Unbound Share Discussion Threads

[rambutan2] 18/9/2003 19:46

in the times today.

[daal43] 18/9/2003 18:32

Hi Simeon7,
Thanks.

rambutan2 where did that story come from? well found !!!
Daal43

[simeon7] 18/9/2003 17:01

daal. I always monitor it, and am kicking myself for not buying any!

Good luck - you have stuck with it, so well done!

[daal43] 18/9/2003 16:53

Hi rambutan2,
Well found,it is nice to have some one else on this BB!!
Daal43

[rambutan2] 18/9/2003 11:10

and this is why...

Finance group put up for sale
By Tom Bawden

ELECTRA Partners Europe, the private equity firm, has put Premium Credit, a former specialist finance unit of HSBC, up for sale in a move that could fetch up to £250 million, The Times has learnt.

Lexicon Partners, the boutique investment bank that is managing the sale, is in discussions with several parties including the private equity firms Duke Street Capital and Bridgepoint Capital, as well as overseas finance houses.

Lexicon has held talks with Montagu and HgCapital, the venture capitalists. It is hoping to receive indicative bids for Premium Credit by the end of the month and is understood to be looking for between £150 million and £250 million.

Of the private equity contenders, Bridgepoint already has a presence in the insurance industry through Opus, the UK commercial insurance broker it bought in 1998.

A source close to the sale said: "Premium Credit is more likely to be sold to a trade buyer, which can pay more to take advantage of the synergies the deal would offer, than a financial buyer."

Premium Credit is run by Graham Puttergill, its chairman, and Ken Garrod, its chief operating officer. It makes loans to enable individuals and businesses to pay their insurance premiums. The company, which is based in Epsom, and employs about 300 staff, is also expanding into areas such as school fees and sports club membership. It sells its products through about 5,000 brokers, insurers and Lloyd's of London syndicates.

Electra is also understood to be considering floating Premium Credit, although a sale is believed to be the more likely option. Premium Credit made a £15 million profit in 2002.

Electra backed the management buyout of Premium Credit from HSBC in 1996 for ?320 million (£225 million). The venture capitalist has also just put Baxi, the UK's largest boilermaker, on the block with a price tag of £800 million.

Baxi, based in Derby, is best known for its Bermuda range of gas-powered coal and log fires. Electra owns the business jointly with Candover, another venture capitalist, and Kidde, the fire protection company.

Baxi, which is led by Mark Edwards, chief executive, and employs about 5,500 people across Europe, has annual sales of about £700 million.

[daal43] 23/8/2003 13:53

Heading up!!!!!

[daal43] 10/8/2003 15:56

Summary : No press news this weekend.

[daal43] 01/8/2003 19:44

In September 1998, Electra invested €43.5 million in the management buy-out of Deutsche Woolworth.

Headquartered in Frankfurt, Deutsche Woolworth is a general merchandise retailer operating in over 350 stores, located in town and city centre locations throughout Germany. It offers a wide range of low priced apparel and fashion accessories, household goods, toiletries and other goods. The group owns a significant portfolio of sites in the form of freehold and long term inheritable building rights, a number of which are in prime locations in the largest German cities.

New management, appointed in 2001, has put together a business plan focused on reducing costs and returning the business to its discounting roots. In the year to 31 December 2002 Deutsche Woolworth made a loss of €16.3 million (2001: €45 million) on a turnover of €937 million (2001: €978 million), ahead of the turnaround business plan. The cash position is satisfactory and trading in 2003 is ahead of budget.

[daal43] 24/7/2003 19:16

Nice more up over the last few weeks.

[daal43] 13/7/2003 17:30

Summary : No press news this weekend.

[daal43] 11/7/2003 00:12

The Baxi Group is one of Europe's leading heating and home comfort specialists and employs over 5,500 people throughout Europe with a turnover of €1.0bn (£655m).

From centres of manufacturing excellence in the UK, Italy, France, Germany and Denmark, the Baxi Group produces:-
energy efficient central heating boilers
hot water heating and storage units
space heaters, radiators
showers
air management systems
providing homes, workplaces and public buildings with warmth, hot water supplies and clean, fresh air.

