Ashoka India Equity Inve... Share Discussion Threads

[mbmiah] 19/6/2015 14:28

Well somebody needs to get the "auction" hammer out - We can't see a British company go cheaply now can we?!!

[irenekent] 19/6/2015 12:20

See you in court pico.

[butmac] 19/6/2015 09:09

Thank you for your posts Werty & Pico..

Also advice on link werty.

Do appreciate the information and views that are being discussed at this moment.

[picobird] 19/6/2015 08:40

As werty says a scheme of arrangement seems to be the norm nowadays.
However it only requires 75% approval to take control of a company instead of the old 90%. Keysight already have 15%(approx via third parties) so they only need another 60% in general meeting.
Irene mentioned that it was odd that the Anite directors had approved the low offer, apparently this is necessary for a scheme to be initiated.
Speed is necessary for the whole process because if an activist starts to oppose the 'takeover', the court will not 'rubber stamp' the process.
So the two companies involved will be speeding through the processes for the whole thing to be a success.
The Anite board will no doubt be looking at the 'carrots' that Keysight have put on the boardroom table in the way of bonuses.
However, although I want a decent realistic offer (170p), I think this is the only way to go. We all have to move on & take our chances & just hope another knight in shining armour appears to save the day & makes a higher offer.

Mind you, thinking about it, an activist could perhaps get a decent offer out of Keysight. Any volunteers available to appear in court with banners saying - ' we want 200p per share'. Actually Keysight probably have 200p penciled in as their offer ceiling.

[werty5] 19/6/2015 08:15

Not doing anything wrong, in their wisdom Advfn won't let you post links unless you're a full subscriber. Not a problem everyone knows about changing the xx for tt. I think the court hearing is about monopolies and mergers I think U.S companies must meet certain criteria in order for the sale to complete. I am also invested in PIC which is going through a similar process at the moment but I must confess I do find all the legal jargon a bit beyond me..

[butmac] 19/6/2015 07:57

Done it again!
When I paste links on this board at the beginning of the link it should be http but it keeps changing to hxxp when I post.
So the link has to be altered to http in front and not hxxp

apologies for that and what am I doing wrong?

[butmac] 19/6/2015 07:51

Started to read the RNS doc about the takeover and noticed the statement regarding a "Court Meeting" Looked it up on the net and found that the agreement has to go to a Court meeting to be agreed as it is a Scheme of Arrangement.
Whats that? So looked up takeovers etc and found this link that might be helpful regarding the rules and the time frames involved regarding a Take over and a Scheme of Arrangement.

GLA

Ps As a small investor its times like these that the mushroom effect comes over me.

hxxp://whoswholegal.com/news/features/article/29552/public-takeover-offers-versus-schemes-arrangement

[junglee] 18/6/2015 21:25

Irenekent, yr post 4071 above. Wow! Interesting history from galvanizing/zinc plating to mobile testing now. I bow to your sentimental investment. Even though they say you should never fall in love with a share, I think it would be justified in your case! I too have a large holding (I think by pi standards). Good luck.

[mbmiah] 18/6/2015 19:25

Maven have increased by 0.01% since yesterday. Could get interesting me thinks.

[mbmiah] 18/6/2015 19:22

Anybody know what all these RNS are? Are they just declaring their positions or are they all taking a punt?

[irenekent] 18/6/2015 17:09

You don't usually get the board recommending a first offer unanimously if its a low bid. You would think they would wait. Anybody know when their stock options expire and at what price?

[gerdmuller] 18/6/2015 16:48

There is always the chance of course that they have put a low bid in in anticipation of a higher bid. This would then give them the space to move their bid higher. All speculation of course but that is what M&A is all about most of the time. And sometimes if you put in a low bid you get lucky.

[picobird] 18/6/2015 16:37

Thanks Gerd for putting me right. Been meaning to look at those terms & conditions again but not got round to it. If there can be a counter bid right through to October I will be a very happy bunny.
I was thinking that the whole thing was going to be voted through on 01/07/2015 - silly me !!!

[gerdmuller] 18/6/2015 16:31

Pico, why do they have to put an offer in next week? As far as I can see that only relates to a small percentage of the shares and until the offer has been accepted by a majority then there can be offer bids.

