices, put the unit on sale earlier this year but failed to find a buyer due to its "dwindling cash position".

After settling a legal dispute with big customer St Jude Medical on Christmas Eve, AorTech believes it is now in a much-stronger position to find a buyer because the threat of a potential "fire sale" has been removed.

Under the deal, AorTech will receive $3.9 million (£2.4m), with $3.4m due now and a further $500,000 on 31 March. St Jude will also buy AorTech's factory for $250,000.

Chairman Bill Brown said the company will now look for a partner to develop its plastic heart valve technology, which has taken a back seat over the past year.

Brown, a former Edinburgh-based F&C fund manager, added: "We have succeeded in stabilising the company, we have a decent cash position and our contracts are now valuable.

"We will seek to take the company forward with a view to creating value for shareholders. This is likely to result in a double strategy of seeking a sale of the polymer business and a deal on the heart valve technology."

His comments came as the firm posted a pre-tax loss of $1.5m for the six months to 30 September, compared with a profit of $250,000 a year earlier.

AorTech was founded in 1992 but closed its Bellshill plant in 2004 and moved first to Australia and then to the United States.

[1prophet] 28/12/2012 14:30

Great result for AOR. Back in the game. Watch this get acquired early 2013!

[bowmans] 28/12/2012 11:49

I am suspicious of those who knock Brown & Mcdaid, the very folk who saved the company. I sold out because I distrusted the US judiciary system, but I still admire the courage of those who but their money at serious risk to save the company. I thought the chances of success in the courts was much less than 50% but Brown & Mcdaid called St Judes bluff, and it worked, otherwise St J would have let the legal proceedings continue.