Colt Telecom Share Discussion Threads

[nyla08] 13/8/2015 17:29

I am not very experienced in shares I'm receiving a lot of mail my head is spinning...what do I do, do I have to sell my colt shares, I'm sure they are at a lower price than bought.

[robwt] 13/8/2015 14:26

I agree DB, I wasted a great deal of time, money and concern on my Colt experience. I sold down ARM, BT, SKY and other good stocks and stayed with the dog with fleas.

I am normally ruthless on getting out, so I have no idea why I put so much faith in Colt. I have decided not to hold on any longer..FIDELITY being involved guarantees we have been stuffed.

[dickbush] 13/8/2015 13:06

Technohead, I've made a great deal of money out of Colt but I DO feel that Colt owes me something. Based on the forecasts we've been given for 2015 and 2016, I reckon I'm owed AT LEAST 60P a share which is, again, a great deal of money to me.

I will have to let most of my holding go but I will hold on to as many shares as I can afford to have sitting at risk of Fidelity doing me over again-assuming that late submissions don't take Fidelity past the 95% acceptance level.

I am absolutely disgusted with Fidelity. Anyone ever asks me about investing with Fidelity I will tell them Fidelity doesn't give a damn about making money for anyone but Fidelity.

[dickbush] 13/8/2015 12:14

Settlement of consideration
The consideration to which any Colt Shareholder is entitled under the Offer will be settled (i) in the case of valid acceptances received by 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 11 August 2015, on or before 26 August 2015; and (ii) in the case of valid acceptances received after 1.00 p.m. (London time) on 11 August 2015, but while the Offer remains open for acceptance, within 14 days of such acceptances being received, in each case in the manner described in the Offer Document.
Delisting and Repurchase Offer
As set out in the Offer Document, now that the Offer has been declared wholly unconditional, BidCo intends to procure that Colt makes a request to the U.K. Listing Authority and to the London Stock Exchange for the cancellation of the admission of the Colt Shares to listing on the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Delisting would significantly reduce the liquidity and marketability of any Colt Shares not purchased pursuant to the Offer, and their value may be affected as a consequence.
Following the Delisting, BidCo intends to procure that Colt makes an offer to the Colt Shareholders in respect of whom valid acceptances of the Offer have not been received, to repurchase their Colt Shares at the Offer Price.

[robwt] 12/8/2015 11:35

When do Colt pay for the shares already accepted, I couldn't see a date.

[dickbush] 12/8/2015 09:21

Fidelity have enough shares to delist but not enough to compulsorily acquire the rest. To share in the sale of Colt in 2017, do nothing.

[technohead] 11/8/2015 16:24

so that's the end of COLT

[robwt] 02/8/2015 18:01

Dealy, I know many will be glad to be out, but there isn't much match the prospects of Colt.

[dealy] 02/8/2015 15:12

They won't get 95% so many here can stick along for the ride if they want. Only downside of being private is that you are not liquid if you to be

[robwt] 02/8/2015 14:27

There are undervalued companies out there. Perhaps their share price is down because they are owned by a fund. This deal isn't to be compared to any other, if a proper bid is made by a competitor, it will attract other bidders. You cannot say that about Fidelity's bully boy terms here. It is an opportunistic bid to buy what stock they do not own at a knock down price with no threat of competition.

That isn't fair on those who have Colt shares at way above a price of 190p and stayed with them long term in order they get a fair return on their long suffereing investment. Just when things are improving, Fidelity want to deprive us of a return. I don't like this because it reminds me of when Alan Sugar (now Lord) tried bully boy tactics to buy the rest of Amstrad. Just like Fidelity, Sugar knew the score, but he lost because he considered people to be stupid. Amstrad investors got many times his derisory bid when BskyB bought it a couple of years later. I was invested in Amstrad, so I speak from experience.

Read it



Saying the share price was 115p last October should just remind us all that Fidelity's huge controlling holding has been the catalyst to why Colt shares have been depressed. No big player could get a look in. 190p is cheap shot from Fidelity, it says more about them than a million words. I am shocked they stoop so low. Many people see this for what it is, a stitch up!!

So we may be forced to take the 190p and look elsewhere to invest...and in a year or so Fidelity will cash in at many times more than 190p.

[dealy] 02/8/2015 12:33

Thanks Mirko. Whilst I agree on the valuation issue we should not forget that there are a lot of undervalued companies out there and that is a horrid performer price wise when Markets are weak. In October the shares dropped to 115p. Fidelity maybe taking value but they are offering liquidity which is also valuable

[dickbush] 02/8/2015 11:51

Thanks, Mirko. That saved me the job of finding the meeting. Thanks also to Austin Hopper of AWH who was the only one to express our views about this pathetic bid price. I am only surprised that he didn't ask if anyone had contacted Colt or Fidelity about buying the company in the past 12 months.

