ISG Share Discussion Threads

[welsheagle] 31/12/2015 20:33

Have just received a letter from stockbroker, which states that 'As this is a standard takeover, shareholders are required to accept the offer in order to receive the pay-out (Default option only)'.
Hold a nominee account.

Does this mean that you have to contact broker to accept the offer (which is unlikely), but if not the shares just carry on as before.

[gucci] 31/12/2015 16:35

Prefer £2 🤑

[qs99] 31/12/2015 16:30

yes but IMO would you want such a large disgruntled minority stopping what you want to do and causing a nuisance? IMO no, they would want to get to 90% and have compulsory mop up....I'm holding for a counter-offer at over £1.75 please! DYOR

[bouleversee] 31/12/2015 16:10

From the revised rejection statement:

"IfCathexis receives acceptances which
taken together with its existing shareholding
amount to more than the 50% of the
Company’s voting share capital, it could
declare the Offer unconditional. In this
scenario Shareholders would be left in a
minority to Cathexis."

My shares are in a nominee account. I take it that I don't need to reply if I don't wish to take up the offer, which I certainly don't.

I hope there aren't many people selling in the market for Cathexis to snap up.

[qs99] 31/12/2015 13:45

great, if that is the case then they won't be able IMO to "roll up" the holders from a 90% position....therefore the 75% hurdle is the next one they need to get over IMO so they can't just try and de-list....all interesting stuff, Monday will be fascinating to see if market can take it higher to justify my thoughts! DYOR etc

[markie7] 31/12/2015 11:36

Definitely interesting. Also note that octopus and river and mercantile have declared their rejection of the offer, which is about 10% of the stock I reckon.

[qs99] 31/12/2015 11:05

shares now above bid price DYOR so does market know of counter bid or something? DYOr but now looks interesting given that move IMO

[grahamburn] 30/12/2015 15:16

The minor mis-step in the defence material which did not comply with the Code (which is probably more down to the Company's advisors than the management itself) is undoubtedly unfortunate.

However, it is interesting to note from the material that the two largest UK institutional holders (Octopus Investments and Rive & Mercantile Asset Management) have confirmed to the Board that they will NOT be accepting the offer from Cathexis. They control 14.6% of the company's shares. So add these to the Directors' own interests and that comes to 16.1% which will definitely not end up in Cathexis hands at the first attempt - or 22.9% of the shares which are subject to the offer.

It's also worth reiterating the points made yesterday on here regarding Ed 123's concerns about having to accept the offer by 4 January (rather than the final date of 11 January). Cathexis offer document clearly indicates (as is usual with such events) that there'll be plenty of time after the initial closing date to do so before the offer becomes unconditional should the wind be blowing in their direction - a highly unlikely possibility in my opinion, but that depends on the decisions of many 1000s of small holders who may just prefer some money in their hands now rather than more in the future!

[jlo10] 30/12/2015 15:01

No reply to email but the instructions arrived at 2.46pm.
Not that it matters as I will be choosing the ignore option anyway

[jlo10] 30/12/2015 11:38

Thanks - I've emailed them and await a reply

[ed 123] 30/12/2015 10:54

jlo10

Yes, you should have received a communication about the offer. The offer was made on 11 December.

[jlo10] 30/12/2015 10:06

I have ISG in an HL account
Should I have received a communication about the offer - nothing as yet received

[tuscan4] 30/12/2015 09:48

This statement looks largely technical to me . Confirmation by the auditors/directors of the Analysts forecast would be impossible in the time frame allowed. Revision of the Defence Document does NOT invalidate the expected surge in profits expected in 2016/2017.
For all readers of this message board PLEASE/PLEASE/PLEASE REJECT this ludicrous offer. You are being offered £72m for a company which will be making £20-25m Pre- Tax shortly.
If we can limit shareholder acceptances to a few % ie the Texans end up with 33-35% what are they going to do? They are speculators looking for a turn. They have NO interest in running this business. They have NO Grand Plan.
Please do not give this company away for a pittance.

[ed 123] 30/12/2015 09:19

At last, ISG gives notice of a statement in which it will explain why it believes shareholders should reject the offer of Cathexis.

