Minorplanet Systems Share Discussion Threads

[lucky punter] 02/5/2008 15:13

I am neither JM. I work for a city organisation where I sit on a panel that makes traffic policy decisions for TFL. Others on the panel are well placed on various boards. I can not say any more than that. My job means that I deal with many end users so I know the market from both sides.

[gelp] 02/5/2008 15:06

Lucky - you mentioned a deal yourself - post 556 last line but one!
You are clearly well informed & now with a considerable fan club - please tell us more, tell us more, tell us more....!
1. share exchange ... no mention of that other than from you . how reliable is source?
2. who are the 'common knowledge' likely predators
3. Friend or foe - are you working for em or against em?
4. Are you a buyer or a seller at 30
5. What will happen post deal - sorry approach - if leads to a deal? (merge operations?)
6. Would you accept shares in the predator as part of deal?

As JM Barrie says you can tell us - we are your friends!

[jm barrie100] 02/5/2008 14:40

Lucky punter - ex-employee or competitor? You can tell us, we won't tell a soul.

Why would the Board appoint a head of marketing yesterday and a sales director last month if they expected the company to be sold PDQ?

For your information, price sensitive information such as an approach has to be disclosed to the stock market.

And finally, the share price rise from a 12 month low is on the basis of only a few purchases.

Something else to consider - did Harvey Oswald act alone?

In other words, tell us where 'you are coming from' and you will gain more credibility.

[lucky punter] 02/5/2008 14:35

I do not think anyone mentioned a deal, it is an approach. It would be for the management to sell it to the shareholders or the majority players which would probably eclude the PI's. The offer would relate to the market cap because the offer was not a cash offer but a cash/share exchange offer.
The approach has been common knowledge in the industry as its very difficult to hide anything when there are only a couple of leading players and everybody knows each other.

[davidosh] 02/5/2008 12:35

Deals do not go through based on the market price ....they need to be accepted or rejected by shareholders who either see value in accepting or not. Firm offers need to be made though....

You say it was common knowledge but did not mention it here nor did I as a commoner know anything at all !? Who is the approach from may I ask ?

[gelp] 02/5/2008 12:34

Lucky Punter
You state offer clearly someway below the current cap.PLC bids are never below current market cap . What would be the point?
Speculative. Any one with any knowledge of PLC acivity knows that costs are incurred in any bid given any credence and the law prohibits actions which may effect the share price artificially.Offers are rarely speculative in the manner described.
You seem to be talking down the company on one hand yet giving solid reasons why we may yet see value extracted from it.
CYH is named by you as a potential buyer of parts - why not the lot?
GE are still pretty big holders are they not - very long term - correct me if I am wrong.
Note price of director buys and options:Looks to me like plenty of mileage in this one yet!

[lucky punter] 02/5/2008 12:06

David
It is common knowledge that there was an approach end of last week and the rise in the share price has reflected that as there is now a way out for the failing management who have failed to grow this company that they state is a marketleader. Just which market that is not even they know.
The share price has been steadily declining as it has become apparent that the management have not attracted any new customers in the UK and Eire but instead have been pestering existing customers to re sign extended contracts on very favourable terms to produce short term revenue. Any buyer will be aware that they will have to service these contracts for next to nothing as most of the profit would be in the premium payment. The management have gambled that new business would supplement future years but clearly the product is not selling and frankly is 2 to 3 years behind the marketleaders.
I suspect the board would be very interested in any offer but clearly this one has been speculative and some way below the current cap. The reality is that this rise will probably mean that the deal can not go through on the intended share exchange basis due to the instability of the MPS price.

[davidosh] 02/5/2008 11:46

lucky punter you stated....

'I do expect that the sum of the parts is probably worth more than the cap and it is likely that MPS would be broken up. CYH would certainly be interested in UK, Eire, Germany and the Italian cobra collaberation. I would expect them to then fire sale Australia and Asia or float it elsewhere as a standalone.



That is the reason that a weak share price attracts bidders....It is now conceivable that a number of potential bidders will appear and by talking to a third party the directors have agreed to listen.

Bid talks could lead to anything but your comment that the share price rise is laughable assumes MP has nothing to offer a bidder which you contradict in the next post.

I think this will be a very interesting few weeks and as the interims are out shortly we should know a little more about the future potential as an independant company or as part of another.

[jm barrie100] 02/5/2008 11:42

Lucky punter - competitor? or ex-employee? or just someone who knows an awful lot about MPS's customers?

Just curious.

I agree the tick up in the share price is laughable.

[lucky punter] 02/5/2008 11:24

This bit is especially funny
"The Board believes that this materially undervalues the Company's leading position in the telematics market, its strategic positioning and its prospects"

I would suggest that the interested party will be aware of the MPS flat figures with flat customer levels and its weakening strategic position and declining prospects and that is exactly why they came in with a flat offer. I do expect that the sum of the parts is probably worth more than the cap and it is likely that MPS would be broken up. CYH would certainly be interested in UK, Eire, Germany and the Italian cobra collaberation. I would expect them to then fire sale Australia and Asia or float it elsewhere as a standalone.

