Dobbies Garden Centres Share Discussion Threads

[ntv] 19/7/2007 07:33

i went into one of tom hunters wyevale garden centres y'day
it was a disgrace and an absolute mess

[linhur] 18/7/2007 23:20

AFAIAA the RNS is just giving the OFT a further 10 days to consider whether to make a referral to the Competition Commission about monopoly considerations. I expect they have had a lot of weighty submissions from interested parties but they will want to make a ruling before the hols!.
Normally it is a condition of the purchaser that the competition position has been cleared by the OFT/CC/EU etc before the takeover is complete. In practice it will probably mean Tesco will extend the bid for 14 days. The announcement tomorrow will indicate the number of acceptances to the Teco bid.I shall be suprised if there are many additiond to the 30 odd% Tesco already hold.

IMHO
Linhur

[ch3riton] 18/7/2007 23:00

Gengulphus/Wahlenm ( or anyone else )

RE: That RNS on 10 July about OFT extending "period for consideration" from 19 July to 2 August. Does that mean Tesco's offer period has effectively been extended?

Had long conversation with broker on Friday, but he didn't mention anything about extension.

Also does it mean OFT are thinking seriously whether to stop Tesco from this take-over ?

I didn't realise I knew so little about takeovers, but this is way beyond me.

[aay100] 17/7/2007 20:18

What ever happens, thats either Tesco or Tom Hunter buys control of Dobbies, Dobbies share price should make a nice little premium for all shareholders, @ £16.05p both parties desparetly want Dobbies so theyll pay may be £17 +. BUY.

[aay100] 17/7/2007 20:17

What ever happens, thats either Tesco or Tom Hunter buys control of Dobbies, Dobbies share price should make a nice little premium for all shareholders, @ £16.05p both parties desparetly want Dobbies so theyll pay may be £17 +. BUY.

[wahlenm] 15/7/2007 11:45

Link to Observer article

[wahlenm] 10/7/2007 11:30

Sir TH must be pleased by the following

Office of Fair Trading
10 July 2007


Enterprise Act 2002 - Prior Notice of Mergers

The Office of Fair Trading received on 21 June 2007 a Merger Notice under
Section 96 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act) in respect of the proposed
arrangements for:

Anticipated acquisition by Tesco Holdings Limited of Dobbies Garden Centres plc

The OFT now gives notice that in accordance with Section 97(2) of the Act the
period for consideration of this Notice has been extended by a further period of
10 working days. The period for considering this Notice will therefore expire on
2 August 2007.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

[tuffbet] 10/7/2007 08:34

Comment from Scotsman - nothing new just their sumary of events.

[gengulphus] 07/7/2007 19:30

In post 60 on this thread, I discussed what I though tthe state of play was, for Tom Hunter among others, and said:

"So I would expect him to ease off on the buying and see whether he can let the price drift down again - until and unless Tesco raise their offer or the Takeover Panel issues a "put up or shut up" deadline, he would probably prefer to be buying slowly at prices more in the £16 region than rapidly in the £18 region..."

I'm feeling quite pleased at the moment to have read it that accurately!

The main significance of this development to my mind is that it indicates that he's not content to just get a blocking stake in the company. So he may well still be planning to bid himself. If he is, though, he'll probably want to raise his stake a bit further at current price levels - after all, he can buy another 400,000+ shares before he has to make a bid, and the difference between paying 1600p or 1845p for them is around a million quid saved on the overall purchase price. Not major compared with the overall amounts of money required, but nevertheless a nice saving...

Gengulphus

[wahlenm] 07/7/2007 10:48

Gengulphus

2 Points

1) Thanks for your explanation. I am not treating your post as an informed precis of the rules but I do find it easier to comprehend. I will do my best to read it together with the takeover code. Incidently the slight difference in the trade price and price quoted in the notice does not surprise me. I once did a trade in a share which was reported at one price but the contract price was slightly lower.

2) My post 93 suggested Tesco might be sending a message to the market. From what you have said about the takeover code I suspect you are correct. I do however, think the purchase at £16.00 by Sir TH is a message to the market and particularly Tesco. Views on this point welcome.

[gengulphus] 06/7/2007 20:02

Rule 8.1 basically says that offerors (who include potential offerors, not just those with a declared offer) must disclose their dealings publicly.

Rule 8.3 basically says that anyone owning 1% or more of the company must disclose their dealings publicly during an offer period. The first paragraph of note 5 points out that if both rule 8.1 and rule 8.3 apply, only the disclosure under rule 8.1 is needed - an offeror who owns 1% or more of the company doesn't need to disclose the same information twice!

So by making a disclosure under rule 8.1, West Coast Capital is retaining its status as a potential offeror and fulfilling its obligations under both rules. On the other hand, Adam & Company Investment Management Limited's announcement yesterday under rule 8.3 simply describes the dealings of a substantial shareholder who might affect the outcomeof the offer, without actually being an offeror themselves.

