Boot (henry) Share Discussion Threads

[slj] 12/10/2005 21:58

Citigroup recommended Boots as a 'sell' today at 626p.

[enami] 10/10/2005 22:30

I am not happy with this special dividend - they give me £2 per share and I have to pay 50p tax on it, and end up with fewer shares. I suppose it's Ok if you are holding in an ISA, but overall there is no gain in this for shareholders.

National Grid had a B share buyback for their Capital Return recently where you could take the payment as a dividend or a capital disposal.

I have just written to Boots investor relations to complain, but I expect I will end up selling immediately before the consolidation and buying again on the next market downswing.

Long CFD bought close of business Thursday at 622- target the top of the March gap down

[mr.oz] 10/10/2005 18:20

Good read here

Business Focus

Bloodbath in the High Street
Some of the biggest names in British retail are swimming in dangerous waters. Sales figures are the worst for 10 years, costs are rising and then there's the Tesco Effect. Is the only answer to consolidate like Boots?



Last week's details got mixed reviews with shareholders and analysts questioning the long-term strategic merits of merging the two businesses.

Geoff Ruddell, retail analyst at Morgan Stanley wrote: "We have mixed views on the announcement. Without the deal, Boots was facing an unexciting, low-growth future and we are convinced that the opportunities to develop the investment case will be much more interesting post-merger than they would otherwise have been. On the other hand, however, our 'first cut' at pro-forma financials for the combined group . . . does not seem very attractive to us."

Bubb says: "It's a reverse takeover by Alliance, not a merger, and on that basis it makes some sense. Rudd is a mate of Pessina, who is really the chief executive, and Baker will be out in a year. This is Rudd's way of saving face and engineering a deal for shareholders. I am not sure of the alternative; it is the least worse thing."

Not everyone is downbeat. One fund manager who preferred not to be named went to an Alliance Boots investor lunch last week and said the deal will bring in new management and a new strategy with the potential to take the group successfully abroad.

"I am a big fan," she told The Business. "It's clever. Boots have tried to go abroad and what UniChem have been very good at is going into markets where there are no unified chains and getting groups of pharmacists together, securing distribution and consolidating.

"A newly merged Boots can get in there first with a branded chain and the two firms will also benefit from taking a big slug out of the costs. I think it's a good deal."

BUT WHAT does the future hold for those remaining on the high street at the mercy of Tesco and consumers' vanishing cash? The answer is consolidation or specialisation.

[davewilk] 08/10/2005 08:25

The BHI disposal is conditional on clearance from the European and US anti-trust authorities and the approval of Boots shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting.

It is expected to close in early 2006 with the payment of the special dividend shortly after.

'Together with the announcement of the proposed merger with Alliance UniChem, this disposal allows us to focus on our plans to create a world class pharmacy-led healthcare group,' said Boots CEO Richard Baker.

EXTRACT FROM an ADVFN competitor

[davewilk] 07/10/2005 13:22

Reckitt Benkiser today states it is to buy Boots BHI Unit for £1.926bn in cash after both Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline have dropped out of the running, with Boots stating it would return £1.43bn to shareholders, around £2.00/share, to investors via a special dividend

Boots is also in the news after reports that Hutchison Whampoa, owner of the UK chain Superdrug, is now seen as unlikely to intervene in the planned £7bn Boots and Alliance Unichem merger, after some initial concerns that it may attempt to spoil the deal

FROM DIGITAL LOOK ALERT

[mr.oz] 07/10/2005 12:27

Boots Rival Bid Increasingly Likely-Investec

Wednesday, October 05, 2005 4:22:09 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0814 GMT [Dow Jones] Newsflow surrounding Alliance UniChem (AUN.LN) and Boots (BOOT.LN) merger increases chances of an independent bid, up to 710p, suggests Investec Securities. Says investors will have to buy into Alliance UniChem's wholesale activities before getting behind proposed merger, and points out that lower yield characteristics may be a blow to income funds. But the brokerage says possibility of a bid suggests Boots is an attractive entry point to "a potentially interesting investment." Maintains buy rating. Trades -0.2% at 630p. (DWE)

[slj] 07/10/2005 10:24

Approvals and Consents

The Disposal, Special Dividend and Share Consolidation will be subject to the
approval of Boots shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting. The
Circular setting out the notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting, including
the Boots directors' recommendation to vote in favour of the Disposal and the
Share Consolidation is expected to be sent to Boots shareholders in early
November.

The Disposal is also conditional, amongst other things, upon obtaining
clearances from the European and United States anti-trust authorities.

The Disposal is expected to be completed in early 2006 and the payment of the
Special Dividend and the Share Consolidation are expected to take place as soon
as practicable after completion of the Disposal.

[mr.oz] 07/10/2005 09:25

Does anyone know for sure the XD/record date for that special div?

[miata] 07/10/2005 09:16

Reckitt Benckiser, the Anglo-Dutch household products group behind Lemsip and Gavescon, has won the £1.9 billion race to buy Boots Healthcare International, the highly profitable non-prescription drugs business put up for sale by the British high street retailer before it struck a merger deal with Alliance UniChem.

Boots will use £1.43 billion of the sale proceeds to make a one-off special dividend payment. The retailer will use the remaining £400 million for investment.


- A good price, fairly as expected considering the number of bidders, mildly positive for Boots shareprice methinks.

