Mercia Asset Management Share Discussion Threads

[gwr7] 01/5/2020 08:30

Apologies if I didn't make the connection with Omega clear. MERC have a significant holding in The Native Antigen Company who are making reagents for use in the antibody test being developed by Omega and the British consortium partners. Both Omega and the NAC will gain big time from the approval of the test anticipated in June/July. There has been some positive news in the last 24 hours. Oxford University's Professor John Bell, who led the assessment of imported tests that were shown to be innacurate, gave a positive update on channel 4 news saying the British consortium was world leading. Also ODX have moved quickly to expand their premises.

[its the oxman] 01/5/2020 08:09

Anyone got an idea of how omega holding likely to affect current nav given its rise?

[mr.oz] 30/4/2020 16:33

Approx £50k mopped up at the close of play

[gwr7] 30/4/2020 12:18

My pleasure Mr Richardson. Like longshanks I know a bit about Omega. I’m convinced the consortium will produce an antibody test though nobody can say when and the government was late getting the ball rolling. Development started in April when it could easily have been February. We know from experience that it can take years to achieve a fully approved POC test. A lot of that is tortuous regulatory hurdles which now vanish like the morning mist when the government has a crisis on it’s hands and they’re aiming to produce the test in June/July. One of the positives that will come out of this is more focus on diagnostics in the UK which will benefit the whole sector. It’s been a crying shame and all the delays have caused unnecessary death but by investing in the companies involved, rather than trading, we are making a difference. I could pull out of Omega now with a 500% gain but I’m holding after covering my initial purchase. Once we get the POC test it will be a boost for MERC. I don’t even think it needs to be a consortium test as the high tech manufacturers will still be involved due to the numbers required. I’d prefer it to be an entirely Made in Britain test though. Goodness knows we deserve it.

[longshanks] 30/4/2020 11:35

The fact that they have a stake in Abingdon Health is important I feel.Having a number of portfolio investments all working together on delivering a rapid diagnostic tool and associated services are all very value added.I feel the smart money is already recognising this. Only a matter of time until the pack catch up.

[srichardson8] 30/4/2020 10:45

I am indebted to you Mr Railway for a very interesting write-up the other day (#591), leading me to look at Omega and other companies involved in testing (the unlisted Mologic website is informative) and components (EFK) and generally getting a feel for this space when I really only knew Roche before. Now another very useful tip on Research Tree on which I have re-registered. And I haven't read the Oxgene write-up as yet.
I am interested in PE/VC valuations now, in general am guessing that discounts to pre pandemic publihed NAV of around 25-30% may be appropriate with a few start-ups likely to go under.In general valuations need to be much more conservative. I have been in this one for a few years after talking with the principals and liking the direct/managed investment style and the geographical bias though I was concerned that some of the managed funds would naturally decrease with the demise of Woodford's funds. I decided to stay in, even after being miffed at the heavily discounted institutional placement, as the discount to my very roughly adjusted NAV seemed extreme and the cash position sound. And of course AUM has nearly doubled with the acquisition and the recent Northern fund raise.

[gwr7] 30/4/2020 05:56

You can find plenty of info on Research Tree. They've got a two month free offer on their full service because of covid. A kind gesture.

[longshanks] 29/4/2020 23:20

I haven't had a chance to look in depth, but I like the breadth of the investment portfolio. I have taken an initial position with a view to buying more as I get to know the business.

[gwr7] 29/4/2020 20:23

Nice one longshanks. You did your homework then. I did some speed reading after joining the dots on twitter. At first I was disappointed with NAC being private, but the more I read about MERC the more I felt it was my sort of investment. Oxgene is another player on our side.

[longshanks] 29/4/2020 17:38

Managed to pick up a fair number today. Has to pay a little more than I wanted but not too much more.

[its the oxman] 29/4/2020 13:25

Heavily oversold here, more upside to come.

[cheshire man] 29/4/2020 11:37

Only way to buy is F&K and at the full ask,,,,,,MMs really need to open the market and let the buyers in !

