Ensor Share Discussion Threads

[pavey ark] 28/11/2016 12:54

carcosa, all valid points but as I said this is a risk/reward call and with all such situations it is up to the individual to make their own decisions.
I am working on the assumption that management can't/will not do anything illegal and provided that is the case then the assets available for distribution make this a reasonable bet.

[carcosa] 28/11/2016 12:32

Have to say I take a very differing view. It appears management have obtained poor to middling valuations for the various elements of the business. Now shareholders are being asked/invited/scammed into having illiquid private shares. Worse than that, shareholders will not have access to the level of reporting, both news and financial, going forward. So even from an information point of view shareholders will have nothing but a basic set of accounts to see.

So then I would expect management to, in effect, award themselves the company shutting out any shareholders. Even that may take a year, or two, or five or twenty.

In situations like these I do feel there is a case for getting a court injunction to prevent the delisting irrespective of any vote. Would be an interesting legal argument anyway!

My view is that whatever the gains or losses shareholders outside the company have you should sell up and move on. There is nothing that management have said or done that would convince a reasonable person to stay invested.

Summarising:
Practically speaking unable to trade future shares easily. You will need to find a buyer directly
Loss of reporting standards
Loss of financial visibility and communication
NO guarantees of when or IF there will be an end game
High risk of MBO at the end of the day
No time limit for the company remaining private


Carcosa (ex-shareholder)

[pavey ark] 28/11/2016 12:15

harrogate, I suspect you may be correct as my information came second hand over the phone. In fairness to my broker they did want to pass me on to Corporate Actions to clarify and go over the particular case but as my share are not presently in my SIPP the easiest and cheapest route for me is to just let them send me a share certificate.
As I have capital gains allowance to spare there are no tax implications and when the company is sold I'll just deal with their broker directly.

On a broader note; we are where we are and unless you think that the major shareholders are going to stuff their saddle bags with the loot and ride into the sunset (in which case you should certainly sell) then a little run through the most recent accounts will show that we are getting close to a share price that gives almost no value to the two remaining units.
This is just my view of the current situation and I wouldn't like to get into any sort of an argument over this.
I have increased my holdings and have an average of 64p and I am hopeful of turning a reasonable profit here.
On a risk/reward this look like a reasonable punt.

[cockerhoop] 28/11/2016 11:40

Martin,

I agree with your final comment that ESR would/should have made more as a mini conglomerate, their margins suggested to me a P/S ratio of at least 1 so worth perhaps £30m. Also by selling piecemeal £5-6m was lost in the purchase of the annuity which wouldn't have been req'd if selling the complete business.

[garbetklb] 28/11/2016 11:24

An alternative route would be for the company to do a fair tender offer.

[shanklin] 28/11/2016 10:58

I guess we should have seen the sale process would not go well when, in Oct-15, EBP was sold for £1.441 Million when it had operating profits of 365k in y/e 31-Mar-15 as well as net assets of £1.029m.

Unfortunately I did not take the hint and did not sell until Sep-16 for an average price of circa 69p.

Despite the current deep sh1t which shareholders have ended up in, I very much doubt the current situation was ever seen by the directors as a likely outcome. In retrospect it is clear ESR was worth far more as a small conglomerate than in its current state with most businesses having been sold.

GLAH.

[harrogate] 28/11/2016 10:49

I have been allowed in the past to keep shares that delisted in my SIPP - that was with James Hay and they were held there, received dividends and then when the company was bought I got my cash ok. It might be an individual SIPP provider rule but it is not a HMRC rule or anything like that

[zimbtrader] 28/11/2016 10:17

Thanks, TP. I guess that begs the question of what will happen to shares held in a SIPP! My feeling is we'll probably be forced to sell!

Some interesting action on the trades. Gut feel is someone is buying as I can get a price to sell a decent amount of shares but, less often, a price to buy any. Not that I am going to buy any more!! ;-)

[corrientes] 28/11/2016 09:14

Pay a special dividend now, to show good intent. They won't, blaming it on tax reasons.

[pavey ark] 28/11/2016 09:04

Zimbtrader, I checked earlier with my broker and they can't go into my SIPP but this is worth double checking.

[zimbtrader] 28/11/2016 08:47

To clarify; sell both companies keeping Ensor as an AIM traded company and then liquidate it rather than turn it into a private company before liquidating. This would negate the problems they are going to cause to those of us with holdings in an ISA and (less sure on this) a SIPP. I acknowledge their intention is to reduce costs but they are causing a host of problems for shareholders and creating a lot of suspicion by "taking the money" into a position where there is less regulatory control.

Given their "performance" so far, who is to say that something even more suspicious won't happen once the cash is sitting in a Ltd company account?

[cockerhoop] 28/11/2016 08:04

Zimbtrader,

I think your 1st para is what the company intends to do, isn't it? Assuming they don't receive a suitable offer for Woods.

[zimbtrader] 28/11/2016 07:56

I'm also interested in any conference call although I suspect the management will do everything in their power to duck that. I am fairly convinced, having reflected on the announcement, that the management is behaving in a deeply suspicious manner. Assuming Ellard is sold, why do they not simply make an offer for Woods, pay for it and then liquidate the "shell" returning the money?

I remain open to being persuaded otherwise, but I am a "no" at the moment.

And on that point. Someone earlier rightly pointed out it is 75% of votes cast. Decisions are made by those that turn up so I hope others will join me in starting to work out how they can vote in this important matter.

[kneecaps2] 28/11/2016 02:43

Yes very poor show. I am abroad until December 23 so probably cannot vote my holding.

[cockerhoop] 27/11/2016 21:08

David,

I'd be interested in joining in on the conference call.

Tiswas,

Whilst the end game here has been far from ideal, I don't think the Harrison's are trying to pull one over the investors.

[rp19] 27/11/2016 19:57

Bit of commentary at the bottom of this article -

[tiswas] 26/11/2016 15:16

I would be interested in the call David.

I am very surprised as I thought we were dealing with "old school" type directors who were closely aligned to shareholders so disappointed if they are trying to put one over on us.

[battlebus2] 26/11/2016 14:58

Just like SRG they could return 75% of the value in cash but refuse to due to costs involved which are minimal imv. I suspect this could be a long wait but for holders I hope not.

[davidosh] 26/11/2016 14:47

I am going to set up a conference call with the directors if any of you are interested so that they can fully explain why this is the best way to maximise value for shareholders....if that is the conclusion they have or if advisers involved ?

To be honest delistings generally work as a negative for investors and many become automatic or forced sellers when this happens so we do need to fully understand this.

[corrientes] 25/11/2016 22:03

Usual disgustingly orchestrated AIM shafting.

[mrx001] 25/11/2016 20:29

Sold out today, don't like the smell of this. Once a plc one has had it has been my experience and given how long this whole selling the company has taken with no cash being returned just makes me doubt managements intentions, todays announcement was the last straw.

[tiswas] 25/11/2016 14:24

Yes, smells a bit, as if the price is being manipulated.

Very wide spread so it is pretty clear which are buys and which are sells yet 3x as many buys as sells so why the big fall and where is the stock coming from? Who is confident enough to buy on a 15-20% spread?

If it is directors I would normally see that as a good sign but it is such an uneven playing field at the moment that I would not be pleased with that.

[jaf111] 25/11/2016 13:41

Has someone just purchased 200,000 @ 65p??