[mr.oz] 04/10/2005 19:17

Positive Candidate (Medium term) - Oct 3, 2005 Analysis Explanation
Is within a rising trend and continued advance within the current trend is indicated. On reactions back, there is support against the floor of the trend channel. Has broken a resistance level in the short term and given a positive signal for the short-term trading range. The stock has broken up through the resistance at p 628. This predicts a further rise. Positive volume balance strengthens the stock in the short term. The stock is overall assessed as technically positive for the medium long term

[mr.oz] 04/10/2005 19:10

Boots "hold," target price raised

Tuesday, October 04, 2005 11:23:50 AM ET
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasser.

LONDON, October 4 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein maintain their "hold" rating on Boots Group (BOG.FSE). The target price has been raised from 610p to 650p.



Tuesday, October 04, 2005 10:25:07 AM ET
Lehman Brothers

LONDON, October 4 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Lehman Brothers reiterate their "equal weight" rating on Boots (BOG.FSE). The target price has been raised from 610p to 700p.
In a research note published yesterday, the analysts mention that there are limited strategic and financial benefits from the proposed merger of Boots with Alliance Unichem. The analysts believe that Boots' shareholders would not approve the proposed merger. According to Lehman Brothers, the company is likely to receive acquisition bids of about 736p per share from private equity groups in the near term.

[miata] 04/10/2005 08:37

"Break-fees" to ensure deal goes ahead:

If Boots shareholders do not approve the deal, Boots would have pay Alliance UniChem £43m.

If Alliance Unichem shareholders reject the deal AUN would have to pay Boots £31m.

[mr.oz] 03/10/2005 18:32

WestLB Upgrades Boots To Outperform

Monday, October 03, 2005 6:37:04 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires

1024 GMT [Dow Jones] WestLB upgrades Boots (BOOT.LN) to outperform from neutral, lifts price target to 675p from 590p. Follows the company's agreed merger with Alliance UniChem (AUN.LN). "It gives Boots a fantastic pan-European growth profile that the organisation has to date been lacking


Venture threat to Boots merger
Jim Armitage and Nick Goodway, Evening Standard
3 October 2005
BOOTS and Alliance UniChem confirmed their £7bn merger plan today but immediately faced a challenge as private-equity groups urgently investigated the chances of spoiling the marriage.


Shareholders mustn't be kicked by Boots
Investors in the struggling Boots chemists chain should be wary of selling out on the cheap warns Miles Costello

[bigboyo] 03/10/2005 12:09

now we know !

boots is going back to it's core model, supplying and selling drugs, cosmetics and sandwiches

all diverisfications have failed.
all rationalistaions have failed.

in effect, boots needs teh alliance unichem distribution especially with the new pharmacy contract.

with electronic transmission of prescriptions (80% prescriptions are repeats ) this wholesale network is critical

Boots needed this more than allliance --- shame that aun shareholders have been sold short !

[singspiel] 03/10/2005 09:09

Any idea how much they are likely to give back to Boots shareholders ? Doing the maths it's got to be about £1.4 bn, otherwise its a bum deal for Boots shareholder, but I bet it isn't

[miata] 03/10/2005 08:17

The Exchange Ratio shall be calculated on the basis of the issued share capital
of Boots immediately prior to the posting of the Merger Documentation so as to
provide Alliance UniChem Shareholders (on a fully diluted basis) with such
number of New Boots Shares as results in Boots Shareholders holding 50.2 per
cent., and Alliance UniChem Shareholders holding (on a fully diluted basis) 49.8
per cent., of the issued share capital of Alliance Boots. The Merger is
pre-conditional, inter alia, on the disposal of BHI. It is intended that Boots
will return by way of the Special Dividend all post-tax disposal proceeds in
excess of £400 million to Boots Shareholders prior to the determination of the
Exchange Ratio for the Merger.

This morning Boots shares were up 7%, valuing the company at £4.7billion.
Alliance Unichem shares were up 5%, giving that company a value of £3.3billion.
I expect that ratio to change slightly during the day.



WestLB upped its recommendation on Boots to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and hiked its price target to 675 pence, up from 590. Panmure Gordon raised its rating to 'hold' from 'sell' with a 650 pence price target.

[pedrojack] 02/10/2005 23:02

I must be a complete idiot....I have been called worse.....why would I be pretending....

[scarface01] 02/10/2005 22:46

Surely it depends on the price. Are you a complete idiot? or just pretending

[tuco 1] 02/10/2005 22:31

Pedrojack,
I don't own yet, but may buy first thing tomorrow.
Tuco.

[pedrojack] 02/10/2005 22:22

I am going to buy in first thing 2morrow morning.....

[madgooner] 02/10/2005 20:30

So the Boots management know better than the market and have passed £650M of their shareholders value to AUN?

A bonus is deserved no doubt?

[pedrojack] 02/10/2005 19:36

Tuco...Do you hold at the moment?

[miata] 02/10/2005 19:33

Although Boots has a significantly greater market value, £4.4 billion versus £3.1 billion for Alliance UniChem, shareholders in the two companies will each be offered 50 percent of the shares in the merged entity.

[tuco 1] 02/10/2005 19:09

I would expect a run-up to at least £6.50 in coming days , as anticipation of other bidders entering the ring intensifies.
An opening price below £6.25 should be bought IMO.
Tuco.