KCom Share Advice

EyEFive · 17 January 2022 at 11:57AM

Hi there,

I hope there is help!

We are a couple in our late 70's early 80's we purchased shares in Kcom in 1999, Unknow to us the company was sold, we had forgotten about the shares until an obscure remark brought back memory of the purchase.

The question is, are these shares now worthless? If not how do we sell them, I see the price is £1.20 far less than we paid. The company on the share certificates no longer exists, I cannot find who I can contact now; can anyone offer advise. I believe we should have been contacted as share holders of the sale, unfortunately this did not happen.

Thank you for any advise.

wmb194 · 17 January 2022 at 1:18PM

EyEFive said:

Hi there,

I hope there is help!

We are a couple in our late 70's early 80's we purchased shares in Kcom in 1999, Unknow to us the company was sold, we had forgotten about the shares until an obscure remark brought back memory of the purchase.

The question is, are these shares now worthless? If not how do we sell them, I see the price is £1.20 far less than we paid. The company on the share certificates no longer exists, I cannot find who I can contact now; can anyone offer advise. I believe we should have been contacted as share holders of the sale, unfortunately this did not happen.

Thank you for any advise.

You cannot sell them, they've already been sold for you. Assuming there hadn't been any other corporate actions over the years or you've forgotten that you sold them, if you still held them in certificated form when the company was bought then you should have received a cheque or electronic transfer from the registrar. You could double check your bank statements around August 2019 and/or contact the registrar to ask.

It used to be a dividend payer so did you receive dividends? Sometimes people move house and forget to update their address with the registrar. If not, it would be a good idea to ask about missing dividends, too. Apparently the last dividend - 1p per share - was paid on 01/02/19.

https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/kcom-KCOM/dividends

"Under the terms of the Scheme, KCOM Scheme Shareholders on KCOM's register of members at the Scheme Record Time, being 10.00 p.m. on 31 July 2019, are entitled to receive 120.3 pence for each KCOM Scheme Share held. Cash entitlements will be rounded up to the nearest penny. As set out in the scheme document sent to KCOM Shareholders on 18 June 2019 (Scheme Document), the despatch of cheques (for KCOM Scheme Shareholders holding KCOM Scheme Shares in certificated form) and the crediting of CREST accounts with cash consideration (for KCOM Scheme Shareholders holding KCOM Scheme Shares in uncertificated form) will occur as soon as practicable and in any event by 15 August 2019."

https://www.investegate.co.uk/kcom-group-plc--kcom-/rns/scheme-of-arrangement-becomes-effective/201908011018295533H/

EyEFive · 17 January 2022 at 1:24PM

Thank you for that: We did move house, and we did change address on the certificates (time line not sure about). We did not receive anything, no cheque notification nothing.
I'll follow the above and see where it ends.

EyEFive · 17 January 2022 at 1:59PM

Sorry to be a fool. Who is the registrar and how do I contact them. Checked banks nothing received.

Thanks again

MX5huggy · 17 January 2022 at 3:12PM

Another way to check on a share certificate’s validity is to contact the company registrars whose name should be written on the certificate. Companies use registrars to keep a record of who owns their shares. The registrars keep lists of all the registered owners and they can trace ownership back, sometimes for many years. They can also often help investors by tracing the history of the company and finding out whether it has changed name, gone bankrupt, merged with another company or been taken over.

If you cannot trace the registrar named on your share certificates (maybe they too have changed names or gone out of business), the LSEG suggests you contact one of the UK’s three main registrars who may be able to help. These are: Equiniti (equiniti.com), 0871 384 2030; Capita (capita.co.uk), 0871 664 0300; and Computershare (computershare.com), 0870 702 0003.

From

https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2015/jan/24/old-share-certificates-worth-anything

EyEFive · 17 January 2022 at 4:49PM

Thank you also.

One of the problems is the address on the certificates is IRG plc. gone out of business. These are the people who changed our address, but unfortunately for me, didn't confirm it.