ABOUT AFRICA TRADE LTD.

💤Zombieactive
13202194 · ltd · incorporated 2021-02-15
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
Upgrade to see
Turnover
year to Feb 2026
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
76/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 45112
Sector: Wholesale & retail
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 45310SIC 45310
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 76/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (60/100, director aged 65). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (78/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 2 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
13 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
76/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Solid opportunity signal. Worth a dedicated memo and management meeting.

Business quality
65
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
70
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities
£0£0£0£0£0£0Feb 2025Feb 2026

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2026-02-282025-02-28

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (10 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-11-06
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  3. 2024-03-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  4. 2023-03-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  5. 2022-11-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-02-16
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  7. 2022-02-16
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  8. 2021-02-15
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABOUT AFRICA TRADE LTD.
  9. 2021-02-15
    DE JONG, Ate Jan appointed
    director
  10. 2021-02-15
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

95/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 65 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 5 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

65/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 63+: Senior director is approximately 65. Approaching typical UK retirement age — succession thinking likely.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Ate Jan De Jong
Individual · Dutch · DOB 04/1961 · age 65
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control15/02/2021

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

8 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2021-02-15
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC45112 — SIC 45112

Registered office

71-75 Shelton Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9JQ
United Kingdom

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-11-30
Last made up to: 2026-02-28
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-11-02
Last: 2025-10-19

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

DE JONG, Ate Jan
director · ~65y · appointed 2021-02-15
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Recent filings (13 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-04-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-11-06
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-21
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-10-22
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-03-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-10-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2023-03-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2022-11-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-10-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-02-17
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2022-02-16
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2022-02-16
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2021-02-15