The Group was formed in November 2000 by the merger of Newmond PLC and Baxi Holdings plc and is backed by Candover and Electra, two of the leading UK private equity firms and NIB, one of the largest pension funds in the world based in the Netherlands.

Newmond PLC was a £360m buy-out in December 1996 of the European Building Products Division of Williams PLC backed by Candover and Electra.

Baxi Holdings plc was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Baxi Partnership Ltd, an employee trust company which had acquired the heating division of Blue Circle Industries PLC in December 1999.

[daal43] 10/7/2003 18:40

Vendcrown

www.premium-credit.co.uk

In 1996 Electra invested in the management buy-out of Vendcrown, the holding company of Premium Credit. Total financing of approximately £230 million was raised for the transaction by Electra Partners.

Premium Credit specialises in the provision of short-term instalment finance. The company finances commercial insurance premiums, personal insurance premiums and non-insurance services (golf and leisure club memberships, audit fees, school fees and football team tickets).

In the year to 31 December 2001 the company generated £1.4 billion of gross advances. Its revenues were £63.6 million and the profit after tax was £11.3 million (2000: £8.8 million). Further profit growth is forecast for the current year assisted by rising insurance premiums

[daal43] 10/7/2003 10:51

KEY FIGURES at Previous Day's Close

Market Cap. 366 m
Shares In Issue 65.23 m
Prev Close. 561.00 p
PE Ratio -
Dividend Yield - %
EPS -basic -8.95 p
Net Debt 222 m
Gross Gearing 47.99 %
Cash PS 26.59 p
Net Cash PS 12.76 p
Net Tangible Asset Value PS 764 p
Net Asset Value PS 764 p
Spread 16.00(2.81%)

[daal43] 10/7/2003 09:20

Try this web address: www.baxi.com looks a good candidate for a new issue.

[daal43] 10/7/2003 08:16

Hi rambutan2,

I see your point about other stakes but Deutsche Asset Management have also taken over companies as well.
Also the value of assets that have already agreed to be returned is = to the current price per share. So it would seem to me that a very strong support level is found at this price. Electra does seem to have a fairly valued portfolio of companies that like you say if and when recoveries in the IPO market the potential for realisation and gain would be great for Electra.
Daal43

[rambutan2] 10/7/2003 01:31

i think you are barking up the wrong tree daal43. dam have bought lots of stakes in undervalued investment trusts. they wait until the discount closes in and then get out with a nice profit. electras port is very illiquid. electra is already committed to returning money to shareholders as quickly as it can. electra has a lot of debt.
that said, once the ipo mkt opens back up then it can do very nicely thankyou, and as a bonus heath lambert in which it has a nice stake is in talks to be bought.

[daal43] 09/7/2003 21:31

Hi Simeon7, Here is a rundown of some of the members of Electra's board.


Sir Brian Williamson CBE, Chairman

Aged 57, was appointed a Director in 1994.

He is currently Chairman of the London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange and a non-executive Director of HSBC. In the USA he was a former Governor of the National Association of Securities Dealers and Chairman of Nasdaq’s International Markets Advisory Board.

He was formerly a member of the Financial Services Authority, Chairman of Gerrard Group plc, and a Member of the Court of the Bank of Ireland.


Ronald Armstrong

Aged 58, was appointed a Director in 1994.

Most of his career has been spent in companies in which the application of technology is critical to success and he has considerable experience of this process across a wide range of industries and countries.

He is a Director of JP Morgan Fleming Worldwide Income Investment Trust, a Director of E-Synergy, which specialises in venture funding for early-stage technology companies, and Chairman of Prism Risk Management.


Professor Sir George Bain

Aged 63, was appointed a Director in 1998.

He is currently President and Vice-Chancellor of The Queen’s University of Belfast, having held senior academic posts at the London Business School and the University of Warwick. He was also Chairman of the Low Pay Commission and is on the Boards of Bombardier Aerospace Short Brothers and the Canada Life Assurance Company.

Lord King of Bridgwater

Aged 69, was appointed a Director in 1992.

A Member of Parliament from 1970 until 2001, he held a variety of senior Cabinet posts and was Secretary of State for Defence from 1989 to 1992. He has been a member of the Nolan Committee and Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Before entering Parliament he was a senior manager in DRG, the printing and packaging group, and subsequently Chairman of Sale Tilney. He is currently non-executive Chairman of London International Exhibition Centre (Holdings).

