Mother's lost investments - Share certificates in liquidated companies - can I make a claim?

abcde12234

Hi All, 

This is a long shot. I am tracking down my mother's lost investments. She has a number of inherited investments or investments taken out for her by her father many years ago which she has completely lost track of. I'm sifting through the paperwork and she has share certificates for: 

• Sear Holdings Limited
• Selfridges plc
• Gresham Investment Trust plc

For Sears, Companies House has this as dissolved on 3 July 2018. It looks like it sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019 and the new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transform Holdco LLC and after that, Sears Holdings Corporation was closed.

The registrar was Hill Samuel Registrars Limited. I can only find Hill Samuel Finance Limited on Companies house; and it looks like Hill Samuel is now part Lloyd's Banking Group, but I'm not sure if Hill Samuel Registrars Limited is a completely separate entity (and if so, what became of it).

Is there any point in looking into the Sears holding any further or shoud I just write it off? 

For Selfridges plc, it looks like that is now Selfridges & Co Limited, which was bought by a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding. 

The registrar was Exchange Registrars Limited, which is dissolved. I cannot see whether it became something else. 

Is the original share certificate for Selfridges plc still valid? And can anyone give me any guidance on ascertaining who the registrar is please? 

For Gresham Investment Trust plc, it looks like this became Zurich Whiteley Investment Trust Limited. Companies House has the status of this as 'liquidation'. It looks like this may be a part of Zurich Insurance Public Limited Company which is active and based in Ireland. 

The registrar was W.H. Stentiford & Co which has been dissolved. I can't find whether it became something else. 

Would I be able to make a claim on this? Is there any point? How would I go about doing so? 

Any help or guidance that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. 

wmb194

abcde12234 said:

Hi All, 

This is a long shot. I am tracking down my mother's lost investments. She has a number of inherited investments or investments taken out for her by her father many years ago which she has completely lost track of. I'm sifting through the paperwork and she has share certificates for: 

• Sear Holdings Limited
• Selfridges plc
• Gresham Investment Trust plc

For Sears, Companies House has this as dissolved on 3 July 2018. It looks like it sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019 and the new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transform Holdco LLC and after that, Sears Holdings Corporation was closed.

The registrar was Hill Samuel Registrars Limited. I can only find Hill Samuel Finance Limited on Companies house; and it looks like Hill Samuel is now part Lloyd's Banking Group, but I'm not sure if Hill Samuel Registrars Limited is a completely separate entity (and if so, what became of it).

Is there any point in looking into the Sears holding any further or shoud I just write it off? 

For Selfridges plc, it looks like that is now Selfridges & Co Limited, which was bought by a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding. 

The registrar was Exchange Registrars Limited, which is dissolved. I cannot see whether it became something else. 

Is the original share certificate for Selfridges plc still valid? And can anyone give me any guidance on ascertaining who the registrar is please? 

For Gresham Investment Trust plc, it looks like this became Zurich Whiteley Investment Trust Limited. Companies House has the status of this as 'liquidation'. It looks like this may be a part of Zurich Insurance Public Limited Company which is actove and based in Ireland. 

The registrar was W.H. Stentiford & Co which has been dissolved. I can't find whether it became something else. 

Would I be able to make a claim on this? Is there any point? How would I go about doing so? 

Any help or guidance that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. 

How old are these certificates? They must be ancient. From looking at what's downloadable on Companies House, by 1994 Gresham IT appears to have become wholly owned by Eagle Star, which at that time was a subsidiary of BAT Industries when it was a conglomerate (today known as British American Tobacco). By 1999 it was owned by Zurich, "The Company's ultimate parent company is Zurich Financial Services which is incorporated in Switzerland. Zurich Financial Services is owned as to 57% by Zurich Allied AG, incorporated in Switzerland and as to 43% by Allied Zurich p.l.c. incorporated in England and Wales." 

I think this one is long gone: there must have either been a cheque pre-1994 when BAT or Eagle Star acquired it or payment was in shares e.g., in BAT. 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00721834/filing-history


From the 1994 accounts:

wmb194

Sears was bought by a Philip Green company named January Investments in 1999 for what looks like cash - see the BBC article below - at 359p per share so a cheque or electronic payment should have been received. The article mentioned that Sears used to own Selfridges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_plc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/259993.stm

wmb194

Selfridges appears to have been spun out of Sears in 1998. It was bought for cash in 2003 by Wittington Investments Ltd., so, again, a cheque or electronic deposit should have been received.

This is the company that has now sold Selfridges to the Thai and Austrian joint venture you mentioned. On an unrelated note, it also owns 54.5% of Associated British Foods plc, the owner of Primark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittington_Investments

I enjoy sleuthing these things but this is another reminder that people should throw their old certificates away when they're no longer relevant.

Sources:

"By then, Sears was forced to begin looking for ways to shed the rest of its holdings. In 1997, the company decided to spin off Selfridges, a move which was completed in 1998 when Selfridges returned to a separate listing on the London stock exchange."

https://www.company-histories.com/Selfridges-Plc-Company-History.html

FTSE250 additions and subtractions:

https://research.ftserussell.com/products/downloads/FTSE_250_Constituent_history.pdf

abcde12234

Wow! You've been such a great help! Thank you thank you thank you!

You're right - the certificates are pre-historic. Unfortunately everything else was lost over the years after my mother moved countries. It's been a real task sifting through everything. Thank you again for your help, it is much appreciated!

LHW99

Are the certificates pretty? You could try putting them on ebay for a pound as "decorative paper (unframed)"