Octopus Titan VCT plc - request to convene a General Meeting to liquidate the company

 Their 44th edition contains the following nugget in the section headed "Zombie funds":- "Private equity’s longer holding periods, plus the elevated entry valuations that some firms paid before interest rates rose, appear to be coming home to roost in investor portfolios. Over half (54%) of respondents expect the number of zombie funds (where a GP is prolonging a fund’s life in order to maximise management fees) in their own portfolios to increase  in the next two years." Remind me... when is the next continuation vote? Rolling 5 years after the last share allotment which took place only 5 weeks ago. Oh well. Liquidation anyone?

The outstanding takeaway from the whole event: Tom Leader stated that Octopus management fees are set at a level to incentivise them! “Cost plus”, as I suggested, is not appropriate. £10m+ per annum is some incentive after years of false valuations and £250m in cash already taken for screwing it up based on unrealised gains. TREBLES all round! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The meeting was attended by a handful of shareholders and a veritable hoard of Octopus staff and Lawyers from Howard Kennedy llp (Sponsors, Legal advisers and High Court representatives - nb they act for 95% of VCTs). The Chair said a transcript of the meeting is being prepared. What he didn’t say was that they had paid for a Court Reporter stenographer (like the ones you see on US TV legal dramas) to sit there and do it. Serious or what? I bet the transcript never sees the light of day for any ordinary shareholder and is only placed in evidence in the Hig...

Will this be the last ever Octopus Titan VCT AGM held in Holborn? Looks like it.  https://www.cbre.co.uk/property-search/office-space/listings/details/UK-GLDE-177051/33-holborn-london-ec1n-2ht Perhaps it also explains why Octopus have just reduced their staff by 20%.  . PLEASE COME TO THE AGM   IF YOU POSSIBLY CAN.  Together with all the resolutions proposed by the Directors alone, the matter of asking the Directors to propose a meeting of all shareholders to consider, and if thought fit vote for, liquidation of the VCT as the logical best solution for all shareholders will be up for discussion. Why? FIRSTLY: The chances of any new fund raising for the "worst ever performing VCT" are Nil. No-one in their right mind would ever consider buying this dog even for the now reduced to 20% up-front tax relief - and Octopus have 4 other VCTs, 3 EIS funds and multiple other managed funds some of which they are "pumping" like crazy for new monies. SECONDLY: The Directors h...

[UPDATE 20 MAY 2026] The below referenced Proxy Form problem has finally been resolved with the filing with the  FCA. https://data.fca.org.uk/artefacts/NSM/DirectUpload/NI-000145224/NI-000145224.pdf Has it, as was promised, been added to the URL link sent to shareholders who don't get hard copy accounts?  Don't be silly! Will they have to adjourn the AGM unless they do. ..absolutely guaranteed.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One week earlier than the extended deadline that they alone asked for, Octopus have filed the Witness Statement of their British Virgin Islands stooge and as predicted this blog figures extensively. All I can say is that Anna Victoria Silver, ACA, has blatantly lied again and committed offences under The Perjury Act 1911 with intent to deliberately mislead the High Court.   She and Howard Kennedy llp now face disciplinary action ahead of trial in October. A...

Today brings allegations that I must have breached the SLAPP court orders because Howard Kennedy don't even understand a simple primary school maths SAT level formula that if you divide the number of shares in a decile of the total members by the number of persons in that group you get an average.. ... and then if they have more shares than that average then they must be a member of that or a higher decile. Shame I am also banned by the Court from showing you the Order and the relevant documents. All I did was ask for a copy of the Proxy form for the AGM. Methinks there is panic in Holborn . I gave them until 4.00pm to reply to my "Arkell v- Pressdram"  response - they haven't so now I am going public. I will make my "without prejudice" correspondence and their replies available if they include it in their Witness Statement - due in the High Court by 23rd May.  I wonder if the panic also has anything to do with the fact that for any shareholder who absolutel...

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/damisola-sulaiman-13304a230_scoop-fidelity-international-has-quietly-share-7458437952298377217-xzih/ The start of an avalanche?

I have been prompted to add a simple summary of the 10 year history.  This covers the 11 years since the merger of all the Titan VCTs in November 2014. Anyone else care to check the numbers that come exclusively from accounts on the Octopus website?

After weeks of being effectively gagged, I have today filed my Witness Statement in the High Court ahead of the trial on 20 October, a mere 4 months after the AGM and another £15m+ into the pockets of Octopus Investment staff and their and our Directors. A copy of my letter to those shareholders who have already contacted me, and to persuade "the usual suspects" at the various Nominee service providers (Gresham House says upto 35% of all shareholders) to pass on the message, is below and the pdf can be downloaded from my secure Box.com cloud storage. Please read the full copy below and send copies or the link to any shareholder you know.  https://app.box.com/s/zgba0oi4bh6lpmxxmxmnwjruk4a9bxye ......................................................................................................................... The copy Court documents that can only now be revealed are: 1.  Octopus' application to prevent any shareholder ever asking to convene a meeting to propose liqu...

I wonder just who is the "buyer of last resort" at these distressed sale prices and just what is their relationship/to and/or deal/understanding with the Directors, Octopus Management or the "Broker"?  A suitable question for the AGM. As I work up my High Court Witness Statement that has to be filed next week, and we wait with barely bated breath for Thursday's FY2025 results (already announnced as a disastrous loss of NAV) and the  webinar, I thought readers might like see what the numbers look like:

 Open Court. Some, but not all, documents were in open court last week, Waiting for clarification before disclosure.

