Ann: Trading Halt, page-152

Hi @Salubrious (great username!)

May I suggest a quick Google search. Someone earlier suggested it was Evolution Capital out of London - this is almost certainly incorrect, it will be Evolution Capital Advisors out of Sydney (www.eveq.com). It is notable Stephen Silver's name doesn't appear anywhere on the website, as far as I can tell. With Evolution doing the raise I'd suggest this will probably not be going to big institutions, but more likely to s708's - so be aware of what that may mean. I won't comment on VR1 itself but one thing I'll say about the raise is that the quality of the broker involved almost always has a direct correlation to the quality of the investors who buy into the raise, and whether they are strategic/long term holders or not (in the microcap space, s708 soph placements are often flipped for a quick profit - there are plenty of examples of this). Please note I am NOT suggesting this will definitely happen with VR1 (I simply do not know), just pointing out that in the microcap space people always like to think big institutions are buying/manipulating their stock - it's often not the case.

Anyway, on the topic of Stephen Silver, here's one article for you to search for: ‘Micro-cap CropLogic named and shamed by ASX’ (18 September 2019). It mentions that individual and a company which is now suspended. I'm not suggesting the suspension has anything to do with Mr Silver - but the Evolution website is at pains to point out they trade on their track record, yet quite a number of the companies they have been associated with have less than rosy share price performances in the period since. You don't have to believe me, look it up for yourself. And yes, there have been some success stories too - Lake Resources is one.

If you are willing to dig deeper, looking up another article titled 'Hunter or the hunted? Fast life at the small end of town', published in November 2017. The key stock mentioned there is called 'Raven Energy Limited' which his previous shop was involved with. Spoiler alert: it is now de-listed. Some other companies also feature.

Do with this information what you will, but reading through this thread, I think @CropofCream has been making some very useful points, which may likely go ignored (for now). I have been here before, in a stock with a less-than-reputable broker running a cap raise. I did not consider the quality of the broker involved seriously enough, and it did not end well. Let's just say it was a great learning experience. The Everblu ASIC raids this month were another example/reminder of this. Again, that may not be the case here (VR1 may turn out to be a roaring success, and all the best to them), however it's always useful to be appraised of the risks. Hope this helps - but please feel free to fact check me and look it all up for yourself.

Cheers,
m