Foresight Share Discussion Threads

[davidosh] 12/11/2010 09:43

Mrs Sarah Caroline Rockliff has popped up with 375,000 and 1.26%

[alun rm] 12/11/2010 08:36

Picked up a few more this morning. Profit takers have given us a chance to top up, now its down to newsflow to see how the story pans out. I just hope we get a bidding war and end up well north of £2.

[cockneyrebel] 12/11/2010 07:47

yep, I fancy one of the main competitors has moved in having seen Focus gain that major contract. It's a no brainer buy for someone in the sector - with all that cash they have and will have over the next year or two.

Mastek likely to try to bid too and create a battle but ultimately I cannot see larger players just letting this get given away at 180p imo.

CR

[davidosh] 12/11/2010 02:52

The article was dated in June so any approach to FSG then would have been when we had only a $20m market cap and 40p share price. Luckily they did not offer 80p and try to take us out before the big contracts came along. Or maybe they did and were told to come back in four months and that is what they have done ?? Anyway one thing is clear $50m will not be enough ! It would be a very big Mastek to offer that....lol

[envirovision] 11/11/2010 23:22

They will need a lot more than $50 Million, more like $100 Million.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 22:10

Yep it's Mastek I reckon:

Agencies
Posted: Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 1545 hrs IST
Updated: Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 1545 hrs IST


Mumbai: IT major Mastek is eyeing an acquisition in the insurance vertical in North America as well as the UK, and could spend up to USD 50 million for the same, a senior company official said.

"Our focus is to grow in the insurance sector – both life and general -- in these markets. We are already operating here and are talking to three-four firms for a potential buy-out. The deal size could be between USD 30-50 million.

This is our sweet spot," Mastek's Chief Financial Officer Farid Kazani said.

Mastek, which provides IT services to insurance, banking and finance firms, said it might close the deal by this year-end.

Much would, however, depend on the valuation, management and domain capabilities of the target companies, he said.

The acquisition, Kazani said, would boost the company's revenue for FY'10, ending June.

Mastek is also upbeat about government projects from the UK and expects some good deals in the next three to six months, he said.

Around 80 per cent of Mastek's business comes from government projects in the UK, which witnessed a slump following the recent political crisis in that country.

"We are quite optimistic after the change in government in the UK. We are expecting to bag some major deals over the next three to six months. Next fiscal, there would be a growth in the order book and improvement in the deal pipeline," Kazani said.

He, however, did not elaborate on the matter.

Kazani said the company would be hiring about 300 professionals in this quarter (April-June). Mastek's current head count is around 3,300.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 22:00

May 07 2010 Mastek on Acquisition trail:

MUMBAI, May 7, 2010 - Mastek Ltd. said on Friday it is in talks with four or five overseas companies about a potential acquisition as it seeks to arrest a decline in revenue.


"We are talking to four to five companies in North America and the United Kingdom for an acquisition. These companies have annual revenue of between $20 million and $30 million," Sudhakar Ram, chairman and managing director of the information technology services company, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.



"These companies operate in the government and insurance verticals," he said, adding that Mastek intends to buy companies for their domain expertise and client base. Mastek provides software services to insurance, government and financial services firms. Mr. Ram didn't say when a decision on any acquisition might be made.



While bigger rivals like Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. have been boosted by a revival in developed country demand for their outsourcing services, Mastek has continued to struggle. For its third quarter through March, Mastek's consolidated net profit slumped 54% from a year earlier to 152.6 million rupees, and the company has forecast it will fare even worse in the fourth quarter, with net profit likely to come in at 100 million rupees-110 million rupees. Mastek has been particularly hurt by a drop in revenue from a project it is executing for the U.K.'s National Health Service via BT Group Plc. In an earnings release, the company said the project weighed on its third quarter revenue, which slid 26% year-on-year to 1.70 billion rupees. Mastek tips revenue to drop to 1.60 billion rupees-1.65 billion rupees in its fourth quarter through June, but it hopes acquisitions will help it stem the decline.



Mr. Ram said the company is also looking for opportunities in India, which currently only contributes about 2% of its overall revenue. He said Mastek wants to cash in on the country's burgeoning health insurance market and is in talks to sign up 4 or 5 customers in India for its health insurance software.



Currently, Mastek only has one health insurance software customer in India. Mr. Ram added that Mastek expects to add one or two new customers this quarter.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 21:47

Yeah the thing is if it's not Mastek I'm sure they'll be tempted to make a counterbid.

Going to be very interesting to see how it pans out.

The Retail Distribution Review is absolutely massive.

And of course the longer any potential bidder waits the more chance of FSG signing more contracts increasing their value further.

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 19:48

I'm wondering if it is jackleeds.

Mastek made about £20m profit 08/09, reckon they are probaly set to get back to that this year.

Making enough money to tale FSG out easily.

However I remember the CEO saying on TV that FSG had 4-5 main competitors so I think it could be any of those who are a fair bitbigger than FSG that want FSG's Software as it's wiping the floor with them.

