A former member of the troubled Axiom Legal Financing Fund’s receivership committee has sent correspondence to investors stating he is interested in acquiring shares from other investors.
In February 2013, Grant Thornton was appointed as the fund’s receiver after its suspension in 2012, following the resignation of the director of the Cayman Islands-based investment manager, Tangerine Investment Management.
The fund remains in receivership but, after a long period of suspension, it has recently become possible to transfer shares.
Rob Merriman was a member of the fund’s receivership committee, but in light of his proposal and the potential this creates for possible conflicts of interest to arise, he has resigned with immediate effect.
He is also a venture capital investor and finance director at IMbox and Klappo Ltd.
Mr Merriman indicated to the joint receivers that he “may have been privy to some details that have not been made available to all investors”, although he added this has not provided him “with materially more insight into the likely recovery rate of the fund”.
Mr Merriman said as far as he was aware, there are no other offers to purchase Axiom shares and it seems unlikely that any secondary market for the shares will develop.
“I am, however, making an offer to acquire shares which is open to all investors in all currencies. I have a finite capacity to purchase shares and so I will deal with investors on a first come first served basis.
“While my offer price will be substantially lower than the price investors paid to purchase their units, there are nonetheless a number of reasons why a sale may be attractive to some investors,”
Mr Merriman listed the realisation of a capital loss tax relief, performance and avoiding custodian fees.
In September the Serious Fraud Office stated a formal investigation into the suspended £100m Axiom fund could be launched as it was “in receipt of information” and is “making enquiries”.
This came in the aftermath of a decision by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to strike off the fund’s former director, Tim Schools, for “serious” and “deliberate” misconduct in relation to ATM Solicitors, a firm he owned and sold in 2011.
There was no suggestion of a link between the failings identified at ATM and Mr Schools’ role on the Axiom fund.
Last January, FTAdviser revealed that the receivers of the troubled fund had brought claims against a number of parties in London’s High Court, which are “considered to have acted fraudulently” in relation to “sums up to £110m”.
Mike Saville, joint receiver at Grant Thornton Specialist Services, explained any investor interested in purchasing shares should contact Mr Merriman directly and they take no position with respect to the proposal.
peter.walker@ft.com