I note also that Italy and Spain, two of the big "dogs" are thought of as having bottomed and started to improve. I wonder if that hasn't been another reason for the timing of the bid. If Europe has finally turned up Colt would benefit operationally and Fidelity would benefit from getting improving Euro earnings at or near the low for the Euro.

If this bid is successful, the only way it could be an embarrassment to Fidelity in the short run is if the stockmarket collapses.

[robwt] 02/8/2015 11:46

Thanks Mirko....very interesting. It well and truly confirms that we small shareholders are being well and truly shafted. The management prove again to be doing us a disservice, what's new, the whole lot of them are weak little Fidelity puppets.

Fidelity are calling all the shots, it has been well engineered by Fidelity with the help of Standard Life and other self interest parties. Think of people who have their money in it with Standard Life and those other fatcat investment funds, they are also being shafted albeit indirectly.

It now looks like our long term investment in Colt, will be bought at a knock down price by the spivs who are Fidelity. Any hope of this coming good will end next week if Fidelity get their way.

[robwt] 01/8/2015 15:37

A lowball offer at 190p when it would have appeared a lot fairer for there to be a 2 in front of the price. I agree with DB, it is a shabby way we are being treated if you just think of that 1 for 3 consolodation at 177p plus the way Fidelity diluted us all soon after.

Of course, if it comes off, a good result for this new Fidelity management. Good financially, but bad press for their already declining reputation. The 30% they don't own may not be all plain sailing.

There have been a lot of shares hoovered up at 187p from those sellers who want their money now. Who knows if there is another interested party who are prepared to square up to Fidelity.

[dickbush] 01/8/2015 14:08

dealy, I will be amazed if the Relationship Agreement Resolution doesn't get voted through. I will also be surprised but delighted if (lack of) Fidelity doesn't get over 80% of the shares afterwards. I would be happiest for the quote to remain. If they are going to meet their target (admittedly a big if with Colt) for Free Cash Flow for 2016 (ex reorganisation charges) I can't see the shares doing too badly. This will look like a bond selling at a discount with a probable redemption at a very substantial premium in 2017.

[dickbush] 01/8/2015 13:42

FYI

I went back to the point in 2007 where the rumour that AT&T was willing to pay £2.50 a share was strongest. Based on the Euro/Sterling exchange rate on December 5th (0.7166) and Colt's full year 2007 EBITDA and end year net debt, that bid gave an EV/EBITDA of 8.66 times. OK so Colt was still growing, albeit slowing down. Against that, debt costs were very much higher than now. I can't say for certain what that should mean for an equivalent bid today, although I tend to think that it should mean a higher EV/EBITDA. The £3 a share that Fidelity was rumoured to want is equivalent to an EV/EBITDA of 10.37 times.

On the basis of my earlier guesstimate of UNDERLYING EBITDA for 2015, an 8.66 EV/EBITDA ratio leads to a price of almost £2.50. And that was, apparently, not an acceptable EV/EBITDA valuation by (lack of) Fidelity.

[dealy] 01/8/2015 13:40

ok, just read up on it and 80% is the minimum threshold. They are currently at 70% with the irrevocables so they still have to get acceptances for at least another 10%. If they don't the shares will probably fall in the short term but then give others the chance to add to their positions. Fidelity will probably then wish they had offered a bit more to get it over the line.

[dealy] 01/8/2015 13:31

I am not sure they will get 80%. If people or institutions are in two minds and not attracted enough to the offer to say "yes" I think they will struggle to get to 80%. I should check this myself but is it a "tender offer" in that they will take whatever shares they can get even if less than 80% or is it that the offer for any shares depends on the minimum 80% threshold being reached?

[dealy] 01/8/2015 09:18

Just read that Alpha Natural Resources (coal producer that filed for bankruptcy this week) had a 7 billion usd market cap in 2008. Compared to these kind of disasters we've faired ok investing in Colt in recent years (obviously not talking about the 98 to 2001 bubble).

If I had more liquidity I would also stick with it as it went private. Are we really even able to do that? At what level of ownership can they forcibly acquire the shares?

There is a strong chance that they won't get enough takers on this offer meaning the offer will expire and we will be back to where we were (endless upside but also a 150p share price before the endless upside arrives)

[palace andy] 01/8/2015 00:24

I think i will go private too. Whats another year or so after over a decade of misery.

[dickbush] 31/7/2015 23:29

I don't want the money for investment in other shares. I have my eye on a few but not at these market levels. I want cash but this bid is so low I'm going to elect to be a shareholder in the privately owned Colt with as many shares as I can afford-if I get the choice. That doesn't include those that my wife and I have in our ISA's. I've just found out that delisted shares can't be held in ISA's.