Disruptive technology Avocet Group to be "terminated"

by OUR BUSINESS UNIT

The bankrupt former chairman of the Avocet Group of companies has announced that all of the UK businesses which were supposed to be involved in ground breaking agricultural practices and fuel production are to be terminated.

Martin Frost is disqualified from involvement in the running of companies following confirmation of his bankruptcy by a judge last October.

But in a so-called Personal Note to 'colleagues' who have invested many millions of pounds in the troubled Avocet Group, Mr Frost outlines plans to develop the company's concepts abroad. So far not a single commercial product has been brought to market since Mr Frost and his fellow directors founded the business in 2014.

A number of investigations into Avocet's activities are continuing while businesses within the organisation are in liquidation or administration with long lists of creditors. One lending company is owed more than £3 million, and many shareholders now believe their investments are worthless.

According to Mr Frost's note, dated May 27th: "In 2014 AFS Ventures Plc set up two US Delaware based subsidiaries. These companies are now owned by Genfro Limited."

It is perhaps worth noting that according to Genfro Ltd's articles both Mr Frost and his colleague Dr Bob Jennings are life presidents of that company with annual index-linked honorariums of £24,000.

Mr Frost's correspondence continues: "In January 2015, Dr. Glyn Short (a former ICI scientist) formulated a strong business plan to focus the Avocet business from Delaware in the US. 

"I regret that I was induced to centre the Avocet business in Scotland. That said Israeli friends have now conditionally offered 1.2 billion shekels on a tapered purchase for extant & to be intellectual property, such to be directly controlled from the US & Israel. This means that all UK based companies shall be terminated. 

"A committee under Dr. Bob Jennings shall ensure a fair distribution of monies coming into the US to existing & past shareholders & creditors of Genfro Limited, Avocet Natural Capital Plc, and Omega Infinite Plc. Going forward the Avocet related concepts will be developed in Israel, the EU, and North America."

The note then indicates that further updates including notice of significant exit rewards shall start "late Sunday 29th May 2022." Questions will be taken and answered after June 15th, 2022.

A long-suffering Avocet investor who passed a copy of Mr Frost's note to Not Just Sheep & Rugby commented: "More baloney. We were promised payment for our shareholdings months ago by Martin Frost but all we get is one delaying tactic after another".

The latest developments in the long running saga sparked intense activity on the Avocet Shareholders' Forum where individuals post their comments and air their frustrations.

A contribution from 'Concerned' reads as follows: "In his “personal note” of  May 27th, 2022, Frost tells us that he has negotiated a sale price of 1.2 billion shekels for the Avocet and Gennfros IP. That works out to approximately £285 million. How disappointing! A little over a month ago Frost was promising us that he would conclude the sale of the same IP to these same Israelis for £400M and that it would be paid to us at the beginning of May. 

"This represents a decrease in the sale price in one month of almost 30%! I don’t know about you, but I think that due to poor performance, we may need a new negotiator to act on our behalf!! - aside from the fact that Frost is already legally prohibited by law from acting in an executive capacity on behalf of Avocet or any company!"

This prompted responses from another investor identified as FDF.

He wrote: "I am afraid that I have more bad news. I follow these matters somewhat closely. The two US entities that Frost speaks of are Avocet Solutions Inc. and Avocet Inc. Both are registered in Delaware. 

"According to the Delaware Secretary of State, both Avocet, Inc. and Avocet Solutions Inc. are not in good standing. They have been marked “void” which indicates they have not paid their franchise taxes or have not filed their annual reports with the State, in this case, since 2018. Given this, and the fact that all of the IP (intellectual property) was transferred to Avocet Infinite and then ultimately on to Avocet IP, I question why the Israelis would have any interest in either of these companies?"

 The same Forum poster then advised: "Ask your MP why complaints that affect 700+ investors and involve in excess of £13M are taking so long to be addressed? Especially given that the validity of some of the complaints should be dead simple to determine. 

"For example, we were enticed into investing in Gennfros with the promise from Frost that “mystery investors” would almost immediately buy our shares at 300% of what we just paid for them. Why hasn’t the Insolvency Service been able to verify the simple fact of the mystery investors’ existence, or, if they have, why have they not acted on it?"