Flowtech Fluidpower Share Discussion Threads

[bungler] 16/5/2008 20:40

Thanks very much Engineer66 - very helpful. Let's hope that the Japanese investors - Kozo Keikaku Engineering Inc - buck the trend and come in as the white knight.

[mudbath] 16/5/2008 20:27

Excellent holiday,thanks battlebus.Nice to return with the portfolio looking chippier than ever.£1.25 would suit;yet £1.45 would be purrrfect!

[battlebus] 16/5/2008 18:53

Ah Mudbath how goes the holiday? The Flo board won't let this go without a fight,1.25p and nothing less thats my opinion.

[mudbath] 16/5/2008 14:24

1501-Excellent synopsis Engineer66.

[engineer66] 16/5/2008 12:07

Substitute The offer can't in earlier text for The offer can...error regretted.

[engineer66] 16/5/2008 12:05

bungler -good morning I was away yesterday. There is a rule book on takeovers which I dont have at had so stand to be corrected. But from memory I believe that an offer must stay open for 21 days, then the offeror has 14 days to extend the offer. The offer can be revised if there are words to the effect that it is a best and final offer (unless exceptional circumstances). The board of the company must take advice and respond to the offer. So it looks we are still in the early stages of the bid and it would be surprising if Mentor increased their bid so early. I think a lot of the larger shareholders
will need time to assess their positions. It is unlikely that a counter bid would be mounted so quickly. The Japanese tend not to mount hostile bids, so
they would probably want to cook a deal with the management. That would take more than just a few days. I think is too early on for a white knight to appear. Mentor is banking on one not appearing. Flo would fit well with Mentor, less well with the Japanese company (forget its name) so they might be in luck. My feeling is it would be galling if Flo goes so cheaply.

[bungler] 16/5/2008 09:06

Thanks techmark and let's hope you're right. Your take does have a certain logic to it I agree.

[techmark] 16/5/2008 08:37

Bungler,

I can't see Mentor taking the trouble to acquire 30% in FLO at a big market premium and then giving up on a bid at 104p. Sorry but that doesn't make sense to me. Mentor want Flomerics and the only question is what price will they have to pay to get it. I expect them to make a higher offer.

Regards

[battlebus] 15/5/2008 21:59

A new offer should be on the table soon.Interesting reading the take no action documents which arrived in the post today.Management are certain 1.04 undervalues the co.

[littlemadam] 15/5/2008 21:56

mentor shareholders very supportive and think they are right to go after FLO. Ment share price rising steadily

[psolomons] 15/5/2008 13:21

I dont think there is regulation governing the timings of bids. A company can set a time limit for demanding interested parties show their hands, but once a bid is made I dont think there is a time limit. In this situation there could be a number of outcomes. Firstly Mentors offer is rejected and they pull out without trying again (unlikely in my view) or Mentor set a time limit on FLO to decide on any new offer. I dont think FLO have any powers to set the time frame here. I could be wrong of course.
If there are other interested parties FLO could tell them to make their best offers before a certain date in order to not let the thing drag on.

[bungler] 15/5/2008 12:25

varies is it really secure? Sorry to keep banging on about this as no-one seems to know the answer but what happens if Mentor don't get their 50% and no-one else comes in? Presumably at some point the bid lapses and share price falls?

[varies] 15/5/2008 10:36

psolomons
These things always take time and we have, for the moment, a floor under the share price that seems secure. Don't fret !
Our Japanese shareholders are worth watching. If they sell to Mentor for 104p, then the game is probably over.
There may be some news by the AGM on 28 May. In the meantime I, for one, am happy to hold shares that will probably turn into cash within 3 months, whether @ 104p or higher.

[psolomons] 15/5/2008 09:37

If there really is other interest in FLO, as stated in the offer rejection, perhaps its time for them to come forward. Shareholders have been advised that there is alternative interest in the company while Mentor sit there with their rejected 104p. I think its time we ( shareholders, small and large ) were kept informed.

[source] 14/5/2008 20:16

Funny how the market makers are abusing this situation - why the spread is so ridiculously high is plain silly given the 104p floor...Also the fact they are holding the price at 104 suggests they a giving Mentor a helping hand rather than factor in a bid premium.

Market makers? -- "Market Drainers" more like!!!

Regards
SOURCE

[psolomons] 14/5/2008 19:17

Firth...I know mudbath didnt want a takeover but thats not the point. He said there wouldn't be a bid and he said it with some certainty ( check the posts for yourself). The share price would almost certainly have dropped back shaply, short term, if mentor announced they were merely taking a stake in the company with the consequent losses for people backing a bid. People who bought on the expectation of a takeover might have sold if they thought Mudbath was right. He wasn't and his certainty was shown to be misplaced. Thats 'blowing it' in my book. You say something is going to happen and when it doesn't you have to take the flack.
I said all along that there would be a bid, if i had been wrong i would put my hands up and admit it. I wouldnt expect others to rally around defending me either.

[firth] 14/5/2008 12:09

Psolomons, so Mudbath blew it in the end did he? How do you make that out? He still has thousands of shares most of them bought cheaply,he is going to make a fortune. He did not want a takeover because he thought shareholders would do a lot better in the longer term,and for him the takeover gave him tax problems.There is nobody posting that has been more 'bullish' on this stock.

[bungler] 14/5/2008 10:45

Engineer66 good morning - just hoping you might know the rules on take-overs. Any idea how much time a predator is allowed to try to gather their 50% before the bid "fails"??

[engineer66] 14/5/2008 10:14

psolo - they are making you sweat it out. Mentor have 28%+ already so they
are going to have a significant influence on Flo already and it would be quite hard for a counter bidder to knock them out. Bunglers point is very relevant on Takeover and Merger rules. In a stale mate the share price may weaken short term, but longer term Flo will come right and the bid will give them a push to realise returns.

[cockneyrebel] 13/5/2008 17:07

no, clear as mud imo.

CR

[bungler] 13/5/2008 15:56

Can anyone make out what those RNSs are about - is that Fidelity and Ibex selling 350,000 to each other or both selling to Mentor?

[bungler] 13/5/2008 11:34

No problem varies - have just been ploughing through the offer document but can't seem to find anything that puts a time limit on the bid. Does anyone know if there's a standard period that a bid remains "alive" for? I was just wondering what happens if Mentor get to say 40-45% and then can't buy any more at 104? Does the bid just die and (presumably) the share-price drop back?

[varies] 13/5/2008 10:35

bungler
Thanks for your definite answer to my query about the price paid by Mentor to Pricap. I may have been wrong in attributing the report of a price of c.50p to the FT but I certainly saw it somewhere.
The point is somewhat academic but I am glad to know the correct figure.

[engineer66] 13/5/2008 10:13

I was interested in the forward p/e of 9. Couldn't find this on the FLO site.
Yet it's credible. If only I could find other companies with genuine growth prospects and a competitive market position on anything like that ratio. I'd be really, really grateful for any inspired suggestions! I am about to look over Mentor shares but I bet they are not very cheap. And if they get Flo, it will be earnings enhancing with pleanty of synergies.