Antonov Share Discussion Threads

[crystalclear] 28/7/2005 13:02

Possibility of SAIC buying Jaguar


...
It is not clear whether the two sides will focus on ailing carmakers or on buying a redundant plant in which to establish a design and engineering base. Next month the Jaguar plant at Browns Lane in Coventry will close after the shift of production to Castle Bromwich in a move that could offer an opportunity if Ford, Jaguar's owner, were prepared to sell the factory.
....

[crystalclear] 28/7/2005 02:15

Nanjing plans to ship Powertrain and two of the assembly lines to China. It intends to keep MG and the platform for the Rover 75 model in Britain to develop niche sports cars, similar to the proposal made by Alchemy Partners five years ago.

[crystalclear] 28/7/2005 02:13

Initially, the group plans to start production of new models and engines within 12 months on a 180-hectare site in the Jiangning development zone of Nanjing, where it is already producing commercial vehicles, but where it has a lot of excess production capacity.

[crystalclear] 26/7/2005 14:31

Dennis Retera is still winning, and Antonov have a press release out today.
It's not on the website yet, but seeing how few people read this, it will probably be on the link below before anybody gets to looking at this.

[crystalclear] 25/7/2005 15:40

AFX News Limited
China's SAIC warns of legal action only if Nanjing violates IPR in Rover deal
07.25.2005, 06:49 AM

SHANGHAI (AFX) - Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) said it would consider taking legal action against Nanjing Auto if it found that its Chinese rival had violated its intellectual property rights (IPR) in the deal to buy MG Rover.

An SAIC official told Agence France-Presse that the companies were not at loggerheads after Nanjing surprised markets by outbidding the Shanghai group, one of China's largest producers, for the remnants of the defunct British carmaker.

British press reports had said that SAIC, angry at losing the bid, was set to take the smaller Chinese carmaker to court.

'The 50.78 mln stg of assets bought by Nanjing Auto and the 67 mln stg of IPR bought by SAIC are two parts (of the assets),' said an SAIC official close to the proceedings who spoke on condition of anonymity.

'The two parts (that each company owns) do not overlap, and only if there was an IPR infringement in the future would SAIC take legal action to protect our IPR.'

In November last year, SAIC paid 67 mln stg to MG Rover for the right to manufacture the Rover 75 and Rover 25.

The Rover 75, which was first produced for the British market in June 1999, was MG Rover's best-known model and a key reason why SAIC was interested in buying the company.

Talks for a joint venture between the two, in which SAIC would have held a majority stake, collapsed dramatically in April after which the British company was put into administration.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) had been holding talks with Nanjing, SAIC and British businessman David James over the sale of all or part of MG Rover.

PWC eventually reached a deal last week with Nanjing after three months of trying to draw up a rescue package for Rover, which has produced classic models under the Jaguar, Mini and MG brands during its 100-year history.

Under the terms of the deal assets of both Rover and its dedicated engine producer Powertrain have been sold to Nanjing.

Nanjing plans to build two new MG sports cars, to replace the MG TF and the MG version of the Rover 75, the London Observer reported.

In an interview with the Oriental Morning Post, Nanjing spokesman Liu Ningsheng said the win came as a surprise to all.

'We are surprised by the successful acquisition of Rover. The price of the acquisition is a bit more than 50 mln pounds,' Liu told the Shanghai-based paper.

'We welcome cooperation of both domestic and foreign capital to establish a holding company including SAIC and we could even consider giving up our majority rights in the company,' he said.

Nanjing Auto, a state-owned enterprise with approximately 16,000 employees is China's oldest carmaker, having been founded in Jiangsu province in 1947.

bms/mp/lh/dk



Evidence that the Chinese government still looks like bringing its intellectual property together rather than to allow managerial fighting between the two companies.

The long term strategy is looking good: buy Rover designs, buy Rover production equipment, buy Rover's K-series engine design, Buy Ssangyong to add SUV's to the line up, put the K-series engine in the SUVs too, develope Antonov gearboxes (AAD, DCA, DCAM), pass fuel efficiency laws to disadvantage foreign companies, pass laws taxing fully knocked down vehicles as if they are already assembled and make the tax on imported assembled vehicles high to reduce imports, start exporting to become global players.

