Avanti Capital Share Discussion Threads

[alia] 21/8/2003 09:42

got at a cheap todays deal

[phil7c] 21/8/2003 08:25

Good deal but I agree with Mart. I thought I was buying into an internet/tech start-up company. Oh well, may be they will do better this way - at least the market thinks so.

[mart] 21/8/2003 08:25

Cheering news for all fellow warrant accumulators - you know who you are you mad risk takers - is that is that it is difficult to get hold of them (MM's short?). I tried to quickly pick up another 100K and couldn't. Could only get hold of 50K and as you can see the quote is on the move.

[mart] 21/8/2003 08:20

Seems a long way from the cutting edge of internet/technology :-) Perhaps it's just a game that they know more about.

[krsgr] 21/8/2003 08:15

Morning Mart......I like this deal and have bought 2x 100k shares this morning. They seem to have bought the best sites at a knock down price and management are putting up a fair bit as well...

[mart] 21/8/2003 08:13

Here's the reason. Does anybody have an opinion on this move?
At this rate those warrants might be in the money sooner than I thought.

RNS Number:8967O
Avanti Capital PLC
21 August 2003


Avanti Capital Plc

Provision of financial backing for the acquisition of up to 28 Po Na Na sites


In its first investment as a private equity business, Avanti Capital, as sole
financial investor, is providing up to #7.0m of acquisition and working capital
finance for the buyout of up to 28 bars and nightclubs selected from the Po Na
Na portfolio. Po Na Na Group plc, the AIM listed operator, which went into
administration on 1st May 2003, operated 58 bars and nightclubs at its peak, but
ran into financial difficulties earlier this year.

The price being paid by Barvest, the buyout vehicle, is up to #6.0m, depending
on the number of units assigned. Of this amount, Barvest is paying #1.0m for
tangible assets. In the year to 31st March 2003, the 28 bars and nightclubs had
sales of #23.4m and a contribution of #4.3m (unaudited) before head office
costs.

Avanti is supporting a management team, which is investing #0.8m alongside
Avanti, with an option to invest an additional #0.2m within the first twelve
months from completion. The team is lead by CEO David Phelps, who was previously
commercial director of Po Na Na Group Plc following the sale of his successful
company DP Leisure Group to Po Na Na in November 1999. Also included in the
management team is Jeremy Sturgess, who will be executive chairman and who
brings extensive leisure and property industry experience. Po Na Na's talented
marketing and operations teams are remaining with the business.

Avanti is investing #0.6m for 60% of the equity, with the balance of #6.4m being
invested by way of a secured preferred loan note bearing a return on exit of
37.5% per annum.

The 28 selected units, all of which are profitable at the operating level, are
the best performing units in the Po Na Na portfolio and include several of the
sites sold into Po Na Na by David Phelps. The units are all either London based
or located in popular university towns. There is a strong music focus with each
of the sites operating late night licenses for music and dancing, targeting
students and young professionals.

Julian Fellerman, Joint CEO of Avanti Capital Plc, said:

"This transaction falls squarely within our criteria - the portfolio is
profitable and has sound growth potential - the added ingredient is that we are
investing at a time when the sector is at a low point. We have great confidence
in the management team's deep knowledge and experience in this business and the
sector and believe in their ability to take this strong core of units forward in
terms of growth and profitability."

21 August 2003


ENQUIRIES:

Avanti Capital Plc Tel: [phone]
Julian Fellerman, Joint CEO
Richard Kleiner, Joint CEO

College Hill Tel: [phone]
Nicholas Nelson

[ron64] 21/8/2003 08:11

About time

[mart] 21/8/2003 08:02

Lively this morning.

[man1] 18/8/2003 14:53

Here's the reply to an e-mail i sent to the company asking why we had sat on the 17 mil when short term oppurtunities like spt, mdy, skp have been good performers all good results from one with little experience

Thank you for email - we appreciate it when shareholders take an active interest in the company.

I think it would be useful to explain precisely what we do - unlike funds that pick stocks and take minority position in these listed companies, we are a private equity business, which means we are seeking to back management in buy out/buy in opportunities - this a very different activity and there are no instant results.

I can assure that the management team here, all of whom have a meaningful stake in the company, want results as soon as and as much as you, however, we must all be patient and keep our focus on finding the right deals. We will of course make an announcement about each investment at the appropriate time.

Yours sincerely

Julian Fellerman

[man1] 04/8/2003 21:31

This is just off the Avanti website doesn't say much

Damian has been an investor in companies since 1985 when he became Managing Director of Phoenix Properties & Finance plc. In 1996 he was responsible, together with Anton Bilton, for the flotation of Internet Technology Group plc, an internet service provider. In 1997 he was one of the founding directors of the company. He is a director of Aspinals Club Ltd in London and of Aspinals Casino SA, owner of Aspinals Casino in Le Touquet, France.

[rodders14] 04/8/2003 14:14

This is sounding remarkably like another of my investments so-called Cassian part paid shares where damian aspinall is also a director they have been looking for an investment for our money for the past three years whilst drawing modest salaries but if they had enough of these going with modest salaries from each this could be quite a scam where nobody starts shouting from any of these companies. Does anyone know how to do a search to find out how many companies he is a director (or a paid investor????) for

[pachandl] 01/8/2003 00:08

Oops - Croydon is one of their two Server Centres but London seems to be the core activity at present. I noticed on the VN website that HomeChoice has "local government services with core initiatives from the London Boroughs of Newham and Camden".

