ABCO DIVERS LIMITED

💤Zombieactive
NI034038 · ltd · incorporated 1998-04-21
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
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
—
book net assets
Opportunity
75/100
Strong
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What this business does
Primary activity: Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.
Sector: Construction
Investor take
Pursue
Strong opportunity: active trading company with strong profile and bankable structure.

Opportunity 75/100 (strong), bankability 85/100. High owner-dependency — earn-out structure likely required for clean transition. 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 (58/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 17.3y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 17.3 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Distress signals active — lender appetite narrows.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (77/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
7 officers (1 active, 7 linked, 4 with DOB)
81
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
86 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
75/100Strong
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

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

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
55
Some acquirability indicators.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
—
Net Worth
—
Current Assets
—
Current Liabilities
—
£0£0£0£0£0£0Apr 2024Apr 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-04-302024-04-30
Average employees800800

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 90 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 capital
Last 180 days
2
filings
  • • 1 accounts
  • • 1 capital
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (32 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-04-18
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2026-02-18
    📄
    capital-allotment-shares
    capital · SH01
  3. 2025-04-24
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-03-17
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  6. 2023-03-16
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2023-03-16
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  8. 2022-06-01
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2021-04-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  10. 2020-01-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2019-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  12. 2018-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  13. 2017-01-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  14. 2016-05-19
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  15. 2016-04-15
    📄
    termination-secretary-company-with-name-termination-date
    officers · TM02
  16. 2016-02-10
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  17. 2016-02-01
    ➖
    OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul resigned
    secretary
  18. 2016-01-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-small
    accounts · AA
  19. 2014-11-07
    ➕
    SMITH, Michael Francis appointed
    director
  20. 2014-11-07
    ➖
    OSBORNE, Brendan Hugh resigned
    director
  21. 2014-11-07
    ➖
    OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul resigned
    director
  22. 2009-06-15
    ➕
    OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul appointed
    secretary
  23. 2009-06-15
    ➖
    SYBAN LTD resigned
    corporate-secretary
  24. 2009-01-07
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: Northern Bank Limited
  25. 2007-01-05
    ➖
    OSBORNE, Sheila Margaret, Mrs. resigned
    secretary
  26. 2007-01-05
    ➕
    SYBAN LTD appointed
    corporate-secretary
  27. 2003-01-23
    ➕
    OSBORNE, Brendan Hugh appointed
    director
  28. 2003-01-23
    ➖
    OSBORNE, Vincent Paul resigned
    director
  29. 1998-04-21
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ABCO DIVERS LIMITED
  30. 1998-04-21
    ➕
    OSBORNE, Sheila Margaret, Mrs. appointed
    secretary
  31. 1998-04-21
    ➕
    OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul appointed
    director
  32. 1998-04-21
    ➕
    OSBORNE, Vincent Paul appointed
    director

Owner dependency

75/100
High — earn-out structure required

Material founder dependency. Consider a 2-3 year earn-out and build in a handover plan before completion.

FACTORS
  • +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.

Succession & seller-readiness

60/100
Strong succession signal

Multiple signals suggest succession is on the horizon. Candidate for proactive outreach.

SIGNALS
  • primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 28 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.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr John Vincent Osborne
Individual · Irish · DOB 11/1976 · age 50
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mr Brendan Hugh Osborne
Individual · Irish · DOB 06/1981 · age 45
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 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.

See pricing →
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Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

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Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1998-04-21
Jurisdictionnorthern-ireland
Primary SIC43999 — Other specialised construction activities n.e.c.

Registered office

282 Moira Road
Lisburn
County Antrim
BT28 2TU
Northern Ireland

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-31
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-05-03
Last: 2025-04-19

Officers (1 active · 6 resigned)

SMITH, Michael Francis→
director · ~51y · appointed 2014-11-07
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul→
secretary · appointed 2009-06-15 · resigned 2016-02-01
Resigned
OSBORNE, Sheila Margaret, Mrs.→
secretary · appointed 1998-04-21 · resigned 2007-01-05
Resigned
SYBAN LTD→
corporate-secretary · appointed 2007-01-05 · resigned 2009-06-15
Resigned
OSBORNE, Brendan Hugh→
director · ~45y · appointed 2003-01-23 · resigned 2014-11-07
Resigned
OSBORNE, John Vincent Paul→
director · ~50y · appointed 1998-04-21 · resigned 2014-11-07
Resigned
OSBORNE, Vincent Paul→
director · ~81y · appointed 1998-04-21 · resigned 2003-01-23
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
Northern Bank
Northern Bank Limited
Mortgage or charge1 property07/01/200916/03/2023

Recent filings (86 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-04-18
capital-allotment-shares
capital · SH01
2026-02-18
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-04-24
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2025-04-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-04-19
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2024-01-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-04-21
accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
accounts · AA
2023-03-17
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2023-03-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-06-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-04-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-07-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-04-28
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-07-16
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2020-01-30