Its quite a master plan. They should however have gone for LPG rather than petrol and diesel in China, so that they could avoid some of the oil wars. Its easy to build a different infrastructure. Its hard to replace the one you already have.

[crystalclear] 24/7/2005 21:06

Nanjing plans to produce 80,000 newly designed MG cars each year at Longbridge within five years, employing 2,000 workers at full production. It will build MG variants of the large Rover 75 car and the MG sports cars at Longbridge. MG variants of the Rover 25 and 45 - small and medium cars - will be produced in China and shipped to the Midlands for final assembly. In China, the aim is to manufacture 200,000 cars eventually, possibly using the old Austin brand name, the original motor company founded at Longbridge in 1905.



The company plans to build up UK production to between 80,000 and 100,000 cars a year, employing up to 2,000 people, and will be recruiting among former MG Rover workers, who were made redundant in the spring following the collapse of negotiations between Phoenix Venture Holdings and SAIC. Several hundred of these will be designers and engineers.
Nanjing's plans envisage the production of some five new models over the next five years: two MG sports cars, and a small, medium and large saloon. Initial designs have been made by engineering consultant Arup.
...
The bulk of Nanjing's production will take place in China, where equipment for making Powertrain engines and transmission systems will be sent. Nanjing, which is majority owned by the Chinese state of Jiangsu, currently makes 180,000 trucks, cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is planning to build 200,000 Austin-branded cars there a year.



200k+80k = 280,000
Add this to the 800,000 vehicles that SAIC are thinking of making, and it gives a potential of 1,080,000 various Antonov transmissions: AAD, DCA, DCAM from the two Chinese governement owned car firms.

[crystalclear] 22/7/2005 21:40

Honda takes back crucial MG Rover blueprints

James Mackintosh / London July 22, 2005

Honda has repossessed equipment and blueprints vital to building MG Rover's medium-sized car, making it more difficult for any buyer of the failed Birmingham carmaker to restart production of the Rover 45 or MG ZS models.

...

[crystalclear] 17/7/2005 00:13

New Rover 45
Very Chinese, you can tell by the way the eyes slant!

[crystalclear] 14/7/2005 23:41

With much of the development work already underway - in the hands of ex-MG Rover engineers at UK-based automotive consultancy Ricardo and the Chinese - insiders estimate that the new 45 and 75 could go on sale as soon as 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Logically Antonov's 5th generation AAD should reach the market before the DCA as it started sooner. However the 2004 annual report gives pretty much identical status to the AAD and DCA projects. So maybe we can see Raver 25s in 2007 too.

[crystalclear] 14/7/2005 23:03

Was this Plan B?

Hi everyone. It's running late and I've burnt the midnight oil trying to catch up with it all after a couple of weeks in Renault-PSA land.

Anyway, just thinking while reading through what's been claimed about this SAIC/Magma bid, seems as though it might have been planned all along (i.e pre-admin, maybe last year even).

1. The Magma/SAIC bid looks a lot like the original SAIC/MGR deal

2. Nanjing are buying/were going to buy equipment - 45 line perhaps, as per original JV deal?

3. Leech and SAIC were both involved in JV and new bid.

4. Nanjing, Leech, SAIC don't appear to be knocked back like the other bids. Could be that they are favoured as part of a whole-bbusienss solution, or maybe they are prepare to work to a plan (i.e. the prospectus) rather than bow to their egos and want it all.

5. Nanjing (Stephenson) and SAIC (Towers' pleeding) are both known to have connections with PVH directors since administration.

6. Leech is doing the job he was hired for before administration (i.e. steering SAIC alongside MGR, or in this case, it's remains).

7. SAIC don't have the money to fund a JV, but Magma will be mostly independent and funded from outside. What was a major part of the reason for the delay will not be a hurdle (just like the changed situation re: liabilities etc.).

8. Nor could SAIC bail out/buy MGR, but now they only have to take on some of what remains and Powertrain.

9. If Nanjing are still to be involved (and even end up in bed with David James or others?) but perhaps with a greater stake then before, the Chinese might have enough capital to pull it off this time.

10. MGR needed to fund its part of the JV AND fund new models. With Magma and its money (plus joining together with other bidders and their money) the Brits can now uphold their side of the partnership.