Happy to have got some more this morning

[andyview] 29/4/2020 10:11

Thanks GWR, interesting article.

[gwr7] 29/4/2020 09:52

This article gives an excellent summary of antibody tests for covid. The work The Native Antigen Company is involved in is towards the end but the whole article is worth a read.

[andyview] 29/4/2020 09:38

;-))

no trade again to buy...

[gwr7] 29/4/2020 09:37

The other reason I bought in is that I have a 1990 300SE and I like the ticker : )

[mr.oz] 29/4/2020 09:18

Hopefully, word getting out and confidences returning simultaneously

Much more to come from MERC imv,

[andyview] 29/4/2020 09:12

More buying again this morning pushing the price up. Oversold and great exposure to covid focussed companies should see this rerate imho.

gla

[andyview] 29/4/2020 07:59

Great post from gwr, thanks

[longshanks] 28/4/2020 20:26

Thanks for the heads up, railway man.Looks very interesting.

[cheshire man] 28/4/2020 18:07

The Native Antigen Company is now offering recombinant S1 and S2 glycoproteins for SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) in response to urgent demand. These reagents are suitable for use in basic research and the development of diagnostics and vaccines.




About The Native Antigen Company

Founded in 2010, The Native Antigen Company has rapidly become one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents for infectious disease. Over the last 10 years, the Native Antigen Company has developed rapid response manufacturing capabilities to produce reagents for emerging epidemic diseases, guided by the World Health Organisation’s R&D Blueprint, which outlines the accelerated development of vaccines and increased availability of accurate and reliable diagnostics for priority emerging infectious diseases. The Native Antigen Company’s proprietary mammalian, VirtuE expression system from which these reagents have been expressed, is able to introduce proper protein folding and post-translational modifications to recombinant proteins, which are essential for full biological and antigenic activity. The company is widely known for its expertise in this field, having used its VirtuE expression system to rapidly develop antigens for other major health threats, including the recent Zika and Dengue outbreaks.

[gwr7] 28/4/2020 17:51

I bought some today. I used a fill or kill order. Mercia has numerous promising companies within and without the covid space. I like the way they pick them. Most of the admin costs are covered by the profitable asset management business and they are a lead investment manager for the government’s northern powerhouse initiative. I believe the drive to support quality businesses oop north has legs. Add to that the share price was beaten down by forced sales from Woodford and Invesco funds, and is at a big discount to NAV limiting downside. It looks like a good investment to me. It is definitely long term so it is not going to multi-bag in weeks like other shooting stars of the minute but I believe it will do in time. One of the reasons Woodford failed was that Hargreaves Lansdown were using their promotional fund rankings to funnell investors into his funds who weren’t suited to them. Woodford was the goose that laid the golden egg but that was with high quality income companies. HL turned a blind eye to the investments making up his funds after he set up on his own, and also their open-ended nature. When PIs wanted to withdraw money en masse there wasn’t the liquidity in the smaller companies Woodford had invested in. Redemptions couldn’t be covered without disastrous forced sales. I think Mercia was a good pick by him. Obviously the Mercia share price performance has been poor since launch and that has upset investors. Also they shunned PIs in a discounted placing last year at 25p which forced an apology in the FT so hopefully they learnt from that. Mercia’s investments in companies take time to realise their true value and they need some high profile company sales or IPOs to cement their reputation. I think they’ll achieve them.
As ever DYOR.

[andyview] 28/4/2020 15:16

No trade to buy at the mo

[wan] 28/4/2020 14:42

Fwi, I am sure we have not heard the last of the collaboration regarding the large-scale production of high-quality COVID-19 antigens, which is a critical step toward the development of diagnostics and vaccines.

[andyview] 28/4/2020 14:18

Thanks for the response and I agree there are more targeted companies available however I like the spread of investments here which increases exposure and for me potential of success.

I notice the volume has ticked up considerably today with some juicy buys I would suggest.

As you rightly point out, mercias got much many other attractive investments- a compelling investment opportunity imho.

Gla