Jeremy King

Jeremy King spent a long career in the City of London as a corporate financier specialising in equity capital markets for small and mid-cap companies. By the time of his death he had described himself as a senior corporate-finance executive with over 18 years' experience, having advised numerous clients on IPOs, fundraisings, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, and the continuing obligations that come with a public listing. His earliest recorded City directorship was at Insinger de Beaufort (ACD) Limited, where Companies House records him as a director from November 1997 to May 2001.

From February 2008 until his death in April 2022, King served as a director and Head of Corporate Finance at Optiva Securities Limited, the London-based independent stockbroker and AIM nominated broker founded that same year by Christian Dennis (out of the former Orbis Equity Partners / Sectram business). In that role he was a senior member of the firm's corporate-broking and capital-markets team, helping growing companies access London's public markets.

Alongside his advisory work, King held a series of board seats at companies Optiva was connected to. He was a long-standing non-executive director of Upland Resources Limited, an AIM/standard-listed oil and gas exploration company (ticker UPL), and of several of its subsidiaries (Upland UK Onshore, the Tunisia entities, etc.), serving from the group's formation in 2014 through to April 2022. He was also a director of United Oil & Gas plc between June 2015 and July 2017, and earlier of CM&D Pharma (Investments) Limited (2007–2009).

Upland Resources, announcing his passing on 19 April 2022, praised his "distinguished career in the City" and the "invaluable guidance in legal and corporate matters" he had provided since the company's IPO. CEO and Chairman Bolhassan Di remembered him for "an outstanding intellect," for being "supportive and generous with his time," and noted that "Jeremy King will be missed by all who had the good fortune to work alongside him."

• Operated as a corporate-finance adviser/broker, not a personal angel — i.e., he structured and raised capital for client companies rather than writing seed cheques of his own.
• Focused on London public markets: IPOs and AIM admissions, pre-IPO and secondary placings, reverse takeovers, and ongoing public-company advisory ("continuing obligations").
• Worked across growth and resource sectors, with particular activity in oil & gas/natural resources (Upland Resources, United Oil & Gas) and in technology-focused acquisition vehicles (Vale International Group, which IPO'd to acquire a target in the technology sector in Europe/Asia).
• In his own words on the Optiva bio, he positioned himself as advising "many clients on IPOs, fundraising, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions and continuing obligations" over an 18-year-plus career.