[picobird] 18/6/2015 15:17

Keysight have in effect by putting an offer on the table shown that Anite is an 'okay company'. Actually, they are desperate to get into the test & measurement industry.
Any serious predators now have the weekend to fill their boardrooms & put a counter offer together for announcement next week.
TBH every time Anite put in good results the share price gets lost because nobody can get their heads around what they do.
At least now the guys in the know have a chance to acquire Anite. So perhaps this is the best way to get the best price for our investment.
Just trying to be positive on the situation. On the other hand there are the institutions but I think they will take the same view.
Lets hope those boardrooms are full this weekend. I think ST (IC) thinks they may well be.
GLA.

These American companies are so cut & thrust, I think the present board members will gracefully retire after collecting their bonuses for say the first year or two of new ownership.
The CEO of Keysight is full of BS if you read up on his interviews. He is however heading a large concern.
So perhaps it's a win win situation for a change, it's definitely that for the Anite board. Perhaps us humble shareholders might be thrown a few extra pence - LOL.

[junglee] 18/6/2015 14:07

Thanks Irenekent. yes got some allocation in the original flotation in 1984 (!) and then bot multiple times in the market over the years. I am sure there must be many like that, who read the thread but post very rarely. Prudential are generally long-term holders. I think fate will be decided by the big institutions. All the best.

[irenekent] 18/6/2015 14:04

m/t

Says it all.

[muscletrade] 18/6/2015 13:59

Just for the record I am not trying to be too critical of the BOD(at least note yet), as I do not have all the facts. Like others i feel that the offer is on the light side as does not reflect the optimism reflected in the CEO's commentary in early May, and potential going forward, agreement with China Mobile for example. Many of us have put up with the rubbish of the last couple of years and were looking forward to better times ahead.

Maybe the BOD felt that by going down this route they would flush out/accelerate/improve any other offers that might out there.

For those that are concerned that all is not as well as it should be, go back to the trading update in early May.

CEO comment

"We saw continued momentum in the second half resulting in a good full year result. The business performed well notwithstanding a typically mixed market backdrop"

"We enter the new financial year with growth opportunities for both of our businesses. These are supported by recent product investments and acquisitions, encouraging activity levels and growing sales pipelines."

The two parties signed a confidentiality agreement just two weeks after this update.

[akw_aim] 18/6/2015 12:41

FOLLOW THE #SIBseries revolution on twitter @AKW_AIM

[irenekent] 18/6/2015 12:41

Junglee,

Nice to find another share holder who has been in since the Cray days! Bit more than the current directors can say. Prudential have been on board since the beginning; I believe they may have even helped in underwriting the original flotation which was at least ten times oversubscribed. We could do with a bit of that sort of action now. As muscletrade points out there will doubtless be a 'dosh for the boys' element to this deal. I certainly won't be voting for that if they sell us down the river. Lets hope an alternative offer or too pops up. I note that Keysight were spun out of Agilent not that long ago. Perhaps it was always intended that they should take us over. I wouldn't be surprised if management have been chewing this one over for rather longer than we might be led to believe.

[muscletrade] 18/6/2015 12:10

@pico, the Non executive directors will resign. No Information on future of Anite executive directors that I can see although as you point out Anite brand to continue and HQ will be at Fleet.

Also note that the support pledged by certain shareholders is null and void if a competing offer is made within 7 days of initial announcement and is at least 10% higher than current offer.

also note 2.."Certain Anite Share Schemes contain provisions whereby Anite's Remuneration Committee has discretions as regards the vesting of certain awards in these circumstances. Anite's Remuneration Committee will exercise such discretion in such manner as it considers appropriate".
No surprise there then. So good chance senior management get a load of cash in the bank and get to keep their jobs too.

[picobird] 18/6/2015 11:00

I have to agree with Irene, the more I think about this offer the stranger the whole thing becomes.
The timing of two weeks before an AGM really does go against the shareholders interests especially when we have been told to expect 'bumper results'.
The company will continue as an entity with the present BOD (presumably) but with a different paymaster - American style.