Rpc Share Discussion Threads

[whatsyourgame] 23/1/2019 12:26

There's a pretty unimpressed reaction to the offer in The Times online this morning. Equally so in terms of them quoting Hargreaves Lansdown, although the broker is of the view that in the absence of an unlikely counter offer, the deal will probably go through.

Apollo must be very disappointed and indeed worried by the tiny percentage of committed acceptances they have succeeded in securing for the offer. They must have been hoping for an acceptances level of between 20%-30% which would have largely tied matters up. I suspect that the "last minute" timing of the deal probably reflects their unsuccessful and prolonged efforts in attempting to drum up support for their terms.
Hmm ... just maybe this isn't quite all over yet.

[snowydays] 23/1/2019 12:16

This is a good one:

" a premium of 25.0 per cent. to the adjusted unaffected price of 631.9 pence per RPC Share on 7 September 2018 (being the Closing Price per RPC Share on the last Business Day prior to the commencement of the Offer Period, adjusted for the 7.6 per cent. decline in the FTSE 250 index over the course of the Offer Period); "

In other words, if the share price had gone down, we would be offering a bigger premium. Who would have thought it?

[squidsgone] 23/1/2019 12:15

This bid values at 7.2 times 2019 expected earnings, (note - “sizable discount to peer valuations,” according to JP Morgan).

The offer requires acceptance from 75 percent of shareholders to go through, so it’s technically possible some will hold out for a higher bid.

[dr_smith] 23/1/2019 11:55

Under intentions of the bidder, on a skim read I noticed:
===============
Prior to this Announcement, consistent with market practice, the Bidder has been granted access to RPC's senior management for the purposes of confirmatory due diligence. However, because of the RPC Group's decentralised management structure, and the constraints of a public offer process, it was not possible for RPC to provide the Bidder with sufficient access at either a divisional, business unit or manufacturing site level to enable the Bidder to formulate detailed plans or intentions regarding the impact of the Acquisition on the RPC Group and its business or its employees.
==============
It begs questions such as, can BOD have effective control under such a decentralised structure, maybe they have that, but third party unable to visit each and every premises in time frame to get a feel (are they hi-tec or aged/legacy producers).
Maybe continuous bolt-ons, do need some consolidation/streamlining.

"Decentralised" could be OK, but it's something I would like BOD to explain, as it isn't a phrase usually associated with a go-getting company.
IMO :-)
Dave

[squidsgone] 23/1/2019 11:32

Methinks the game isn't over yet. It may, for instance, turn out that the Chairman and his Board have played a blinder here ...

- solicited a bid which offered an opportunity to shareholders to self-test their own expectations for the company against the offered amount, and

- potentially put paid to the rumours of aggressive accounting, (didn't seem to worry Apollo - maybe as any bid is usually based on cash-flow, not accounting)

- scared off the short-sellers

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 11:21

Yes, that's why I don't want to lose my holding. The point I was making was that despite the buybacks the interim we are about to receive didn't seem to have increased at a higher rate (I didn't do the precise sums) than it had been increased by in previous year(s).

[gettingrichslow] 23/1/2019 11:16

Months ago, when I said the offer will be c.900p there were many on here that said that was far too low a forecast, and came up with all sorts of scenarios and arguments as to why it would be a lot higher. Turns out the offer is even lower than my forecast. Conclusion? The senior management have completely stitched up the shareholders for their own gain.

[sogoesit] 23/1/2019 11:12

bouleversee... dividend, and rights adjusted, history:


This is why I am invested here.

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 11:12

P.S. Write to your newspapers and make a fuss. I have already done so to the City Ed. of mine asking them to do some investigative journalism and write an article and giving them my views. One can but try! We don't want another PatVal.

[billywhizz1] 23/1/2019 11:10

Poor Warik, that's what you get when you chuck a tiddler into a pond of pike. Still, he means well.

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 11:10

I just checked online re the BPI takeover (June 2016) and found the following:


"Based on the closing price of 815.5p per RPC share on June 8, the offer represents a value of about 960.4p per BPI Share and a premium of about 32% to the closing price of 725p per BPI share."

