Kentz Share Discussion Threads

[jeffian] 27/8/2013 09:58

I'm slightly surprised they didn't whack the divi up more as part of their defence strategy. As commented here before, the divi isn't very generous - historic yield is around 1.7% - and was covered 4x in 2012 while the company has substantial net cash. The increase at these Interims is only in line with growth in EPS and is covered 5x. C'm'on, KENZ, splash the cash!

[edmate] 27/8/2013 09:50

Yeah, confusing...

[minimal] 27/8/2013 09:47

Good results, price drops?! Tempted to buy some more.

[mamcw] 27/8/2013 08:52

The solid results today should also give confidence to potential bidders and existing shareholders alike. No bidder should go into a negotiation with his best and final price. You should always keep 10%-15% in hand. Applying this logic to the initial AMEC approach, you get to 650p -670p, which is magically the numbers being mentioned in the sunday papers as being where the existing major shareholders will fold.

[edmate] 27/8/2013 07:59

Lets see if the market agrees. Here goes.....

[dahhad] 27/8/2013 07:48

Another set of solid results make for an interesting next 3 weeks!

[leeson31] 27/8/2013 07:06

interim results:

[cargton] 26/8/2013 22:53

I have worked for the almighty kentz and have a brother in canada with them and friends in madagascar, china, indonesia and australia with them.. have to say a great outfit who treat their lads well, hire the right person for the job and quite often chose experience over shiny degrees and more often than not, deliver the projects on time. Yet another share i should have bought but fair play to them and their shareholders.. congrats all.

[haywards26] 26/8/2013 22:00

Interesting article

[interelational] 26/8/2013 09:41

Does anyone know why Schlumberger are not being mentioned? My understanding is that they operate in a very similar area to Kentz, could buy them out of petty cash and trade on a higher PE than Amec or Kentz - I would have thought that it would be good business for them.

[spob] 25/8/2013 17:28

Thanks for pasting the ST article


"Shareholders will be very robust on pricing. People will be brave enough to walk away if it's not the right price, and take any short-term pain."


my sentiments exactly


I'd much rather buy a shed-load more shares at a knock down price, than sell up for anything less than 700p. (preferably 750p or more)

[rjd1233] 25/8/2013 09:32

Price put on Kentz's head

Oliver Shah Published: 25 August 2013 Sunday Times

TOP shareholders in Kentz have told prospective bidders they can seize control of the engineering and construction company if they increase their offer to £760m.

Fund managers with substantial stakes in the oil and mining specialist indicated they were open to a takeover, but said the price would have to be about 650p a share.

Amec, the FTSE 100 engineering consultant, offered between 565p and 580p on August 5, its second approach. M+W, a German group, made an offer last month.

The prospect of a bidding war drove Kentz's shares up almost 20% last week. They closed at 567p on Friday, valuing the company at £666m.

"Kentz has not been everyone's cup of tea. The order book has been building up and it hasn't let anyone down for a considerable time, but it hasn't been re-rated to reflect that growth," one top 10 shareholder said. "I would probably accept a bid at about 650p."

Another said "things would start to get interesting" at 650p, but added: "Shareholders will be very robust on pricing. People will be brave enough to walk away if it's not the right price, and take any short-term pain."

Kentz will report interim results on Tuesday. It and Amec declined to comment.

[bigbigdave] 25/8/2013 09:31

Price put on Kentz's head

TOP shareholders in Kentz have told prospective bidders they can seize control of the engineering and construction company if they increase their offer to £760m.

Fund managers with substantial stakes in the oil and mining specialist indicated they were open to a takeover, but said the price would have to be about 650p a share.

Amec, the FTSE 100 engineering consultant, offered between 565p and 580p on August 5, its second approach. M+W, a German group, made an offer last month.

The prospect of a bidding war drove Kentz's shares up almost 20% last week. They closed at 567p on Friday, valuing the company at £666m.

"Kentz has not been everyone's cup of tea. The order book has been building up and it hasn't let anyone down for a considerable time, but it hasn't been re-rated to reflect that growth," one top 10 shareholder said. "I would probably accept a bid at about 650p."

Another said "things would start to get interesting" at 650p, but added: "Shareholders will be very robust on pricing. People will be brave enough to walk away if it's not the right price, and take any short-term pain."

Kentz will report interim results on Tuesday. It and Amec declined to comment.

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article1304637.ece

[redartbmud] 23/8/2013 16:23

DR_S

Understood.

red

[dr_smith] 23/8/2013 15:39

Mamcw.
Thank-you for bringing clarity to my questions.

Red:
Hope that also explains re your question as to whether I was sure.

[mamcw] 23/8/2013 15:12

DR SMITH

Investec are acting as advisor and joint broker to Kentz. Hence why they are making this disclosure. The shares referred to in the disclosure are those traded by its market making arm.

Similar story for Deutsche Bank who are advising AMEC. This does not mean that the shares referred to in the disclosure are being traded on behalf of AMEC. The disclosure is the shares traded by Deutsche's market making division on behalf of clients or as principal. The client could be AMEC. But remember, AMEC would need to disclose any shareholding over 1%.

[redartbmud] 23/8/2013 12:55

DR_SMITH

Are you sure of your facts? Kenz would have to declare any shares that it bought back on a daily basis, and it would have to be done under the terms a scheme approved by the shareholders. IMHO.

red

[mamcw] 23/8/2013 12:53

Hi DR SMITH
There are two types of Rule 8 disclosures that have to be made during an offer period (Kentz is now deemed by the Take-over Panel to be in one by virtue of Monday's announcements).

A R8.5 announcement has to be made by any advisor or broker to either the offeree (Kentz) or a potential offeror whose name has been disclosed (M&W and AMEC). These announcements detail all trades done by the market making arm of these investment banks; this could be trades as principal or on behalf of their clients.

The other type of Rule 8 announcement is made by investment managers. Again these could be trades done by a fund manager or merely reflecting trades done by retail clients, where the stock is held by the investment manager. Activity to date from these disclosures shows L&G selling about 1% and Schroders selling about 0.3%; otherwise precious little disclosure of any interest.

Hope this helps.

[wipo1] 23/8/2013 11:50

Well good luck all, enjoy the holiday weekend.

[dr_smith] 23/8/2013 11:07

We have form 8.5 again re yesterday - kenz buy/sell 100k+ shares.
Further to my above thoughts on form 8.5 activity, it could be that kenz are trying to buy up all shares being sold and selling them on to market..provided buyer is not a potential takeover co or their respective agents.
Pure guess work on my part to try and understand the reason(s) for the form 8.5 activity.

[jeffian] 23/8/2013 11:05

Bearing in mind the interest of a number of parties - declared and yet to show their hand - I continue to hold, but it's interesting that the market is not showing any premium to the bid range mentioned (565-580) which suggests it is not anticipating any substantially higher bid. We shall see. Like others here, I'm happy to hold on fundamentals anyway, even if current bid interest evaporates. It would certainly fall back without a bid, but I don't see why it should fall back to the £4 range, as some have said, now that the potential has been brought to the market's attention.