AB AFRICA LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
14373473 · ltd · incorporated 2022-09-23
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 Sept 2024
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
🔔
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What this business does
Primary activity: SIC 42910
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 65-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 70/100. 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 (72/100)

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

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
1 year of iXBRL accounts extracted (no YoY comparison) + narrative notes parsed
50
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
2 officers (1 active, 2 linked, 2 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
3 connected companies via shared directors
54
Filing history
12 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
60
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

1 year extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
Net Worth
Current Assets
Current Liabilities

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2024-09-30

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
0
filings
Last 180 days
0
filings
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (13 events)Click to expand
  1. 2025-07-08
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-02-27
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-02-27
    📄
    change-person-director-company-with-change-date
    officers · CH01
  4. 2025-02-27
    📄
    change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
    persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
  5. 2024-06-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-09-27
    📄
    termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM01
  7. 2022-09-27
    📄
    appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
    officers · AP01
  8. 2022-09-27
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  9. 2022-09-26
    FOSTER, Philip James appointed
    director
  10. 2022-09-26
    ANDERSON, Craig resigned
    director
  11. 2022-09-23
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As AB AFRICA LIMITED
  12. 2022-09-23
    ANDERSON, Craig appointed
    director
  13. 2022-09-23
    📄
    incorporation-company
    incorporation · NEWINC

Owner dependency

90/100
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.

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.)

Group structure

Aqua Africa Limited holds majority control (50-75%). Likely parent but not wholly-owned.

🏛️
Aqua Africa Limited
Corporate parent · holds 50-75% shares
majority
AB AFRICA LIMITED
This company · 14373473

Parent relationships inferred from Persons with Significant Control filings. Full subsidiary tree requires reverse-lookup (coming).

Shareholders & ownership

1 active beneficial owner
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Aqua Africa Limited
Corporate entity
5075%
50–75%50-75% shares · 50-75% voting23/09/2022

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

9 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
Incorporated2022-09-23
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC42910 — SIC 42910

Registered office

The Pump House
Garnier Road
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 9QG
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2026-06-30
Last made up to: 2024-09-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-10-06
Last: 2025-09-22

Officers (1 active · 1 resigned)

FOSTER, Philip James
director · ~65y · appointed 2022-09-26
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ANDERSON, Craig
director · ~52y · appointed 2022-09-23 · resigned 2022-09-26
Resigned

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

Recent filings (12 total)

confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-10-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2025-07-08
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-02-27
change-person-director-company-with-change-date
officers · CH01
2025-02-27
change-to-a-person-with-significant-control
persons-with-significant-control · PSC05
2025-02-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-09-23
accounts-with-accounts-type-dormant
accounts · AA
2024-06-28
confirmation-statement-with-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-22
termination-director-company-with-name-termination-date
officers · TM01
2022-09-27
appoint-person-director-company-with-name-date
officers · AP01
2022-09-27
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2022-09-27
incorporation-company
incorporation · NEWINC
2022-09-23