Darwen Share Discussion Threads

[bearraider] 20/6/2008 15:27

stud69

Agreed he bought for an undisclosed sum but he has sold it ALL to Darwen for £15.95m which Darwen will pay for with 40m shares placed at 40p of which only £675k is directors taking part in the placing. These 40m shares will be added to the 49m existing Darwen shares of which Roy holds 51% - unless Roy takes up 20m shares his holding in Darwen is diluted

[stud69] 20/6/2008 14:08

Bear

As Stanley bought Opare "privately for an undisclosed sum" and has reversed i into this "public" company I think that you will find he owns rather more than 27% of the enlarged group

Stanley is nothing if not a man who looks after himself very well

Thought the cartoon above, post 214, was excellent and has an uncanny resmblance to our hero. MT think you should put it at the header instead of "on the buses"

Good deal all 'round IMHO

[leighbarton] 20/6/2008 13:23

MTG - you are absolutely right: I missed the first sentence of the RNS and its significance!! So Optare plc going forward and undoubtedly a change in EPIC to look forward to.

Bearraider - unless I really have forgotten how to read (see above) then this is by way of Placing and the RNS implies this is a done deal. Presumably it was getting the terms of the placing agreed that took the time. I have requested the documents so hopefully will have a better understanding when that comes through.

[bearraider] 20/6/2008 13:08

I assume that if the directors are only taking £675k worth of shares and the placement is effectively doubling the number of shares that Roy will own about 27% of the new Darwen instead of 51%. The 40p figure kind of undergirds the share price I assume from the language it is fully subscribed or will there be a rights issue?

[m.t.glass] 20/6/2008 12:24

LB - yes I guess they could stay listed as Darwen Group. But I took the phrase "..and to change the name of the Company to Optare plc..." as meaning the company that is listed on AIM, rather than a company namechange within within the listed group. Could mean either I suppose.

[tevezunited] 20/6/2008 08:33

back trading no deals?

[m.t.glass] 20/6/2008 08:10

Will they be changing the company ticker from DHP to summat else?
OPT is already taken. So is BUS. OPTA is available. So is HBUS (H for Hybrid).
And so is OBUS (O for Optare)

[dalcon01] 20/6/2008 07:36

Acquisition Update

[dalcon01] 20/6/2008 07:34

Restoration - Darwen Holdings plc

RNS Number : 1424X
AIM
20 June 2008







NOTICE

(384)

20/06/2008 7:30am

RESTORATION OF TRADING ON AIM

DARWEN HOLDINGS PLC

The trading on AIM for the under-mentioned securities was temporarily suspended. The
suspension is lifted from 20/06/2008 7:30am an
admission document having been published and an announcement having been made.

[topvest] 19/6/2008 21:43

Reverse takeovers take time. Patience required!

[2trying] 17/6/2008 21:17

hmmmm....

had to run wife to one of these conference / training courses thingys this morning

so had to drive past Whitebirk ( East Lancs Coachbuilders site )

its gone - closed - for sale

o.k. as i've said - i don't hold shares in darwen group , so i only look at them now and then...my mate never said nuffin' -

what's the story ?

off topic... Darwen ( the town i live in ) biggest employer is Brookhouse

( they make specialist parts for aeroplanes / aerospace )
just been bid for by some American company....

anyone any juice / links ?

its already been a long hard day !!!!

i need beer and relax

John

[leighbarton] 17/6/2008 16:56

MTG - given the size of the order surprised it was not an RNS...I wonder how much longer we will need to wait?

[bhudiaki] 16/6/2008 13:45

When is this becoming unsuspended?

[m.t.glass] 16/6/2008 11:48

LB - that was certainly the impression he also gave in interviews around the time of the Darwen floatation -- that Darwen is specifically a hybrids-focussed enterprise, not electric.

But since then he was quoted as "not ruling out" an all-electric small bus. I think it might have been mentioned on this thread(?)

I don't know if he meant it - nor even if he was merely mis-reported.

Personally I would hope that he will indeed maintain that differentiation between Darwen in the hybrids field and Smith in the all-electric field.

(even though 20 years down the line I expect all buses will be electric, so the distinction will then disappear)

[leighbarton] 16/6/2008 11:35

MTG in meeting with Stanley he was adamant that they were in the business of Hybrid not Electric buses. He felt there was clear differentiation between Darwen and TAN, indeed one of the reasons for having the two businesses was he did not want to cloud TAN's green credentials.

Darwen's business model is about cleaner, fuel efficient models at a fraction of the cost of those currently being supplied into the UK market. Optare should add to this...now much longer are we going to have to wait for the details of the deal to be announced. There must be some ongoing issue that is causing a delay, perhaps coming to an agreement of what is fair value for Optare?

[m.t.glass] 13/6/2008 19:20

As mentioned occasionally on the EV thread, there are all-electric buses in service in various localities around the world. This one is in use in Adelaide, Australia. That particular one is recharged entirely with electricity from a renewables source - photovoltaic roof panels at the bus depot - which wouldn't work so readily in cloudier climes, but at least it shows that a battery powered bus, recharged by whatever means, is technically viable.

"...Adelaide City Council has had in service since January a Tindo bus, billed as `the world's first solar electric bus'. The bus uses the latest in battery technology, giving it a range of 200km between charges, carries 27 passengers, has the same pull up hills as a diesel bus and is recharged using a solar photovoltaic system at the Adelaide Central Bus Station. This system not only re-charges the bus, but also feeds into the Adelaide electricity grid. At present they have only one bus, but they are planning a fleet of them..."





Would Darwen Group be able to produce (or temporarily buy in) something similar?
Here is an earlier artice about it

[leighbarton] 09/6/2008 15:05

Tevez, don't know your source, but if true it would be welcome news.

[tevezunited] 09/6/2008 12:50

Fundraising going on today very strong demand. news later this week

[leighbarton] 09/6/2008 11:58

9degrees, yes I caught that show as well. First time I have watched it and seemed like a reasonable discourse. Boris still battling hard to throw off his image of buffoonry that the media would like to keep attached!

If Stanley was right in his presentation to investors earlier in the year then we should be well placed to offer a competitive fuel efficient model. But as said I just hope that the machinations of this deal does not take the eyes of either management team off the ball!