Happy researching!

[simeon7] 09/7/2003 20:58

intersting stuff. Looking into this m8!

[daal43] 09/7/2003 20:51

Sector Weightings (%) (30-Sep-2001)
Cyclical Services 31.9
Financials 22.3
Non-Cyclical Consumer Groups 14.3
Basic Industries 10.4
Cyclical Consumer Groups 10.1
Information Technology 6.2
Non-Cyclical Services 2.2
General Industries 1.7
Utilities 0.9

Total 100.0

[daal43] 09/7/2003 20:09

Good rise today!

[daal43] 09/7/2003 07:29

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES

1. Name of company

ELECTRA INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

2. Name of shareholder having a major interest

SG OPTIONS EUROPE & SOCIETE GENERALE AG

3. Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding
of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest
or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's
spouse or children under the age of 18

IN RESPECT OF SHAREHOLDER NAMED IN 2. ABOVE

4. Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of
shares held by each of them

NOT DISCLOSED

5. Number of shares / amount of stock acquired

NOT DISCLOSED

6. Percentage of issued class

NOT DISCLOSED

7. Number of shares / amount of stock disposed

NOT DISCLOSED

8. Percentage of issued class

NOT DISCLOSED

9. Class of security

ORDINARY 25p SHARES

10. Date of transaction

NOT DISCLOSED

11. Date company informed

17 JUNE 2003

12. Total holding following this notification

1,958,000 ORDINARY 25p SHARES

13. Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification

3.0%

[daal43] 08/7/2003 20:44

Here are the details of one of the many different companies that are owned by Electra.

www.baxi.com
In 1996 Electra invested £30.9 million in the management buy-out of the building products division of Williams Holdings. A number of non-core businesses were disposed of in the following years in order to create a group focussed on heating. In 2000 the Baxi boiler business was acquired with Electra investing a further £23.7 million.

The combined business is one of the largest heating businesses in Europe with a significant pan-european market share in boilers and a strong UK presence in water heaters, showers and gas fires.

Substantial synergies have been delivered since the merger and this, combined with strong growth in new products and growth in market share, has positioned the business well for the future.

The company reported an operating profit of e122 million before re-organisation costs on turnover of e1.1 billion for the year to 31 December 2001. There are no corresponding figures for the year prior to the merger in November 2000 which created the enlarged group.




BAXI GROUP ANNOUNCES 8.6% SALES GROWTH FOR 2002

The UK's largest privately owned heating group, Baxi Group has revealed an 8.6% rise in sales for the 2002 trading year, bringing Group sales to £627.8 million.
The rise in sales has been accompanied by a 6% increase in profits, building on the Group's 34% rise in its first full year of trading in 2001.

In the company's report, published this week, it highlights a focus on customer service and the introduction of new products as contributing factors in the Group strengthening its position in all of its major markets.

Group achievements during 2002 include the creation of Baxi Technologies with the mission to develop the Group?s next generation products in the field of renewable energy. German companies, SenerTec and European Fuel Cell leading exponents of combined heat and power and fuel cell technologies respectively were acquired to support Baxi Technologies, positioning Baxi as a leader in the field of environmentally friendly heating systems.

The Group also established Baxi International to manage and coordinate international sales and opened representative offices in Beijing and Moscow as well as securing a new distributor in the Czech Republic. A presence in Turkey (Europe?s sixth largest heating market) was cemented with the acquisition of 5% of long standing distributor, Baymak.

Within Baxi Heating UK, sales have grown by 11%, largely due to the strong housing and construction market. An extensive range of high efficiency boilers was launched by Baxi Potterton while a considerable investment was made in the servicing business - Heateam.

Also reaping the benefits of investment in a purpose built factory has been the Baxi Fires Division with a 5% growth in sales of Baxi and Valor branded gas fires while Heatrae Sadia, the Group's waterheating business reported a 6% increase in sales driven by continued strong performance of the Megaflo. Heatrae's Norwich factory is currently undergoing a £4.7 million investment programme to increase Megaflo production capacity.

