ARTECON EUROPE B.V.

💤Zombieactive
FC019015 · oversea-company · incorporated 1996-01-30
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
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Turnover
not disclosed
Net worth
book net assets
Opportunity
79/100
Strong
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Investor take
Pursue
Active trading company with a 73-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 79/100 (strong), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 73). 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: low (45/100)

Sparse data coverage. Treat AI-generated outputs as preliminary. Manual diligence essential.

Company profile
address, no SIC, incorporation date
80
Financials
No iXBRL financials extracted
0
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
1 officers (1 active, 1 linked, 1 with DOB)
90
Ownership & PSC
No PSCs filed (unusual — worth investigating)
35
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
5 filings
60
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
79/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
80
Good data coverage for analysis.

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 (7 events)Click to expand
  1. 2022-09-21
    📍
    default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
    address · RP05
  2. 2002-10-08
    📄
    miscellaneous
    miscellaneous · MISC
  3. 1996-03-08
    📄
    legacy
    accounts · 701a
  4. 1996-02-14
    LAMBERT, James Lee appointed
    director
  5. 1996-02-14
    📍
    legacy
    address · BUSADD
  6. 1996-02-14
    📄
    legacy
    incorporation · 691
  7. 1996-01-30
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARTECON EUROPE B.V.

Owner dependency

100/100
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.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 30 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 73 — succession pressure is live.
  • +No director turnover: Company is 30 years old with no director changes — suggests a very tight-knit founder team never broadened.

Succession & seller-readiness

100/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 73 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 30 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 30 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

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

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
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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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Company details

Statusactive
Typeoversea-company
Incorporated1996-01-30
Jurisdictionunited-kingdom
Primary SIC

Registered office

FC019015: COMPANIES HOUSE DEFAULT ADDRESS
Cardiff
CF14 8LH

Filing status

Accounts
Next due:
Last made up to:
Confirmation statement
Next due:
Last:

Officers (1 active · 0 resigned)

LAMBERT, James Lee
director · ~73y · appointed 1996-02-14
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active

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Recent filings (5 total)

default-companies-house-registered-office-address-applied
address · RP05
2022-09-21
miscellaneous
miscellaneous · MISC
2002-10-08
legacy
accounts · 701a
1996-03-08
legacy
address · BUSADD
1996-02-14
legacy
incorporation · 691
1996-02-14