[pachandl] 01/8/2003 00:00

Mart - you are not talking to yourself - others are listening. Re Video networks, I think it goes beyond Greater London into certain parts of the South-East, eg Croydon - I will try to find out more. Three years ago everyone was convinced that this would be one of AVA's cash-cows but it has yet to really do anything. Moreover, AVA (or ECI)'s original holding was diluted as further cash was required.

[mart] 31/7/2003 18:27

Look forward to your input pachandl. My own research is pretty superficial but I have a 'gut instinct' (probably worth zilch) that AVA may have been unfairly trashed.

[mart] 31/7/2003 11:53

This from Video Networks; news up until the end of january this year.

HomeChoice (www.homechoice.co.uk) is the consumer brand name of Video Networks Ltd. It provides customers with access to HomeChoice Broadband - the UK's best on-demand programming including comedy, drama, music, soaps and documentaries; a huge range of pay-per-view film titles; home shopping, education and local information services; and an Internet service with a speed of up to 1Mbps.

Anybody used Homechoice? I think it is London only. Is it any good?

[mart] 31/7/2003 11:23

Well expresso has a web site at least and looks livelyish.

I'm on a crusade.

[mart] 31/7/2003 11:13

Anybody used or know about DigitalBrain (see web address above - but truncate to root)? Seems to have a current web site at least. HBOS has a 15% interest.

Never mind I'm talking to myself. Madness this way lies.

[mart] 31/7/2003 11:08

A definition of 'irrational exuberance' - AVA at 5p.

[mart] 31/7/2003 10:44

Noted this from 24 June '03 about MBLox.

"Global Mobile Messaging Leader Created in Multi-Million Dollar Merger
Europe's mBlox and America's MobileSys Merge and raise $8 Million To Create New World Leader in SMS Services

London and San Francisco, 24th June 2003

A global leader in the field of Short Message Services (SMS) has been created by the merger of mBlox Ltd, Europe's leading SMS services provider and MobileSys Inc., the premier US provider of SMS services to corporations. This merger provides a defining moment in the mobile messaging market, as it creates a financially strong global player from two complementary leading companies.

As part of the transaction the combined company has raised $8 million to finance planned expansion. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, and participants included Novus Ventures, Duff Ackerman Goodrich and Bank of America.

The combined company, mBlox Inc., will be headquartered in London with an operational centre in Sunnyvale, CA. It will be led by MobileSys CEO Chip Hoffman. mBlox CEO Andrew Bud becomes Chairman and President.

Andrew Bud said, "This merger of two strong leaders, fuelled by a major investment, creates a technical and financial powerhouse in the SMS services market. This sector is ready for consolidation and with our financial muscle and market position we will drive this process forward. mBlox has been a profitable company since early 2002 and has made a major impact in the European market. Combined with MobileSys' premier position amongst the Fortune 100, we will be in an enormously strong position as the US market for SMS explodes."

Bud noted, "SMS is a huge media channel in Europe, where content services and marketing are now a substantial portion of the 10 billion messages sent every month. The US has recently introduced the service, and already over 1 billion SMS are sent per month and forecast to approach European levels within the next 18-24 months. Content and service providers are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to leverage their brands and content across both continents. By enabling them to overcome the complexities of multiple operators, networks and technologies, only mBlox can help them succeed."

CEO Chip Hoffman said, "Our shared vision is to become the world's Number One provider of SMS and wireless messaging transmission services to content and service providers and enterprises worldwide. These customers and mobile operators will be excited by the geographical coverage, commercial strength and focus of the company this merger has created."

Lead investor, Norwest Venture Partner's Robert Abbott said "We are very excited about the potential of this new business. A market growing to $10bn annually, ideal timing, and two complementary teams dedicated to profitable aggressive growth make this a very important transaction for the wireless industry."

MobileSys is America's leading provider of wireless messaging services to global corporations including Cisco, Chevron and EDS. Its leadership is based on its direct connections to US carriers, its proprietary technology and its SMS expertise.

mBlox, based in London, is Europe's leading provider of SMS transmission services to European content and applications providers. It has premium-rate SMS services in 12 countries and is unique in owning and operating its own Short Message Service Centre (SMSC).

ENDS.

About MobileSys:
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA., MobileSys provides a global wireless data network that enables secure, efficient delivery of data worldwide to virtually any device, including mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), land line phones, and pagers. MobileSys has more than 700 customers worldwide, including Cisco Systems Inc., Citibank, Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), Ericsson Mobile Communications, Ford Motor Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., Johnson & Johnson Inc., LSI Logic Corp., Motorola Inc., QUALCOMM Inc. and Siebel Systems Inc.

About mBlox:
mBlox is Europe's leading provider of SMS infrastructure services to the content and applications industry. The company makes the task of sending and receiving SMS simple, reliable and cost effective, freeing clients from the commercial and technical complexities that can cost so much time and effort. Companies use the mBlox standard and premium-rate outbound and inbound SMS services to provide information, entertainment and communications services to consumers or enterprise staff."



Presumably this is GOOD news. It would be nice if somebody who was au fait with this industry could give an opinion. Must confess to a renaissance of hope! Ever the optimist.

[mart] 31/7/2003 10:09

Just starting some research and I am looking at the portfolio of investments. I note that Business Serve reported a wireless broadband in Manchester in April AND actually reported their first profit in May. Seems to be growing by acquisition. Looks promising; anybody know anything about this company?

[mart] 31/7/2003 09:59

A bit of movement. Anybody heard or read anything? And how come it is moving up with what appear to be mostly sells over the last three days that I checked. Mysterioso..

[meperry] 28/7/2003 11:47

is this company the old eci e-capital investments