Ratcliffe becomes Sagentia chairman

15th Apr 2010 17:37

Martyn Ratcliffe has been appointed as chairman of technology consultancy Sagentia following the lapsing of his mandatory bid. Ratcliffe, the chairman of Microgen, acquired 48.4% of the shares of Sagentia from Catella Switzerland AG at 23.8p a share. This meant that Ratcliffe had to make a mandatory bid at 23.8p a share. The bid valued Sagentia at £5.2m. Sagentia's net asset value was £12.7m at the end of 2009 - predominantly made up of its offices and land. Net debt was £2.69m. AIM-quoted Sagentia advised shareholders not to accept the bid. There were acceptances of 0.14% of the share capital when the offer lapsed, taking Ratcliffe's stake to 48.53%. Dr Christopher Masters, Mr Lars Kylberg and Mr Staffan Ahlberg have all resigned from the Sagentia board. David Courtley has been appointed as a non-executive director. Ratcliffe has said that he wants a strategic review of the business.