  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/24/city-fund-manager-cuts-a-fifth-of-staff-amid-rise-of-ai/ Will they now reduce the fees charged by 20%?  Or are they planning for the effects of Titan's liquidation as beng the only sane solution? Do look at their last filed accounts for the excessive profit from the egregious fees.

Just ask yourselves why the Octopus Directors continue to refuse to provide the missing Independent Valuation document from the mergers. Does it exist?      probably lost if it ever existed Did it comply with the law?     probably not given past history Why were the valuers later appointed Auditors?  BDO have their tentacles in every aspect of the VCT sector and have proven time and again that they can be relied on to just take the money and do whatever is needed by the Directors. WHY DOES THIS MATTER SO MUCH? Because the whole purpose of Merger Valuations is to provide a once in a lifetime Independent valaution of unquoted investments, something which the entire VCT sector is terrified of doing so they just "bribe" the likes of BDO into merely rubber-stamping the Investment Manager's numbers... AND LOOK WHERE THAT GOT THE OTV2 INVESTORS! £1bn written off after more than £250m paid to Octopus. Nice work if you can get it. Why are the Directors of Octop...

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/otv2 All help gratefully received.

[UPDATE 8 DECEMBER] In the light of the Government's Press release that the decision has been taken that the Serious Fraud Office is to get involved in the enforcement of Company Law Compliance obligations,  and in the hope that some Direct Access Barrister might read this and offer some pro-bono help -  I disclose the following statements made by Rebecca Hume, Member of Howard Kennedy llp in the application  to which she put her name on 26 November 2025: "Howard Kennedy llp (asks)... the Court to make an order that: ..it be directed that the hearing of this application be conducted in private pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(3)(a) and (c)  AND ...an order directing that in the interests of justice, the order not be published on the judiciary website.." What are they trying to hide? Should I ask for a direction that the case be heard in Tehran like the ones for  Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ? Come back Franz Kafka - all is forgiven. ---------------------------------------...

[UPDATE 26 Nov] Seems to me that the Chancellor has just put another nail in OTV2's coffin by reducing tax relief from 30 to 20%  which rather fouls up any future fund raising as envisaged by the Directors. Clearly the 2035 date is now the end date of the Ponzi schemes. ................................................................................................................... Anyone know why, according to the recent incomplete and entirely false and misleading schedule attached to the revised form SH01 received by Companies House on 21 October 2025, the VCT5 shareholders received their OTV2 shares at a 15% discount to the poor saps in VCT4? Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Jane O'Riordan was a Director of VCT5 and was appointed, and remains, a Director of OTV2 far beyond the "term limit"? She has served more than 15 years. If you do the maths on the schedule you will note that 32,610,857 shares are reported as being issued as part of the mer...

There is a state of absolute panic at 1 London Bridge and 33 Holborn ... homes to the deadly duo. I  am prohibited from telling you what it is all about until the High Court has considered Octopus' urgent application to the High Court for a gagging order and immediate destruction of documents that they put into Court to rely on their case against me ... yes you did read that correctly they are asking for their own evidence to be destroyed. I can however confirm that Octopus and Howard Kennedy are having to report themselves to the  Information Commissioner for serious breaches of UK GDPR and Data Protection and are probably obliged to urgently tell all shareholders. I await the case reference number. ...and all just to preserve the gravy train of outrageous fees for themselves and professional advisers (as well as the salaries of proven to be incompetent "non-executive Directors").  Octopus have every intention of destroying the very bedrock of the UK's company law an...

[UPDATE 20.11.25] I make the following documents available to interested parties who might wish to assist my defence to the OTV2 Claim against me. 1. N208: CLAIM FORM (CPR Part8)      https://app.box.com/s/h8zjsi9drhbbh65odn3k1cb7wf14wi0q 2. N210: ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE   (right to disclose disputed by OTV2 @ 17.55hrs 20.11.25)    3. ORDER OF THE COURT DATED 18.11.25 disapplying PD57AC  (right to disclose disputed by OTV2 @ 17.55hrs 20.11.25)       --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [UPDATE 14.11.25]  High Court Reference: CR-2025-007904 dated 7 November 2025 Further details when sealed copies have been served. Every single day's delay in a decision means Octopus Investments charge more than £40,000 for "doing nothing" under the "revised" Investment Policy of making nearly no new investments. Charging £10,000 per day (1.75%) for managing...

With impeccable timing, the CEO of "Octopus Ventures" yesterday took to the airwaves on SIFTED's "Startup Europe" podcast  https://sifted.eu/articles/erin-platts-podcast . Do listen to more "talk the talk" about the reasons for Titan's downfall and the need for transparency and to give the investors the information they need and change the team that screwed up in 2020...including Directors as I suggest? She does admit the VCT tax regime on new money is a problem which is why the EIS route is better for everyone and all VCTs should go now.  At the 10 October 2025 General Meeting, the Directors refused to answer the questions about the economic analysis and case for Liquidation being a better outcome for shareholders. There is a transcript of the meeting that they refused to make available to Members. Liquidation will save > £100,000,000 without jeapordising anyone's Tax status whilst retaining all economic upside on the investments. I have th...