Commercial heating remained strong with a combined sales increase of 10% across the Andrews, Potterton Commercial and Rycroft businesses and outside of Baxi Heating UK, the UK Showers business which includes Aqualisa also performed well, growing sales by 15%, thanks in part to the first full year's trading of the Quartz electronic shower.

Chief Executive, Mark Edwards comments: 'Two years on from the merger of Newmond and Baxi, the Group has established a strong momentum and track record of financial performance based on the strength of our brands, a focus on customer service and an extensive product range. The Group's objectives are to continue to grow and consolidate in our core European markets and use this base to extend international sales.

Growth in our major market, the UK is strong but is expected to remain positive while general conditions in Italy, France, Germany and our main international markets remain uncertain. Against this background, the Group is well positioned to continue to improve its market positions.'

[daal43] 08/7/2003 18:11

HI,

This stock may soon get very interesting as Electra Investment Trust (ELTA) has assets that were last valued in March time (Low FTSE) yet they were still £7.50+!
There are plans to return 350 million back to shareholders yet this is the stock market value of the company!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, with the recent stake building (now at 12%), a bid may well be another plus point!!


This article from Sunday's Idependent should help research.
'Darth Vader' attacks £700m investment empire
By Jason Nissé
06 July 2003


Electra Investment Trust, the £700m fund that specialises in venture capital, is coming under pressure from Deutsche Asset Management, which has amassed a 12.4 per cent stake in the group and may control even more.

The holding has been built up by traders in Deutsche's New York office, led by Lars Bader, an aggressive operator nicknamed "Darth Vader". Deutsche is understood to have bought options on up to 5 per cent more of Electra and is believed to be in talks with Société Générale, which holds 3 per cent of the trust.

Mr Bader has not made his intentions clear, but it is believed he may be pushing for a liquidation of the trust, which at its last valuation had nearly £700m of assets but is valued by the stock market at half that. It was one of the first funds dedicated to investing in management buyouts. In the early 1990s it was a leading force in the private equity industry, but its position has been eclipsed by the likes of CVC, Permira and BC Partners.

In the past few years the trust has sold more investments that it has bought, and it has been hit by a decline in values in some of its holdings. This has led its net asset value to fall from over £1.4bn to under £700m.

But Electra's portfolio still includes some attractive investments. These include Baxi, the boiler maker, Vendcrown, owner of fast-growing finance firm Premium Credit, and Amtico, the floor coverings group. It is understood that Electra has been waiting for markets to improve so it can sell some of these investments, either through a trade sale or flotation.

The trust has a distinguished board of directors chaired by Sir Brian William- son, who raised the fortunes of futures exchange Liffe before selling it to Euronext. Other directors include Lord King, the former British Airways chairman, and Professor Sir George Bain, who led the recent fire service review of pay and conditions.



Hope you find this interesting and remember all is IMHO.
I have recently added more to my portfollo.
Daal43

[toffeeman] 26/3/2003 00:11

Hi Mathewa (or could that be Heimat!)

Been looking at ELTA and it seems to me that many of the investments are priced on low p/es. (eg baxi on 3 - Vedcrown on 10)

Overall the market cap per share is 515p versis a NAV per share of 764 ie a discount of 32% - I know little about normal discounts but one-third seems not unreasonable.

It's also tracked the FTSE fledgling index pretty well - downside would just about cover the spread.

So like the idea but not sure how much of a dead (sic) cert this one is.

regards and respect

[matthewa] 13/3/2003 14:37

Holders please cast your eyes on ELTA's AGM Statement please. THIS IS A GOLDMINE. I shortered CDI only 2 days ago and it has tanked 75pts. This will go MUCH LOWER. Unqouted Investment trusts have held up very well in this market but now they are going tank.

' Since June 2001, the climate for realisations has become more challenging as
stock markets have fallen and economic conditions worsened. As an illustration,
the Trust's Manager estimates that over the last 18 months prospective disposals
with a cumulative value of some #200 million had to be deferred.

Its like the AIM VCT's who got crushed cause they couldnt liquidate their assets. The shares or unlisted cos were only theorertical. When it was time to liquidate their hoildings they were worth virtualy nil! And if there are saying themselves they cant realise 200 million then it really is bad. THATS OVER 60% of THEIR TOTAL HOLDING. If it doesnt come off Im shorting more when the market cools. This could be a newspaper job tommorow.

.