Imprint Share Discussion Threads

[apatel21] 01/5/2008 18:05

I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility of premier offering remaining shareholders 125p as a token gesture to speed things up.

And the basis for such baseless wild speculation?

[nigelpm] 01/5/2008 16:20

I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility of premier offering remaining shareholders 125p as a token gesture to speed things up.

[williebiz] 01/5/2008 12:40

HYDG and OPD SPs have not really budged since they withdrew from the fight for IMP

[gengulphus] 01/5/2008 09:40

Voting for the scheme closed yesterday.

Not quite - that's just when proxy votes had to be in. If you're on the shareholder register, you can still turn up at the meetings and vote in person tomorrow. (Even for nominee accounts, that's probably still possible in principle, though getting the letter of representation organised at this late stage might be tricky even for brokers who will do it!)

Gengulphus

[nickcduk] 01/5/2008 09:37

Its not been my crowning moment of glory either. My first purchase was around the 220p level if I remember correctly. Very painful but I have the memory of a goldfish so I don't really dwell on it too much. Better to bag the loss and move on.

[williebiz] 01/5/2008 09:27

I'm just grumpy at taking the loss, bear with me :-(

[nickcduk] 01/5/2008 08:49

Voting for the scheme closed yesterday. I imagine HYDG realised their fate and withdrew gracefully today.

[deswalker] 01/5/2008 08:45

Must say I'm more confident now. OPD will vote in favour and take the loss. I now think there are enough faces involved to get it through. Fingers crossed.

willie, if you want to stay in the sector much better to get your money out and put it in HVN rather than sticking with these. You're much more likely to make money (or get back losses) with that share than this one IMO, that's if you want to stay in the sector ofcourse.

[nickcduk] 01/5/2008 08:40

As far as I am aware it requires 75% of those voting to vote in favour of the scheme. I don't imagine many investors voting against the resolution so would expect it to go through ok. I could be mistaken though.

[williebiz] 01/5/2008 08:38

LOL then I'm certifiable - not!

You reckon it'll pass the threshold?

[nickcduk] 01/5/2008 08:34

I think you would be certifiable if you didn't accept the offer in current market conditions. Without offers on the table IMP share price would be around the 50-60p range. Glad the end is nearly in sight now.

[williebiz] 01/5/2008 08:23

No need to rescind then.

IMV vote 'no' to Premier - a derisory low-multiple offer at the bottom of the recruitment sector cycle. IMP has a good spread of businesses - some outside the UK - relatively immune to the credit crunch and slow financial sector recruitment.

[deswalker] 01/5/2008 07:53

RNS out. Hydrogen offer lapses and dispute resolved.

[williebiz] 30/4/2008 09:53

Jock - Barclays Stockbrokers played it differently, I'm pledged to HYDG with shares in escrow but they allowed me to vote on Premier. They said depending on the EGM my shares would probably come out of escrow after the EGM (I got the impression regardless of which way the vote went). I haven't formally asked them to rescind my HYDG pledge in any case.

[jockblue] 30/4/2008 09:46

So OPD woke up and realised that they weren't going to win! It'll be more interesting to see where they go with their holding. If they vote with Premier, then that helps their deal over the finishing line.

My HSBC battle has been resolved - I think they got bored with me to be honest. They claimed that as soon as they had confirmation from James Capel that the HYDG scheme had been suspended indefinately, they would take my shares out of escrow and allow me to vote on Premier. Needless to say though it was too late to vote.....

Not that my holding would swing things, but it makes me realise the dangers of nominee holdings.

[williebiz] 29/4/2008 17:45

LOL, time to 'fess up how much they've lost on the 5% ;-)

[apatel21] 29/4/2008 17:40

RNS out. Official notification of the lapsing of the OPD Offer.

Don't tell me the've thrown in the towel ; ) Who in their right mind would turn down their knock out offer ; )

[deswalker] 29/4/2008 17:14

RNS out. Official notification of the lapsing of the OPD Offer.

Well I failed to get anywhere in my attempts to get Selftrade to vote at the meeting. Hopefully the outcome will not be affected by nominee brokers who adopt such policies. Fingers crossed.

Des

[williebiz] 28/4/2008 16:01

Bit of fun & games

[gengulphus] 28/4/2008 15:23

evilblues,

GEngulphus - Excuse my ignorance/laziness on this debacle, but when do you imagine we'll know when/if the Premier bid is successful or not?

The Court Meeting and EGM are due to start at 11 am this Friday. Provided nothing turns up to cause it to be adjourned, we should know later that day or Monday morning at the latest.

I am NOT betting that nothing will turn up to cause it to be adjourned - some weeks back, I had exactly the same view about the Hydrogen scheme Court Meeting and EGM scheduled to occur that week!

bestace,

Gengulphus - if you are right about the directors just giving up, then someone should direct them to the new Companies Act:

172 Duty to promote the success of the company

(1) A director of a company must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, ...

Yes, if I'm right (it's a suspicion I've got, definitely not something I'm certain of) and if I can prove it. I very much doubt I can prove it - the test that the director "considers, in good faith" is a fairly weak one. If challenged on it in a year or two's time, even if the company has done marvellously since and clearly could have been run more to its shareholders' benefit by hanging on to it, basically all the directors need to say is "That's with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, we honestly believed voting for the scheme was in the shareholders' interests - and to make certain, we took advice on the point and our advisers said the same: here's the correspondence."

I should add that the "giving up" is not necessarily conscious - there may well just be a feeling that being taken over is inevitable one way or another and they might as well concentrate on getting the best deal possible, especially if major shareholders' main concerns seem to have been along those lines. (And ihncidentally, I suspect from the emphasis in some of the announcements about recommendation of offers on the amount of cash in the deal may well reflect the preferences major shareholders have expressed...)

Gengulphus

[bestace] 27/4/2008 18:54

Gengulphus - if you are right about the directors just giving up, then someone should direct them to the new Companies Act:

172 Duty to promote the success of the company

(1) A director of a company must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to-

(a) the likely consequences of any decision in the long term,

(b) the interests of the company's employees,

(c) the need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others,

(d) the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment,

(e) the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and

(f) the need to act fairly as between members of the company.

174 Duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence

(1) A director of a company must exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence.

[williebiz] 26/4/2008 11:07

Right @ the bottom of the cycle.

[williebiz] 25/4/2008 22:24

Worse than Laura Ashley and that's saying something LOL

[williebiz] 25/4/2008 22:07

Plus I wouldn't have to tell the wife LOL