They need to get it out quickly, before the nominee account users have to make their decision.

Shame that ISG have been forced to admit they produced an unsupportable statement in their 'gut reaction' of 23 December. It doesn't help their credibility.

Anyway, 143p offered. No white knight .... so far.

My dream is that management agree to recommend - but for some higher figure.

Not long to wait.

[ed 123] 29/12/2015 16:51

Ta, grahamburn and bouleversee.

That's one of the problems with nominee accounts, having a reduced time to consider offers, etc. My broker wants a decision from me a full week before the closing date. Something material could happen in that last week.

I'll give it some further thought on Monday. Ta again. :-)

[bouleversee] 29/12/2015 15:15

I agree with grahamburn. I certainly won't be accepting unless the directors cave in. So far, they are advising us to decline and I'm happy to go along with that. Seems seriously undervalued to me.

[grahamburn] 29/12/2015 15:06

You don't have to accept immediately, Ed. Sure the offer will be extended as they usually are when there is an insufficient take up in the early stages.

My guess is that the directors are working their little cotton socks off to find a white knight as well as developing a detailed defence with profit forecasts etc (as noted by Tuscan above). There may well be some indicative news by the effective closing date of 11 January of other options. Even if there isn't, it's extremely unlikely, IMHO, that there would be sufficient acceptances by that date to make the offer unconditional.

Similarly, I would concur with the directors initial response that the offer substantially undervalues the business even as it stands now. With the prospective turnaround, coupled with the promised line drawing under their difficulties in the sole problem business as at 31 December, the share price should regain momentum without a competing offer.

[ed 123] 29/12/2015 14:21

There doesn't seem to be any other party interested?

My nominee account has a deadline of 4 January 2016 for me to decide.

143p per share would get me out at a small profit. In the absence of any better offer, I'm inclined to accept.

[tuscan4] 23/12/2015 11:51

Where is the defence document? With an 11th Jan closing date and an extended shutdown,especially in the Construction industry time is of the essence. VERY clever bid timing. A couple of thoughts: The Auditors may be having to sign off some form of profit forecast for 2015 and perhaps 2016. Could be a tough ask in view of the current construction problems. Secondly, are the board negotiating for a higher offer to secure their blessing/ acceptance,and thirdly , are they trying to get a Third Party involved?
The bidder is threatening to cancel the AIM listing if they get over 75% . Shareholders MUST not be intimidated by this. They also threaten to cancel dividend payments to minority shareholders. In my opinion the bidder will be very anxious to secure cash flow from their subsidiary and also will come back eventually with a higher offer to sweep up the dissenters.

[nocton] 23/12/2015 10:27

I do think that at 143p it "is a steal". You can still buy at just below 143p, as I did today to top up my holding with a bit of cash I had from a top-slicing sale elsewhere. Surely at 143p or below the price can only move up? I note that Digital Look have my buy listed as a sell! There has been quite a bit of selling (apparently) recently so perhaps the MM has quite a few shares that he would not mind off-loading before Xmas.

[lgw500] 21/12/2015 17:40

The second response to the unsolicited bid seems a bit rich. Mr. Chairman states that Cathexis is an astute investor - I thought those type of investors picked up stock at low prices on the way to a bid, usually without two attempts at a profit warning by the target's management. If Mr. Chairman thinks 143p is a steal, then come on, let's see an MBO. Right, I didn't think so...... So, Mr. Chairman, when are you going to resign? Santa's patience is wearing thin.

[nw99] 21/12/2015 08:41

Sit tight wait for higher bid or shares to recover quickly

[vulgaris] 17/12/2015 12:40

Not much sign of the share price moving much above a pretty derisory offer...

[lgw500] 15/12/2015 16:47

This board has been quiet! Is no one interested to know when the management are removed? I notice Octopus has not disclosed its interest and it is the largest holder after Cathexis.

[bouleversee] 12/12/2015 13:17

Agreed. I was tempted to buy a week or so ago as I thought the fall was overdone but as I already have a sizeable holding I didn't. Pity! I hope they won't be taken over. At my age, I'm keen to have some successful AIM shares in my p/f so would prefer them to get their act together and see off the opportunists.