ARCANA CAPITAL LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
14090319 · ltd · incorporated 2022-05-06
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 May 2025
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
70/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: Book publishing
Sector: Information & communication
ALSO REGISTERED FOR
  • 58190Other publishing activities
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and acceptable with review structure.

Opportunity 70/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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: strategic trade sale (65/100).

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

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
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
15 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
70/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
Adequate — check latest filings for context.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
82
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£0May 2024May 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-05-312024-05-31

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 confirmation-statement
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • 1 confirmation-statement
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (13 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-01-07
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-06-24
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-06-18
    📄
    dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS02
  4. 2025-05-20
    📄
    gazette-notice-voluntary
    gazette · GAZ1(A)
  5. 2025-05-08
    📄
    dissolution-application-strike-off-company
    dissolution · DS01
  6. 2025-05-08
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  7. 2024-07-05
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  8. 2024-05-20
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  9. 2024-01-16
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  10. 2023-05-18
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  11. 2022-05-06
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARCANA CAPITAL LIMITED
  12. 2022-05-06
    BATEMAN, James Andrew appointed
    director
  13. 2022-05-06
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

45/100
Moderate signal

Some succession indicators present. Worth watching; approach if sector/strategy fits.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.

Red flags

1 low
Multiple registered office changes
low

Multiple address changes in a short period can indicate operational instability or admin disorder.

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr James Andrew Bateman
Individual · British · DOB 07/1985 · age 41
75100%
75–100%board control75-100% shares · 75-100% voting · board control06/05/2022

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

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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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.

See pricing →
🔒Advanced scoring suite

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.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2022-05-06
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC58110 — Book publishing

Registered office

Belfry House
Bell Lane
Hertford
Hertfordshire
SG14 1BP
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-02-28
Last made up to: 2025-05-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2027-05-19
Last: 2026-05-05

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

BATEMAN, James Andrew
director · ~41y · appointed 2022-05-06
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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

Recent filings (15 total)

confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2026-05-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2026-01-07
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-06-24
dissolution-withdrawal-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS02
2025-06-18
gazette-notice-voluntary
gazette · GAZ1(A)
2025-05-20
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-05-08
dissolution-application-strike-off-company
dissolution · DS01
2025-05-08
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-05-08
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-07-05
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-05-20
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2024-05-20
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-01-16
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-05-18
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2023-05-18
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2022-05-06