Arkle Resources Share Discussion Threads

[varies] 25/8/2009 19:31

pelleeds
Good luck to you.
16.25p is a mangy price but probably all that we shall get. Let us hope someone else comes forward by Sept 11.

[pelleeds1980] 25/8/2009 19:18

Got the corp action today below my buy price so will reject

[gclark] 24/8/2009 14:25

This idea of irrevocable undertakings is very misleading and I got it wrong. I just read the summary and presumed irrevocable meant irrevocable. But if you read Appendix C it can be revoked if there is a 10% higher offer.

Is it deliberately misleading to shareholders or is it just the way it is done? Normally I would have expected to see this when I read the summary because it is one of the most important issues for shareholders as to what to do with their shares.

Let's hope for a higher offer.

[varies] 21/8/2009 17:57

The Offer Document provides no justification for the modest price recommended beyond "value and certainty" but we shall obviously have to be content with 16.25p unless a better offer arrives.
The Irrevocable Undertakings by Gartmore and others are revocable in the event of a third party making an offer 10% better (standard form, I suppose); so we can continue to hope for a little time yet.
An interesting circumstance here is that Gartmore had a CfD for over 8 million shares (5.2% of the capital) in addition to its registered holding of nearly 27 million.

[mkwng] 19/8/2009 08:25

newspaper say: ARM maybe will pay 20-25 p for this company ?
hold waiting for..

[chavitravi] 18/8/2009 12:58

I wouldn't have thought that to bad had I still been holding shares in large quantity as I was till just befor this took off, I sold most at about 11.25p or there abouts, but I would still have been a loser as my average was 25.25p. In all I like you would have just had to like it as there is sod all one can do about it, but after years and seeing it gradually seeming to come together the deal isn't good imo for the long termers.

[varies] 18/8/2009 10:28

Whilst this offer looks distinctly mean, I can only suppose it represents a reasonable value for ARK as Gartmore and other institutions are content with it. They must know the position better than we do.
As gclark says, we have no choice.

[gclark] 18/8/2009 08:52

what I am staggered about is that the Directors together owned less shares in the company than I do! As I read it, they only owned 20,000 shares between them.

In the light of this, you start wondering how their interests are related to those of shareholders, and whether they are more concerned about maintaining their employment, AIMHO of course!

It's unhealthy to have companies where Directors have such low shareholdings.

But the offer is what we have to take - they already have 50% plus so that's it!

[topinfo] 12/8/2009 08:51

ARC International
SPECULATIVE BUY

06/08/2009 Oliver Haill

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Stubbornly loss-making since its 2001 flotation, microchip developer ARC is breaking even under new CEO Geoff Bristow and is currently in takeover talks.

Over the past three years, ARC's losses have widened from £2.7m to £8.4m in 2008, while the company lost £4.3m, before restructuring costs, in the six months to June 2009, on revenues down 22% to £7.3m. In June, Bristow kick-started the £2.8m restructuring plan that he expects will save the company £6m a year, including £3m in the current half-year.

The company is currently in a 'close period', with bid talks having been flagged up on 29 July, so Bristow is unable at the moment to speak about ARC's financial performance. However, it is worth noting that the board revealed back in June that the second half was expected to deliver 'positive cash flow' and 'at least break-even', before one-off costs and discontinued operations.


Although the bid may make peering too far forward futile, ARC generally looks three years in advance for products containing its technology to emerge, but Bristow says its unique 'Sound to Silicon' solution – where all the audio functions for an application are assembled in a single unit for an OEM to plug straight in – has already launched to customers and is popular enough to drive medium-term growth. Furthermore, ARC's strong ties with memory card leader Sandisk will soon drive the launch of a similar 'Storage to Silicon' product.

In the long term, Bristow sees 'company-making potential' if recently acquired Sonic Focus technology could become 'the standard for voice clarity on mobile phones', as a recent deal with a cordless phone specialist suggests. With £9.1m cash (6p a share) and break-even emerging, ARC is on a more solid footing, but the shares, up from an all-time low of 9p in March, remain highly speculative fare.

