Alfred Mcalpine Share Discussion Threads

[hillwi] 19/9/2007 14:04

According to Bloomberg, today's rise is linked to speculation of bid from Carillion.

[baghdad bomber] 11/9/2007 14:43

Cheers Ed - What about an unsolicited bid fo the co as a whole?

[ed 123] 11/9/2007 13:20

I'm still here. The rumour has been popping up since the announcement of the slate affair. Two divisions are to be sold and the other two may receive unsolicited bids. We'll see.

[baghdad bomber] 11/9/2007 12:17

V quiet on this thread. Anyone hearing rumours about a move for MCA? It was mentioned in the Indie last week as a company that was being eyed up...

[ed 123] 08/8/2007 20:45

A repeat of that would be nice, miamisteve.

It's on the verge of the gap. However, New York is diving as I type, so it may not enter the gap tomorrow. 600p once again would be lovely.

[markie7] 08/8/2007 10:36

life! something up.

[miamisteve] 08/8/2007 10:01

Have a look at the amec price graph to see what happened after it announced it's plans to split the company. At the time it received a lukewarm response from the analysts, but has subsequently almost doubled in value.

[ed 123] 08/8/2007 08:24

Keenly bid again this morning.

[ed 123] 06/8/2007 22:05

Someone was keen on these today.

Looking good :-)

[miamisteve] 06/8/2007 08:51

Read the various articles.

Interesting that there is a shared opinion that by splitting the company they are effectively putting a for sale sign on the new entities.

[ed 123] 03/8/2007 07:54

FT comment today -

"Thursday's announcements should bring underlying value back to the fore and lead to a significant re-rating."

[ed 123] 02/8/2007 20:32

Further reported comment -

"Citigroup said that the outlook for the business is 'sound' and that there was no order book growth because management focuses on margins.
On the break-up plans, the broker said that support services alone could justify the market cap. 'The two de-merged entities will themselves be vulnerable to take-out, in our view,' it added in a note.
'We believe construction could be quickly snapped up by peers such as Carillion, Balfours or Galliford Try,' Dresdner Kleinwort said."

My comment - Unsolicited interest in the business services and construction divisions now may lead to sales of the whole lot, saving the cost of the proposed split. That would maximise the short-term return to the shareholders.

[galles] 02/8/2007 13:28

I thought the sale of PFIs and slate divisions were all expected and price was accounted for. Not that I am complaining!! Hehe

[18bt] 02/8/2007 12:49

Good results including plans for a demerger and sale of PFIs and Slates

[galles] 02/8/2007 12:23

What caused the massive rise today??

[gbb483] 02/8/2007 11:37

Unless they do it by splitting the sheares.

[markie7] 02/8/2007 09:52

phew. got out of jail I think

[miamisteve] 02/8/2007 09:49

Not mention in todays announcement because the sale terms of slate and pfi interests are unknown, but I'd imagine that there could be a special dividend to accompany the demerger. anywhere between 50p-100p

[miamisteve] 02/8/2007 09:33

Slate is earmarked to make 15% profit on 30m gbp so would give a value of around 50m on a p/e of x10. I hope that based on the landbank value they are able to command a significantly higher multiple.

[ed 123] 02/8/2007 09:23

A little reported comment today:-

"Alfred McAlpine, which built 10% of Britain's motorways, said it has received about 15 to 20 'unsolicited' expressions of interest in its slate business so far, Grice added."

edit:- link

[miamisteve] 02/8/2007 09:19

Well beyond my expectations.

i agreee that they were pushed. From my experience, directors like to be in charge of as big as possible irrespective of shareholder value.

From previous calculations slate was valued at zero after the fiasco. There should be an immediate uplift when that and the pfi sales materilise.

My plan had been to sell at these levels if results had been well received, but this has another 100p to go imo.

[its the oxman] 02/8/2007 09:03

good news, every chance now of progress through 500p and beyond.

[elmbury] 02/8/2007 08:38

Agreed - the break-up value does seem much greater than the current market cap. I feel that we will see bigger moves once the disposal of the slate business has been agreed, as investor confidence was shaken up so much by the mismanagement there.

[volvo] 02/8/2007 08:25

Yes nice little profit taken.But so impressed with the statement have bought back in for 5.50.This will take a little longer like about 6 weeks.The rearranged group will rerated higher.

[ed 123] 02/8/2007 08:24

Well, it's made a bright start.

If it can go through 500p, then a gap fill becomes a possibility.

I wonder if the management were pushed into this? Either they did it or someone else would.

The business services unit could trade on pe ratio closer to those of SRP/CPI. Just guessing, but say earnings of 18m pa and p/e of 18, would give market cap of 324m. Then add in the contracting side, the value of the slate business and PFI assets and there looks to be more uplift to come. Current market cap. for the whole group is about 500m.

In 2008 the two divisions would make more digestable meals for the bigger players in the respective fields. There may eventually be another chapter to this story.