[lucky punter] 02/5/2008 11:17

Laughable rise in the share price as the company receives an offer substantially under the value the management think it is worth. Ok so the management have received a low offer and will meet to talk it through. I know that the offer will not rise a great deal further because the interested party is just interested in the customer base where as the management are valueing the system which has no value to an operator with a superior system already and would migrate the MPS customers.

[red imp] 02/5/2008 10:28

And who is the bidder?

[gelp] 02/5/2008 10:25

In play?
Latest news says offer received 'substantially under values etc'
Whats the take out price ?

[davidosh] 01/5/2008 09:29

SDavis....So what do you recommend ?

[sdavis] 01/5/2008 09:24

New Sales people and new marketing people!!! I tried this in one of my companies before because we were stagnating and thought new sales people were the answer. It failed.

[davidosh] 28/4/2008 09:01

Good point JMB

[jm barrie100] 28/4/2008 08:53

Tracking, out of curiosity, are you a competitor as in 'I was approached'?

What is the spin with regard to the comments that AEM 6000 has been launched, likewise the new fixed data terminal, and the trailer tracking unit?

Clearly the market hates MPS, as evidenced by the SP, I am just trying to understand why.

Of more interest to me rather than a debate on whether 'spin or no spin', is the saga of the sales director, appointed/leaves in double quick time/new sales director announced/then delay before we actually get confirmation. Any ideas?

[tracking] 28/4/2008 08:39

The above is based on a fair amount of 'spin' - Take one point that of trailer tracking, where they are just now looking for a solution and i know this for fact as i was approached by them to see what we were supplying as they liked the look of it.

They have lost their way on sales but still have the ability to project an image of innovation and cuting edge technology - Without actually having the end product.

No change really!

[jm barrie100] 28/4/2008 07:59

LP

£0.4m net cash as at 31 August 2007, a very impressive turnaround from the previous financial year.

4 December 2007 announcement from MPS: ""As previously reported, we experienced delays in the release of our new data control unit, AEM 6000, and certain related products, which had originally been expected to be launched in the first calendar quarter of 2007. Although this inevitably had an adverse impact on results for the second half of the 2007 financial year, it is pleasing to report that, following recent investment in an 'acceleration programme', these issues are now behind us.

The AEM 6000, with its voice capability and internet connectivity, has been successfully installed across a wide range of customer vehicles and is working well. In addition, a new fixed data terminal and trailer tracking unit have now been launched, as well as a number of other innovative products including the incident buffer which measures the last five minutes of driving performance prior to an accident. These new developments, together with the highly successful VMIgreenlightTM product introduced in 2006, put Minorplanet very much at the leading edge of the telematics market from a technological viewpoint, addressing a much broader range of customer requirements than most competitors."

So AEM 6000 has been launched, in addition a new fixed data terminal and trailer tracking unit have been launched. VMIgreenlightTM launched in 2006.

The product line does not appear to be stagnating.

[davidosh] 27/4/2008 23:24

LP....They are net cash surely. Where do you get this 'too much debt' concern from ?

[lucky punter] 27/4/2008 22:40

Davidosh
MPS sales are stagnant. I do not know of any UK customers that have implemented MPS systems recently. MPS need to grow a minimum of 50% turnover a year to stand a chance of being one of the few remaining suppliers when the current industry consolidation is complete. MPS hold to much debt, flat growth and a basic product which is several years behind the market leaders.
You may think they have a negative past and you are right but the future looks just as bad.

[andre] 27/4/2008 21:03

Roofer2,

thanks for your extensive knowledge of....erm....nothing much it seems.

Personally, I have never been and am unlikely to ever be associated in ANY way whatsoever with MPS. Nor have I ever posted anything that suggests otherwise. As I run a large private company in the communications field then I follow what goes on as it is in my interests to do so. I don't know about Tracking but try to get your posts right. It makes you look uninformed otherwise.

By the way, your inability to form complete sentences doesn't do you any favours either.

[davidosh] 27/4/2008 20:55

LuckyPunter....MP sales are still growing albeit slowly and they are now making profits. Unless their technology is going to die off imminently they clearly still have a market out there. In other words.... Why do customers still buy the MP systems ?

I think that MP just has such a negative past that it is difficult for many to see beyond it...

[tracking] 25/4/2008 16:07

No Bitterness here and equally no ramping of other products either - read what is said 'pause' and read again and you will see that i have no agenda other than the truth.

Listen carefully 'I do not wish MP any harm as if they do not succeed then we all suffer' - All i am saying is that MP have lost their way, the product is vanilla tracking and i dont see any innovation coming out of the company.

Does that sound bitter???

Maybe it's just me?