A senior manager from PC seller Dell Computer Corp, has made an extraordinary offer to step in as chairman at struggling UK storage firm, Microgen Holdings Plc. Martyn Ratcliffe wants to invest 3.5m pounds of his own money in the firm, and to take up an executive position on the board in order to turn the company around. Currently a senior vice president and formerly general manager of Dell’s European, Middle East and Africa operations for four years, Ratcliffe will initially join as a non-executive chairman, pending shareholder approval for the issue to him of 3.9 million new shares at 90 pence per share. This represents around 10% of the firm’s current share capital, offered at a premium of 21% to Thursday’s market value. Ratcliffe also wants options to purchase a further 1 million shares at the same price. The news was warmly received in the City, and Microgen’s shares leapt 50% to 110 pence. The stock has bottomed out in recent months following a string of profit warnings, but Ratcliffe clearly feels Microgen has hidden potential. The company’s background is in computer output to microfilm (COM), but as COM revenues have fallen away, it’s poured millions into developing a modern alternative it calls Axess. This is a hybrid combination of electronic storage and retrieval using RAID drives accessed via a browser front end, combined with longer-term storage using microfiche. The system is currently used for high volume items such as sales invoices, but uptake amongst clients has been slow. Ratcliffe, described by his colleagues as a highly dynamic man in his mid-thirties, will be gunning to push the technology into new areas of electronic document management, as has UK rival M-R Group Plc. Standing down as chairman will be Douglas Lee who will continue to act as a consultant to the board.
