Equals Share Discussion Threads

[masurenguy] 16/5/2024 15:30

Exactly - how can cancelling Mello, while still in potential takeover talks, be viewed as a red flag !

[anon12345] 16/5/2024 14:47

They obviously can't do casual fireside investor events while in negotiations to sell the whole company, and suggestions that they're looking to raise equity - despite being strongly cash flow positive and paying dividends because they have surplus (rather than insufficient) capital - make no sense.

[davidosh] 16/5/2024 14:43

They cancelled the Mello in November....this one woulld be the replacement but only if out of bid talks which they are not

[big7ime] 16/5/2024 13:33

I had this with Ameriseur which did drag for ages but did get taken over

[davidosh] 16/5/2024 12:06

fft....I think the time it is taking is now becoming a problem. Lots of us have money tied up in this and when the markets were going down this was a comfortable delay but most of my smaller company investments are going up steadily and have probably averaged 20% to date this year with most of the gain in the last six weeks.

That means money tied up here could be making hay whilst the sun is shining. It will reduce the damage if everything comes to nothing but very frustrating.

Equally annoying that they cannot now come to our conference next week although Polar Capital Financial Trust and Time Finance are there. Just checkout how well TIME have done whilst Equals have been in discussions....Up nearly 40%

[fft] 16/5/2024 11:07

The share price action makes it fairly clear that the market (who normally knows these things) doesn't think it will happen, or that it won't happen at the price most of us want. The share price also seems to indicate that EQLS isn't worth as much without the takeover as we expect.Or... There are a load of stale bulls who see better opportunities elsewhere. And at the speed this is going, they may well be right !

[carcosa] 16/5/2024 11:01

FWIW I spoke to the UK Takeover Panel case officer. She said there is nothing that they can do as it is entirely the responsibility of Equals Group with respect to the PUSU extensions. Reason being is that continuing PUSU extensions is in the interest of shareholders. She also pointed out that there have been several occasions when PUSU extensions have been much longer than that incurred by EQLS.

[eigthwonder] 16/5/2024 10:34

Makes the board look stupid and it also makes the whole concept of PUSU redundant - Takeover Panel should be having words

[qs99] 15/5/2024 17:16

I haven't sold a share to be clear, EQLS one of my largest holdings (outside copper plays), but I stand by what I said above, this reflects badly on management IMO. It's been a waste of time in many ways, the DD for this size & type of business cannot be very difficult IMO so its around price & terms. IF neither party can provide clarity quickly, tell them to foxtrot oscar and go hostile but get on with running business!! DYOR

[boozey] 15/5/2024 15:44

To use the old Buffett adage, 'the market is a fantastic mechanism for transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient'. Sit tight and let this play out is my view and whatever happens Equals is a sound business.

[eeza] 15/5/2024 13:44

I think the indic bid is likely to be around 150p. Too low for IST to accept, but high enough that he persists in trying to increase it.


But turning into a farce, imo. There should be a limit to how many times they can kick the can.

[74tom] 15/5/2024 13:36

I think you have to be cynical given the lack of transparency here. If there was an attractive deal to be done I highly doubt it would take 7 months+

I'd punt that neither non-binding offer is acceptable, but they don't want to close the strategic review because doing so will signal that the are no takers above the current share price.

If either proposal was above the current share price then why wouldn't they live up to the Put Up or Shut Up and reveal the details of the non binding offers & give the interested parties a genuine deadline? The worst this could do is move the share price higher & build bidding pressure...

[mcl1] 15/5/2024 12:39

The share price doesn't lie and someone has sat on the offer for weeks now. Perhaps I'm cynical, but it doesn't look encouraging price wise.

[ltinvest] 15/5/2024 12:31

Another extension means that discussions are still taking place. The most recent extension has slightly different language and mentions due diligence is advancing which wasn't mentioned before so I take that as an advancement of the negotiations. As these sort of things are heavily legally regulated language is usually Key in these sort of announcements.

[anon12345] 15/5/2024 11:37

B7T - yes, I'm sure IST is frustrated. I have laid out before some transaction comps - I assume he was hoping to sell for 3-4x sales to the low cost of capital bidder, which is probably Corpay.

The issue is, that sort of money clearly isn't on the table here, and as the CEO the BoD will hold him personally accountable if the process amounts to nothing and he is seen to have badly misjudged bidder interest and in the process outed himself as being willing to no longer be in charge of the business.

[big7ime] 15/5/2024 11:31

Can’t understand this low sp

[anon12345] 15/5/2024 11:23

Agree with others that the longer this drags on, the more likely it is that the indicative bids are well what EQLS hoped for.

This puts the BoD in a tough spot - either they accept a bid at a value that is much lower than they thought they'd get, or they reject it, end the process, and if it was IST driving the process (I assume it was) then the BoD need to ask themselves whether IST should remain CEO (given he has misjudged value / bidder appetite, and he seemingly wants out anyway given EQLS initiated the process).

[big7ime] 15/5/2024 11:20

PIs losing patience here, and reading between the lines of some posts here shows who that may be. I do think the share price would have been higher today if they hadn’t put themselves up for sale though

[carcosa] 15/5/2024 11:00

'If' it reflects poorly on the bard then that must apply equally or even more so, to MDP.

Furthermore MDP costs are likely to be higher than EQLS given the litigious nature of American business, MDP being a much larger organisation and presumably well remunerated.

[66fingers] 15/5/2024 10:18

Probably a small point but I wonder if the cost of funding any bid is resulting in them not being sufficiently attractive to the board. Hopefully a rate cut will overcome this possible issue . . .