Parkwood Holdings Share Discussion Threads

[snatander] 07/5/2013 06:01

Maidstone's Hazlitt Theatre looks set to change hands by the end of the year in a deal which will see it pass out of council control.

The popular 350-seat theatre, along with other facilities at the Hazlitt Art Centre, looks set to be taken over by Parkwood Leisure on a 15-year contract.

Maidstone Borough Council has accepted a tender from the firm as the preferred bidder and could now take over the site before the end of 2013.

The council says the extra income generated by new audiences is expected to save the council £3.2 million over the course of the proposed 15-year contract.

A spokesman for Maidstone Borough Council said: "Parkwood Leisure will be introducing new shows and acts, whilst continuing to support many of the existing ones. The company will focus on community use of the theatre and will provide outreach community activities such as the Mela and Proms in the Park."

Originally formed in 1995, Parkwood Leisure is one of the UK's leading leisure management companies, operating some 84 facilities on behalf of 25 local authority clients.

It has a turnover in excess of £70 million and employs more than 4,500 people throughout England and Wales.

Joanne Martin, sales and marketing director, said: "Parkwood Leisure is delighted to have been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Hazlitt Arts Centre and looks forward to bringing the local community a wide range of entertainment events, diverse cultural programmes, and a new calendar of special events that will draw in new audiences and engage fully with the community at large."

Maidstone council received two tenders for the provision of theatrical, cultural and community activities at the arts centre.

Cabinet member for economic and commercial development, Malcolm Greer, said: "Parkwood Leisure's business plan was the best for theatre goers and the tax payer. I am confident that Parkwood will deliver a noticeable improvement to service levels at the Hazlitt Arts Centre and reduce the bottom line cost for Maidstone council tax payers. This will be achieved through driving participation and attendance and reducing costs through enhanced buying power that Parkwood Leisure is able to offer.

"Our existing theatre staff are first class and patrons need not worry; they will still see all the familiar faces currently working at the theatre. Everyone who wants to transfer to Parkwood Leisure will do so under the same terms and conditions as they enjoy now."

[deadly] 20/8/2012 21:24

For any who are still shareholders, a new tender offer for up to 16.4% of holding at 60p; instead of the 70p last time.

[dpmcq] 27/6/2011 20:53

Halifax have now sorted the issue - alls well!!

[dpmcq] 24/6/2011 19:24

Sent email to Halifax based on the above and also contact with PKW.
See if I get any further??

[thupton] 21/6/2011 22:09

Well done Snape - TDW are saying the same thing. All thanks to Wowy highlighting this.

[snape] 21/6/2011 14:25

Thupton,

Just got a call from Barclays who are going to arrange for all the balance of my shares to be cleared at 70p. V happy!

[thupton] 18/6/2011 17:12

Snape - will update once I find out more. Seems Stocktrade's corporate actions team actually read the terms of the offer properly. They have gone up in my ranking based on this. Barclays will need to do the right thing here too

[snape] 18/6/2011 06:29

Thump ton , it will be interesting to hear how you get on.

I am particularly intrigued to know how Stocktrade got their nominees paid out 100% when Halifax, Barclays and TDW didn't.

I will feed back any progress with Barclays.

[thupton] 17/6/2011 23:23

Wowy,

Thanks again for sharing - it's much appreciated. I contacted TDW - I feel confident they will do the right thing and ensure small holders have all their shares re-purchased.

DPMCQ - Halifax need to sort this on your behalf. Their mess-up as nominees they knew which shareholders were deemed small. They should have read the exact terms of the offer and acted accordingly, escalte to the CEO, Regulator and your MP - They are now publicly owned aren't they - part of HBOS?

[wowy] 17/6/2011 22:13

thupton

Nominee account with Stocktrade

[dpmcq] 17/6/2011 19:41

Sent an email to Halifax about how this was handled - they basically fobbed me off with the nominee shares lumped together.
I think one of the problems is that we only got to find out that anyone who had less that 15000 got paid out in full after the event and so even though the rns made it clear about nominee duties, we all assumed only the % PKW originally stated would get bought.
If I had know they would have bought all mine I would have made sure Halifax registered my individual interest and not grouped with other share holders.
I would bet alot of people are now in limbo waiting for a (much poorer offer) to come from PKW.Now that they can effectively do what they want we are stuffed.
As Hewitt has got the company on the cheap IMO he should do the right thing and buy the rest for 70p!!!!!!!!

[snape] 17/6/2011 08:16

Wowy

I only had 4,000 shares and so now left with 1850 shares that I can't sell.

The thing that gets me is that you only got to know how many shares you have left after they delisted!

[thupton] 16/6/2011 23:29

Wowy,

Thank you so much for the info. I double checked the documentation I received for my certificated holding and you are right. I am so annoyed, just need to clarify with TDW on how this was handled their end. I don't mean to impose but are you willing to reveal who your nominee is please? If not, no probs as I understand this is an open forum

[wowy] 16/6/2011 18:42

My take on it was any individual holding under 15,000 (even if part of a larger nominee account) would be paid in full.

Obviously if you have more than this it is a sorry state of affairs being left effectively in no mans land, fortunately I only had 10,000 so have avoided the ongoing pain.

It still seems wrong, and hopefully won't be seen by other companies as a way of buy out on the cheap.

[snape] 16/6/2011 10:13

Wowy

I got 54% of mine sold with Barclays. They said they would look into what options I have with the remainder. I guess I will be doing as DPMCQ.

[wowy] 16/6/2011 10:07

thumpton & Snape - Not sure that was the case I (thankfully) got full pay out as part of Nominee account as per clause in tender document.

"Note to holders of Shares held in Nominee accounts

It is common for shares held in nominee accounts to be aggregated by the nominee service provider and in many cases therefore the number of shares shown on the register for a nominee company may represent underlying beneficial interests of a large number of holders. In order to recognise this, the Company requests that where nominee service providers are making applications for multiple Shareholders held within a nominee account, they submit their requests by both:"

May be worth checking

[dpmcq] 15/6/2011 21:00

emailed the company today.
They told me to register an interest to sell and they would contact on the next share buy back - when ever that maybe?

[snape] 15/6/2011 06:45

It seems that you are correct. Their small shareholder ruling (which I thought was fair) only applied to certified shareholders and not those in nominee accounts! Misleading and very unfair! So we get aload of PKW shares back that are now delisted. Any suggestions what we can do with them?

[dpmcq] 10/6/2011 12:48

Had email from Halifax this morning -

You do not get 70p for your full holding. You get what % they offered first plus an extra amount bought under an excess facility.
They have only bought 30.15% of excess shares offered due to scaling back.

[wowy] 09/6/2011 22:34

No money yet, going to give them a call in the morning

[dpmcq] 09/6/2011 17:02

Anyone had any money back in nom account yet?

[snape] 25/5/2011 16:15

All shareholders with holdings less that 15,000 shares get the 70p per share for their full holding.

[thupton] 19/5/2011 00:12

grahamty - sorry for the delayed post. This sucks and Hewitt is controlling the whole thing in a bad way. I understand finance will be tight for the company but they need to come back with a second offer for the investors left behind to exit fully. Hewitt's trust is majority holder and will benefit most with no risk for him. Bear in mind the employee share schemes for the pleb workers who will also loose out, may be the local authorities and public bodies need to scrutanise this behaviour for future tenders as they are accountable and would may be not like to be seen doing business with people who employ wide boy tactics

[wowy] 10/5/2011 20:11

This arrangement is just so wrong!