[investinggarden] 10/8/2009 10:12

Speculative Buy on Growth Company Investor

[varies] 10/8/2009 09:48

bonio10000
How right you are. Looking at the titles on other threads shown above " ARM bid imminent" and "Cash burn slashed" (both ended in 2004) reminds me of how long we have been waiting for ARK to achieve anything for its shareholders.
What I do find re-assuring is the general lack of interest on the part of the punting public as evidenced by the small number posting here.
If the talks come to nothing, we should at least be spared the usual flood of forced sales.

[bonio10000] 05/8/2009 12:42

Varies

We could have been having the same conversation 5 years ago.

The amount they cost cut - you have to wonder who is left that they are paying???

[varies] 05/8/2009 12:37

bonio10000
I agree with almost every word you say but big changes have been made and more are imminent and I now regard success for ARK as a stand alone as just conceivable.
Let us put its chances no stronger than that and hope to bid this company goodb'ye soon on favourable terms.

[bonio10000] 05/8/2009 11:49

The only value here is to buy the turnover and tech and strip out the overheads by merging with an existing player.

As a stand alone - the ability of this to never progress is stunning.

[varies] 05/8/2009 11:47

I find these results quite re-assuring and have bought a few more shares. They are certainly easier to buy today than yesterday or on Friday and, I suspect, will fall further before they rise again. The market appears to side with Hugepants for the moment.
The results are out earlier than we might have expected, brought forward presumably because there may be a bid, and suggest to me that ARK could survive on its own and even make a profit in 2 years time.
I am resigned to a fall back to 11p if there is no bid but see the risk/reward ratio as better after these results than before.
Buying now is much like putting one's money on a horse !

[topinfo] 05/8/2009 11:00

Hugepants, any bidder will have had access to books before bidding and they will have known these figures already and thats why they will be able to get Ark in 20s rather than 40s, still 50% upside here.

[mcinta] 05/8/2009 10:58

think the licenses and potential now are the key, it came off it's lows to this new level, the Sp keeps rising!

[hugepants] 05/8/2009 09:58

20p values ARC at about £30M! Look at the results. Look at the dwindling cash balances. The dwindling NAV. Im trying to be objective as possible but I just cant see a takeover at that level. Just maybe the tax losses will be an attraction. Can an acquirer use these?

[mcinta] 05/8/2009 09:42

agree there!

[topinfo] 05/8/2009 09:32

But hey they are in bid talks which should booost share price and they should be able to get 20p+

[hugepants] 05/8/2009 07:12

interims out:


Its taken ARC a long time but they have almost spent all their original cash mountain. Net working capital is down to under £6M. This is a failed business IMO. I think the proposed takeover is out of necessity.

[chavitravi] 03/8/2009 10:17

It has always made sense for Intel to buy this imo.

[mcinta] 03/8/2009 09:53

Among smaller companies, Arc International, which confirmed that it was in preliminary offer talks during the session before, closed flat at 15p, as Panmure Gordon weighed in, suggesting that 20p may be the likely base level for a potential takeover. "We understand that discussions have been under way for a few weeks, but it is difficult to speculate who the potential acquirer might be," Panmure said.

"It is no secret that ARM had interest a number of years ago. Intel is a key user of the technology, and Apple could even come into the fray with the advantages that Sonic Focus brings. Other licensees could clearly have interest.

[varies] 31/7/2009 15:16

After much dithering I decided an hour ago to buy a few more only to find the price up 0.75p. I put in a limited order good for today but doubt if I will get the shares.
What decided me was the "Retained Earnings" figure of Minus over £42m in the balance sheet coupled with the availability of huge tax losses, over £88m.
Much of this will be attributable to the write-off of R&D over the years and it is not unreasonable to hope that some of this work may have value.
If there is no news over the week-end, I may be able to buy cheaper on Monday.

[topinfo] 31/7/2009 14:00

Bid will be around 22-24p and whoever gets Ark is getting them super cheap now that economy is getting back on track. Who will it be though, Intel.?