Clear Leisure has big plans for 2020
What it does
Clear Leisure PLC (LON:CLP), previously Brainspark, is an AIM-listed investment company with a technology-focused portfolio.
The focus of the management is two-fold: to pursue the monetisation of all of the company’s existing assets, through selected realisations, court-led recoveries of misappropriated assets and substantial debt-recovery processes and to seek technology-related investments, with special regard to interactive media, blockchain and AI sectors.
What it owns
After reviewing its strategy, Clear Leisure has set out to build its future on small stakes of carefully picked projects focused in the technology sector.
The big project: London and Milan’s ‘Digital Twins’
Clear Leisure is working to establish two new Italian-domiciled companies that will develop digital maps of London and Milan, at the cost of €5mln and €2mln respectively.
Management said they will boast an “unprecedented” resolution, ay one centimetre per pixel for the 40 square kilometres of Milan and 100 sq km of London.
The new companies will manage the project commercially, while GeoSim Systems will be contracted to produce the models.
GeoSim Systems
Clear Leisure has 4.53% stake in GeoSim, an Israeli company specialising in 3D city mapping to create digital models of cities, called ‘Digital Twins’.
Whilst the geo-spatial visualisation solutions offered by Google, Microsoft and others feature satellite photographs, street photographs and more recently coarse 3D-models with limited visual quality and interactivity, GeoSim delivers highly detailed, fully interactive city models, which the user can explore from the land or the air.
The scope for the end-product varies across sectors, such as real estate and city planning, homeland security, tourism and entertainment.
ForCrowd
Clear Leisure owns 20% in ForCrowd, an Italian equity crowdfunding platform based in Milan dedicated to Italian small/medium companies, launched in December.
The money for London’s and Milan’s ‘Digital Twins’ will be raised through the crowdfunder, meaning the €7mln required in total will not come out of shareholders’ pockets.
PBV Monitor
PBV, in which Clear Leisure owns 10% stake, is the only asset not involved within the ‘Digital Twins’ project, as it is focused on the legal space.
It is in fact an Italian company specialising in the acquisition and dissemination of data for the legal services industry, utilising proprietary market intelligence tools and dedicated search software.
As part of the investment agreement, Clear Leisure is an exclusive advisor regarding the potential sale of PBV is entitled to a 4% commission fee.
Sipiem court case
In 2019, Clear Leisure acquired the €10.8mln legal action from Sipiem, which is entitled to receive a third of any funds recovered.
Sipiem, an Italian construction and leisure company, filed a claim against its previous executive management team and internal audit committee for fraud and mismanagement.
The first hearing was completed in February, with the second appointment in court scheduled for May.
How it is doing
In the six months to 30 June, loss shrank 70% to €477,000, while group net asset value was €1.5mln.
Revenue was 25% lower at €6,000 and cash in the bank at the end of the period was €3,000.
What the boss says: Francesco Gardin, chairman
“The Sipiem trial has finally started, and we are very pleased that two of the largest European insurance groups are involved, having provided professional insurance cover to several of the defendants.”
“We are now assessing options with our lawyers to increase further the legal pressure on the defendants.”
Video
[embedded content]
Inflexion points
- Launch of London and Milan 3D mapping projects
- ForCrowd ramp-up
- Sale of PBV Monitor