11. Both David James and Triple A have claimed part of their main plan was to work with SAIC. Could they have been informed that this was expected as outlined in the prospectus sent out by PwC?



Don't be fooled by all the jostling and posturing, and 'bids on bids off' stuff either. This is normal in business, and also smacks of PwC playing one off against another. As I have suspected for a long time, it's looking increasingly like 2 or more interested parties will be involved.

Thoughts please...

[crystalclear] 14/7/2005 04:22

New Rover 75s should be built to be more suited to communist life styles.
We tend to drive ourselves and need space in the front. The Chinese tend to be chauffer driven and need space in the back. So where we might want a radio in the front, the Chinese will want a DVD player in the back, with air conditioning controls too.

[crystalclear] 14/7/2005 00:54

Ricardo opens new facility in Shanghai

[mangal] 07/7/2005 09:28

I have now added warrants of ATV to the "Equity Warrants List (WT)" thread.

[crystalclear] 18/6/2005 02:29

Le Mans this weekend; Antonov's test driver Peter Kox driving an Aston Martin DBR9?


Driving Aston Martin Racing’s two DBR9 entries are, in car 58: Tomas Enge
(Czech Republic), Peter Kox (Netherlands) and Pedro Lamy (Portugal). In
car 59: David Brabham (Australia), Stephane Sarrazin (France) and Darren
Turner (UK).

[crystalclear] 16/6/2005 15:08

Buy in the UK for 115p = euro 1.73
sell in Holland for 123p = euro 1.86

profit 8p = 12 cents
7%

[crystalclear] 09/6/2005 17:22

Crystalclear:
SAIC cannot be classed (as far as I am concerned) as an existing customer, even if development of the 5th generation AAD and the dual clutch Antonov are for them. They are an aspired future customer, where contract might not materialize. (MG Rover counted their chickens before they hatched with SAIC!)

Existing customers are NZWL, Gajra, Sitma (hardly capable of volume production I think) and Honda. So at least one of the three: Honda, Gajra and NZWL, should be entering volume production in the not too distant future.

What is required now is:
The above production start and is named;
A contract with SAIC.

Production by one of the existing licencees raises the probability that the others are not dead ducks, and also that SAIC will put pen to paper.The prospects are looking good, but things need to happen.

[crystalclear] 09/6/2005 16:57

Press Releases

2005-06-09
Antonov completes offering


The Company today announces that it has completed a €6,750,000 convertible loan note fundraising exercise.

· Maximum amount of draw down facility is €6,750,000

· Notes have an interest rate of 7.5 per cent p.a. and are convertible after June 2007

· Funds support development projects with current and new clients

· Company moving towards revenue generation

The Notes were placed with five Investors, being a mixture of both old and new shareholders, including Quivest B.V., the Company's largest shareholder.

The €6,750,000 facility may be drawn down at the Company's discretion during the period ending 30 June 2007.

The Notes may be converted into ordinary shares of 20p each ('Shares') in the Company at any time after the Company's 2005 annual general meeting of shareholders. The conversion price per Share will be determined on the drawdown date, being a 5% discount to the market bid price per share on that date.

The Notes bear interest at an annual rate of 7.5 per cent. If not converted, the Notes are redeemable from 30 June 2007.

The Noteholders have also been granted warrants to subscribe for new shares in the Company on the basis of one warrant for every €2.40 of the facility granted. The exercise price is fixed at €1.20 per Share, the share price on the date on which the fund raising exercise commenced.

Roumen Antonov, Chairman of Antonov, commented:

"I am delighted by the confidence shown in the Company's prospects by both our new and established investors, including Quivest BV our single largest shareholder who have provided considerable support during the last two years. Antonov's technology now forms part of our existing customers' firm product plans with volume production expected in the not too distant future. This fundraising secures the Group’s requirements allowing it to build on recent successes as it moves towards revenue generation.”

[crystalclear] 06/6/2005 17:24

And Roumen Antonov himself holds about 11%.
Between them, that makes about 1/4 of the company.
With a couple of other large investors, it seems that there would be a shortage of shares if there were good news. So its down to Antonov to get some good news out some time.

[waldron] 06/6/2005 15:54

Quivest holding 13.2%