Aortech Share Discussion Threads

[gac141] 05/9/2012 13:28

P it is a long way for you to come.. I am going so will put any questions you have to the Board. I sincerely hope that Pither is removed from the board and his salary can go to better uses.

[gac141] 05/9/2012 13:28

P it is a long way for you to come.. I am going so will put any questions you have to the Board. I sincerely hope that Pither is removed from the board and his salary can go to better uses.

[1400] 05/9/2012 12:34

I was thinking of coming to the AGM (from the USA) but considering this mess I don't think my blood pressure can take it.

[1400] 05/9/2012 12:34

I don't think this is right, it's an absolute disgrace that the shares are trading down here and all because of the lack of any kind of guidance as to what the company is worth. They are in discussions knowing their targets and have completely forgotten their shareholders. Surely we are entitled to that knowledge.

[maxim1999] 04/9/2012 16:06

Surely if they complete the fund raising process that in itself would be very positive as you would have to insane to pump money in unless you got a high degree of comfort on its future prospects....

[harrogate] 04/9/2012 15:20

I am not sure it is that negative. If there are a number of interestes parties still which we hope and all need meetings and to do their own DD especially on the IP before they could formulate and offer I can't see how we can expect that to happen very quickly and it could reduce the value for the shareholders if they attempt to do speed it up. I agree that we need to know the funding details and I think the amount, terms and who is putting their hand in their pocket will tell us a great deal about where we stand.

[papillon88] 04/9/2012 15:10

Todays RNS suggests that none of the interested parties are close to making an offer and the bod are looking at alternatives which is of major concern
What shareholders now need to know is:
firstly how much is needed and how do they intend raising the money (I assume it will be by way of a very discounted placing)
secondly of the 11 parties how many are still interested and how many have walked away.

[harrogate] 04/9/2012 07:45

Mmmm..not sure the share price is going to like this although I guess a fundraising was expected. The IP may get us out of the mire here on a deal but it is cleae that the managment have messed this up very badly and the move to the US was not the universal success we had been told. Strong nerves are going to be needed I think !!!

[1400] 03/9/2012 14:30

The stock is only down 42% since the great sale announcement!

Who are the bigger idiots the directors or the shareholders?

[1prophet] 30/8/2012 17:52

Patience 1400 stuff going on. Rumor is encouraging.

[1400] 30/8/2012 16:21

oops pressed "reply" twice, sorry!

[1400] 30/8/2012 16:21

What are we chopped liver?

How about an update.

[kampongman] 27/8/2012 12:34

Very useful post Myrtle.

[gac141] 24/8/2012 15:10

Looks like maybe 100k shares bought. Something may be afoot?

[gac141] 24/8/2012 09:08

Excellent Post Myrtle

It really shows that we have a good team on board.

[tadders2] 23/8/2012 22:56

Very commendable.

[1400] 23/8/2012 21:12

Thanks for your effort I found it very interesting and I hope you are right.

[myrtle1] 23/8/2012 20:53

Apologies for spamming the AOR board – this will be my last post today!

Whilst we await 'news', I thought it might be useful to take a cursory glance at Piper Jaffray, appointed to act as financial advisor to the sale / non-sale of Aortech.

I am especially interested in some of the 'Medtech' deals that they have advised on over the past two years, especially as prices have come off a little post the "General Financial Crisis" since 2008.

They have posted a number of selected successful sale transactions on their website:



Selection of deals executed include:

Salient Surgical Technologies Inc was acquired by Medtronic in July 2011 for $525m, with revenues of $100m. Salient Surgical Technologies Inc is a leader in haemostatic sealing of soft tissue and bone in surgical procedures.



Aga Medical (NASDAQ Quoted) was purchased by St Jude Medical for $1.3bn. They had $199m revenues in 2009. A global innovator and manufacturer of a comprehensive line of devices used to treat structural heart defects and vascular abnormalities



Arizant Inc was acquired by 3M (St Paul, Minneapolis based) in September 2010 for $810m cash. This company had an enormous amount of IP, as well as sales of $200m. The manufacturer of surgical patient temperature management systems.



I realise that these are probably selective transactions used to promote Piper Jaffray's organisation to the 'big hitters' of 'Medtech' but what I think it does show is this, that they appear to be a well polished, well connected outfit who clearly have a lot of contacts in the 'Medtech' space with the very largest global operators, which include Medtronic, 3M, St Jude Medical and the like who may be interested in acquiring Aortech.

Interestingly, they also have strategically placed offices within the 'MedTech' belt / region and are likely to be very aware as to who may / may not be acquiring businesses at the current time and who really can close transactions, especially against tight deadlines (October 2012).

From the analysis I've done, a 'normal' Piper Jaffray transaction is not in the tens of millions of dollars but in the hundreds of millions of dollars ball park.

It is important to state that I am not necessarily suggesting that Aortech has an equity value today of $100m plus (although some of us do have views that it is worth at least this amount) but I would wager a bet that Piper Jaffray will have a certain 'take-out' price target in mind and it is unlikely to be anywhere near where the market price currently sits.

Why would they bother with a company such as Aortech, with a current market capitalisation of £8.9m (Approximately $13.8m) for small fees? Surely leave it for less illustrious competitors?

I am reliably informed by friends in the corporate finance business that corporate advisors don't 'get out of bed' for less than 5% of the total sale consideration and they would insist on a hefty profit incentive if they were to achieve a price over a certain threshold.

You only have to look at Piper Jaffray's financial results for the half year to 30 June 2012 to see that their Investment Banking subsidiary generated $99.192m in revenues. Obviously, this revenue number is made up of a lot of components not all relating to corporate finance transactions but I am sure there is somebody out there that could take a wild stab at average fee values for the sale of businesses and I bet they are not anything like $690,000 (approximately £440,000 at 5% based off Aortech's current market cap from yesterday) however! This is the US, afterall!

So, what useless conclusions can I make from my meandering verbiage?

1) Piper Jaffray would be expecting decent bucks for their financial advisor time (and it will be a lot more than $690k).

2) They are professionals, know who is likely to pay 'top dollar' and by initiating an auction process, absolutely realise that it can only lead to a more competitive final price (I still believe that a sensible strategic bidder for Aortech should have just taken it out before we got to this situation but perhaps the corporate finance departments of some 'Medtech's' are not as clever with negotiation tactics as they think they are).

3) The 'take out price' will be solely valued on the IP and revenues and profits (a little as they are at Aortech) are now almost irrelevant.

4) I sincerely believe that, despite the 'running out of cash warning' in October 2012, there will be some sort of successful conclusion to this saga and even if negotiations collapse, there will be a limited equity fund raising exercise to keep the business 'alive'(and a likely removal of Frank M), giving us enough time to ultimately lead to a successful sale.

Myrtle

[myrtle1] 23/8/2012 17:47

or, indeed, existing shareholders adding to their holdings....

[myrtle1] 23/8/2012 17:46

By my reckoning, there ought to be an RNS as 50,000 shares equates to over 1% of the business (from memory, there are approximately 4,832,000 shares in issue). Unless, of course, it is two separate buyers!

[harrogate] 23/8/2012 17:11

If it is a buy that sounds good news !!!. Hope so

[tadders2] 23/8/2012 16:42

Lets hope it's a Jackpot Rollover!

[1prophet] 23/8/2012 16:24

And so it begins~

[gac141] 23/8/2012 16:03

Definitely buy- Number of shares available online dropped 30,000