I don't think the process will take long tho, I think a buyer will want it done before anyone else muddies the waters - if there isn't two after FSG already.

CR

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 16:28

Do you not think it will be Mastek CR?

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 16:20

I reckon the bid could be done and dusted pretty fast here - especially if it's a US co biddng. Any US software co would be in with a big bid and done, they don't faf about.

Must be very attractive to US co's as they move in on the US with that big list of banking clients imo.

CR

[dasv] 11/11/2010 10:57

yeah definitely. Buy the dips if you get the opportunity.

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 10:54

Nice one - 130p to buy? Worth that without a bid I'd have thought.

CR

[cockerhoop] 11/11/2010 10:43

Managed to top-up at 126p, certainly wasn't expecting this pullback.

[felix99] 11/11/2010 10:17

MM's doing nicely - 10p made on your lot Madmix :-)

[madmix] 11/11/2010 09:39

You're not the only one bigbigdave, took the opportunity to grab some more at 127p.

[bigbigdave] 11/11/2010 09:28

Looks like I've grabbed a few more 8-)

[felix99] 10/11/2010 11:20

thanks - yes I forgot its now in Rule 8 Territory . Their RNS was just a normal one but as you say they will have to notify pretty well any deals going forward.

[strollingmolby] 10/11/2010 10:42

FELIX - it's a bit more onerous than that when dealing in stocks on the Takeover Panel list. Any holder that has declared an interest in >1% of the shares and subsequently buys or sells during the offer period must make another announcement by 3:30pm the next business day.

If shareholders do comply with Rule 8 of the Code then a transparent market is maintained. The general premise is that a company under offer needs to know who holds their shares at any given point in time, and this is reported to the market also to keep a level playing field for all parties to adjust their strategy accordingly.

[interceptor2] 10/11/2010 08:05

I guess with a large holder like Lion Trust, they haven't many options for short term trading in a situation like this. Normally when they make a transaction, they would need a willing party on the opposite side of the trade.

So all they have available now would be the free float, and couldn't buy any larger amounts without sending the price very much higher.

So agree that it would seem they are sending out a message.

Regards.........

[felix99] 10/11/2010 08:02

Enviro - they have done it as they have to notify the LSE anytime they cross a whole % threshold.

So if their last notifiable was 11% as above they have been since then happily buying to just under 12% without having to show their hand again.

By buying the 10k it takes them just over 12% - as you can see so they have had to RNS. This means they can now happily mop up another 1% before they have to show their hand again and I suspect they will just buy any loose stock in the market and keep the price well up for the eventual exit of the business and make sure the final price is good for them and everyone else involved as well no doubt.

Can;t see any downside here. If they send the bidder off packing holding out for a big price its because they know they have loads more contracts to come in I personally would buy any dip. The alternative is they sell out for what is a good price in thier view and I for one would be happy to go with whatever they feel is a good price for giving up the future opportunity now.

But then I've got a traders mentality and happily a lot of stock.

.

[envirovision] 10/11/2010 07:33

Lion Trust buying a token 10K shares to bring their holding to 12.01%. Why? who can say so I am going to have to take an intelligent guess and say the reason in going to the hassle of picking up a piddling 10K shares for them is to send out a message loud and clear to all concerned. Which simply says:

"At this level, we are in no way sellers, we are still buyers".

[davidosh] 09/11/2010 22:42

Just to show where the decision will lie with agreeing a price for the sale of the company. These are the major shareholders...

Azini Capital Partners LLP 8,595,686 (28.90%)

John Streets 8,000,000 (26.90%)

Liontrust Investment Services 3,574,754 (12.01%). updated 10/11


Oryx International Growth Fund 1,440,000 (4.84%)

J.O Hambro 1,150,000 ( 3.87%) updated 11/11

Octopus Investments Ltd 969,170 (3.26%)


John Streets is the founder of Focus from back in 1995 and is a non exec director in FSG. John has a 20 year track record in IT sales and the financial services business working for Honeywell Information Systems, Wang Computers, Fame Computers and Intuitive Systems. In 2000 he led the floatation of the company on the AIM market, raising £10m to further fund the company's development of its technology and solutions. In 2006 John assisted the Board to recruit Richard Stevenson as Group Chief Executive, John then changed his role to Non-Executive Director. John is currently working with a number of start up software companies.

As the float price was over £2 I sense that he would surely want to get more than that to feel the company has been a success for investors. Azini by total contrast bought most of their holding in the downturn and at the depths of the share price so any significant gain from here and with a clean cash exit will be a sensational return for them over three years. Azini are also represented on the board by Nick Habgood who is also a Non-Executive Director.
Nick is Managing Partner of Azini Capital Partners LLP (www.azini.com) a private equity fund management firm specialising in the acquisition of shareholdings in private and public technology companies.

That all suggests that within the board along with the key executives a deal can be agreed and the company more or less delivered via their majority ownership. This should not be a very long process if there is only one party bidding but I sense there may be quite a lot of interest due to the immense potential and superb client list.