And the "EPT Disclosure" announcements by Deutsche Bank AG London are under rule 38.5(a), which as I said yesterday are (I think!) to do with market-making activities by Tesco's adviser, that the adviser has established to the Takeover Panel's satisfaction are being done by a separate part of their organisation that is well-insulated from the part advising Tesco.

I don't pretend to understand all the wording of rule 8 or its notes, by the way, or indeed any other rule of the Takeover Code! The best I can usually do is pick out which points are important and which are nitpicky details to do with special situations, and usually understand what the former are saying.

Gengulphus

[wahlenm] 06/7/2007 19:33

Gengulphus

West coast purchse shown as rule 8.1. Yesterdays announcement rule 8.3
I have looked at takeoverpanel notes on rule 8.3. I regret they remain a mystery to me. Can you understand the notes?

[spongman] 06/7/2007 18:37

So West Coast have picked up a few more. The game is still very much on!

best regrds
$pong

[gengulphus] 05/7/2007 23:32

Interesting - I'd previously missed the fact that it was reporting both a sale and a purchase... Of course, buying shares at one price and selling them on at a slightly higher price is exactly what market makers do, and on further consideration I believe acting as a market maker may well be more compatible with being an "exempt principal trader" than acting as a broker: market makers normally trade as principals, brokers normally (though not always) as agents.

Looking at yesterday's reported trades, I can see trades of 5,257 shares at prices of 1565p and 1570p - not certain why the 1570p differs from the 1572.83p in the RNS!

Anyway, we should soon know, because if Tesco have incurred an obligation to raise their offer, they have to announce the intention to raise it quite quickly - "immediately" is the word used in rules 6 and 7 of the Takeover Code...

Gengulphus

[wahlenm] 05/7/2007 20:25

Hi Gengulphus.

No I am not certain. The way I read it the shares were both bought and sold on the same day ( extract from RNS below). I cannot see any reason for this except for Tesco wanting to send a message to the market, and not have to make an announcement at the end of the day that it had added to its shareholding. MM moved the price up as soon as anouncement made which adds weight to this being a tesco inspired transaction. You know the takeover code better than I have you found anything?

2. DEALINGS (Note 2)



(a) Purchases and sales


Total number of securities purchased Highest price paid (Note 3) Lowest price paid (Note 3)


5,257 #15.65 #15.65




Total number of securities sold Highest price received (Note 3) Lowest price received (Note 3)


5,257 #15.7283 #15.7283

[gengulphus] 05/7/2007 19:55

Are you certain?

I'm not certain I've got this right, but I think all the stuff about "exempt principal trader", "recognised intermediary status" and "dealing in a client-serving capacity" is to do with an exception in the Takeover Code: if one part of an organisation is acting as an adviser in a takeover, and another part is for instance acting as a broker for third parties, and the organisation convinces the Takeover Panel that the two parts are well enough insulated from each other, then dealing for the broker's clients doesn't count as dealing by the advisor and so doesn't commit the offeror to paying that price.

I would also be distinctly surprised if Tesco were to commit itself to paying an extra 65p per share for the sake of getting their hands on the 5,257 shares mentioned in that announcement - it's basically just too small a number of shares...

My guess is that the price rise is just due to a slight change in people's assessments of the chances of Tom Hunter launching a rival bid - with Tesco offering 1500p and Tom Hunter having to offer at least 1845p if he bids at all, it only takes a 5% increase in the assessed chances of him making a bid to justify a share price rise of around 17p...

Gengulphus

[wahlenm] 05/7/2007 18:53

announcement today that tescos advisers bought some at £15.65 yesterday. This means they must pay everyone at this level

[spacecake] 05/7/2007 17:10

Bit of a late run up on the price this afternoon, wonder why ?

[spongman] 04/7/2007 16:12

There have been some sizeable buys but I think we've seen the back of 18.50 now.

Some Thoughts;

TSCO could be buying here?

Sir TH could be buying here?

Tsco could spring an increased bid this weekend at around 1550/1600 having a few more per cent under their belt?

What happens if no increased bid comes from TSCO (PE is already silly)? Sir TH has done his job as a 'spoiler' = Price crashes? Sir TH waits 6 months or so and comes back for another bite at a much lower price? Having a few more under his belt and a lower average?

Sir TH makes offer of £Stupid (1850+) and spends years waiting for it to add some value to his business (indeed detracting value from the rest of his garden centre assets)?


Just all postulations guys, what do you think.

TIA
Regrds
$pong

[spongman] 04/7/2007 13:09

Could Sir TH average down at this price?

[spongman] 04/7/2007 10:10

Top Up time?

Regrds
$pong

[wahlenm] 03/7/2007 17:35

I am still in. There is nothing wrong in taking a profit but I believe that Tesco will have to offer more to persuade larger shareholders to sell

[spongman] 03/7/2007 16:45

Anybody bailed yet?

Regrds
$pong