Foresight Share Discussion Threads

[stevemp2000] 15/11/2010 19:44

Apologies for the superfluous text at the bottom of previous post

[nurdin] 15/11/2010 19:44

What the !!!!!

[cockneyrebel] 12/11/2010 17:32

Ah, my dad told me about it, I am too young to remember :-)

CR

[nurdin] 12/11/2010 17:27

Blimey..where did you dig that up from? Brought back memories ...;o)

[davidosh] 12/11/2010 17:22

Will that be that JD Rockliff fella ? lol

[badtime] 12/11/2010 17:15

Mr Rockliffs wife ..possibly :)

[envirovision] 12/11/2010 15:00

right..erm whos she then?

[davidosh] 12/11/2010 09:43

Mrs Sarah Caroline Rockliff has popped up with 375,000 and 1.26%

[alun rm] 12/11/2010 08:36

Picked up a few more this morning. Profit takers have given us a chance to top up, now its down to newsflow to see how the story pans out. I just hope we get a bidding war and end up well north of £2.

[cockneyrebel] 12/11/2010 07:47

yep, I fancy one of the main competitors has moved in having seen Focus gain that major contract. It's a no brainer buy for someone in the sector - with all that cash they have and will have over the next year or two.

Mastek likely to try to bid too and create a battle but ultimately I cannot see larger players just letting this get given away at 180p imo.

CR

[davidosh] 12/11/2010 02:52

The article was dated in June so any approach to FSG then would have been when we had only a $20m market cap and 40p share price. Luckily they did not offer 80p and try to take us out before the big contracts came along. Or maybe they did and were told to come back in four months and that is what they have done ?? Anyway one thing is clear $50m will not be enough ! It would be a very big Mastek to offer that....lol

[envirovision] 11/11/2010 23:22

They will need a lot more than $50 Million, more like $100 Million.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 22:10

Yep it's Mastek I reckon:

Agencies
Posted: Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 1545 hrs IST
Updated: Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 1545 hrs IST


Mumbai: IT major Mastek is eyeing an acquisition in the insurance vertical in North America as well as the UK, and could spend up to USD 50 million for the same, a senior company official said.

"Our focus is to grow in the insurance sector – both life and general -- in these markets. We are already operating here and are talking to three-four firms for a potential buy-out. The deal size could be between USD 30-50 million.

This is our sweet spot," Mastek's Chief Financial Officer Farid Kazani said.

Mastek, which provides IT services to insurance, banking and finance firms, said it might close the deal by this year-end.

Much would, however, depend on the valuation, management and domain capabilities of the target companies, he said.

The acquisition, Kazani said, would boost the company's revenue for FY'10, ending June.

Mastek is also upbeat about government projects from the UK and expects some good deals in the next three to six months, he said.

Around 80 per cent of Mastek's business comes from government projects in the UK, which witnessed a slump following the recent political crisis in that country.

"We are quite optimistic after the change in government in the UK. We are expecting to bag some major deals over the next three to six months. Next fiscal, there would be a growth in the order book and improvement in the deal pipeline," Kazani said.

He, however, did not elaborate on the matter.

Kazani said the company would be hiring about 300 professionals in this quarter (April-June). Mastek's current head count is around 3,300.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 22:00

May 07 2010 Mastek on Acquisition trail:

MUMBAI, May 7, 2010 - Mastek Ltd. said on Friday it is in talks with four or five overseas companies about a potential acquisition as it seeks to arrest a decline in revenue.


"We are talking to four to five companies in North America and the United Kingdom for an acquisition. These companies have annual revenue of between $20 million and $30 million," Sudhakar Ram, chairman and managing director of the information technology services company, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.



"These companies operate in the government and insurance verticals," he said, adding that Mastek intends to buy companies for their domain expertise and client base. Mastek provides software services to insurance, government and financial services firms. Mr. Ram didn't say when a decision on any acquisition might be made.



While bigger rivals like Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. have been boosted by a revival in developed country demand for their outsourcing services, Mastek has continued to struggle. For its third quarter through March, Mastek's consolidated net profit slumped 54% from a year earlier to 152.6 million rupees, and the company has forecast it will fare even worse in the fourth quarter, with net profit likely to come in at 100 million rupees-110 million rupees. Mastek has been particularly hurt by a drop in revenue from a project it is executing for the U.K.'s National Health Service via BT Group Plc. In an earnings release, the company said the project weighed on its third quarter revenue, which slid 26% year-on-year to 1.70 billion rupees. Mastek tips revenue to drop to 1.60 billion rupees-1.65 billion rupees in its fourth quarter through June, but it hopes acquisitions will help it stem the decline.



Mr. Ram said the company is also looking for opportunities in India, which currently only contributes about 2% of its overall revenue. He said Mastek wants to cash in on the country's burgeoning health insurance market and is in talks to sign up 4 or 5 customers in India for its health insurance software.



Currently, Mastek only has one health insurance software customer in India. Mr. Ram added that Mastek expects to add one or two new customers this quarter.

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 21:47

Yeah the thing is if it's not Mastek I'm sure they'll be tempted to make a counterbid.

Going to be very interesting to see how it pans out.

The Retail Distribution Review is absolutely massive.

And of course the longer any potential bidder waits the more chance of FSG signing more contracts increasing their value further.

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 19:48

I'm wondering if it is jackleeds.

Mastek made about £20m profit 08/09, reckon they are probaly set to get back to that this year.

Making enough money to tale FSG out easily.

However I remember the CEO saying on TV that FSG had 4-5 main competitors so I think it could be any of those who are a fair bitbigger than FSG that want FSG's Software as it's wiping the floor with them.

I don't think the process will take long tho, I think a buyer will want it done before anyone else muddies the waters - if there isn't two after FSG already.

CR

[jakleeds] 11/11/2010 16:28

Do you not think it will be Mastek CR?

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 16:20

I reckon the bid could be done and dusted pretty fast here - especially if it's a US co biddng. Any US software co would be in with a big bid and done, they don't faf about.

Must be very attractive to US co's as they move in on the US with that big list of banking clients imo.

CR

[dasv] 11/11/2010 10:57

yeah definitely. Buy the dips if you get the opportunity.

[cockneyrebel] 11/11/2010 10:54

Nice one - 130p to buy? Worth that without a bid I'd have thought.

CR

[cockerhoop] 11/11/2010 10:43

Managed to top-up at 126p, certainly wasn't expecting this pullback.

[felix99] 11/11/2010 10:17

MM's doing nicely - 10p made on your lot Madmix :-)