So the recommended offer today is quite a bit less than RPC's share price in June 2016, though I haven't checked whether there have been any scrips etc. since then which would alter that in real terms. If not, I hope the press will give the BoD a real blasting and the institutions a thumbs down and as squidsgone suggested a new and better board. There is no reason why the company should not be doing well; they don't make the plastics that causes the environmental damage and they do a lot of recycling which is becoming increasingly necessary and could be an ongoing winner now the Chinese don't want our stuff.

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 10:57

wyg -

I thought that was already in the public domain. I wouldn't be surprised if the delay was all about negotiating over who would give them the best personal deal and the amount they could screw them for.

[whatsyourgame] 23/1/2019 10:35

Winners: Apollo, Senior execs of RPC

Losers: RPC Shareholders

It seemed strange that both Apollo and Bain suddenly appeared on the scene, seemingly simultaneously. Were they in fact invited to consider making an offer for the company by RPC's BoD (or its representatives). I think we should be told if this was in fact the case since, in such circumstances, the Directors' recommendation of the offer, under which some of their number would benefit directly can hardly be said to have been objective.

[squidsgone] 23/1/2019 10:33

If this bid fails, then I would expect a clear-out of the Board to a certain extent.

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 10:32

When I said "What a surprise" I was sarcastically referring to the extract re incentivising the directors.

I've just compared the divs. and the interim hasn't gone up more than the usual small amount so if there are fewer shares in issue (and surely there must be a lot fewer after all those buybacks) they are paying out less in total than in previous years, not more. Why?

The stink is getting stronger. All about directors lining their own pockets and to hell with the shareholders.

[googly2] 23/1/2019 10:25

Disappointed but not at all surprised by the Apollo offer. As previously mentioned IMO the BOD were never in control from the start. It was the BOD who put the company up for sale when they went searching for a private buyer. This was at a time when the companies financial reporting was being questioned and the anti-plastics movement were making the headlines. The BOD’s response to this external scrutiny was let’s take the company private! It’s not the outcome I was seeking but I will take the offer price mainly because I have lost all confidence in the BOD ability to continue running the company as a PLC. The BOD has failed its smaller shareholders by its actions but I don't suspect they will lose any sleep over it.

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 10:20

What a surprise, and what a give away. How are they allowed to get away with a huge bribe to undersell our company? I hope the press puts pressure on the institutions to turn it down.

[squidsgone] 23/1/2019 10:18

Jeffian,I'm not so sure retention arrangements will be quite so strong should the offer not succeed .... a new Chairman for a start?

[lancasterbomber] 23/1/2019 10:17

Well glad I sold mine at 815 last year

[jeffian] 23/1/2019 10:06

From the Circular -

"The Bidder believes that the ongoing participation of senior management of the RPC Group is very important to the future success of the RPC Group. Accordingly, the Bidder intends to put in place certain incentivisation arrangements for selected members of senior management of the RPC Group with effect from and/or following completion of the Acquisition."

I bet they do!

[bouleversee] 23/1/2019 09:59

I can't see another buyer coming in with the current uncertainties over Brexit. Am just hoping the institutions will turn it down. A very poor deal.

Anyone else on here acquire their RPC via takeover of BPI? Mine are in an isa and I've lost track of when and what the price was at that point No time to backtrack at this moment (snowed under in every sense) but my gut feeling is that it was more than 782p. What have they achieved by all those share buy backs? Would have been better paying down debt. I suppose the div. will be higher with fewer shares but apart from the one declared, that's not going to benefit us, is it? I haven't yet checked how that div. compares with previous. Better be better.

[warik] 23/1/2019 09:43

SORRY TO ALL I WAS JUST TRYING TO PUT INFO HERE TO HELP OTHERS GET INFO -APOLOGIES I DIDNT THINK IT WOULD CAUSE ISSUES

[sogoesit] 23/1/2019 09:27

Yep, they delegated it to the janitor from what I can see.
Mind you, Michael Caine in Flawless did a pretty good job as a janitor!

[egan] 23/1/2019 09:16

Think the Board drafted in a certain Mrs T May to lead the negotiations.

[spot1034] 23/1/2019 09:16

All we can hope for is that there is indeed another buyer who sees potential benefit from synergies. As I said a week or two ago, until very recently there were two potential bidders so reasonable to assume any offer would be at a decent price leaving little room for anyone else to come in. That has changed with Bain's withdrawal and perhaps this very underwhelming offer might lead to some interest from somewhere else. The market doesn't seem to think so at the moment though.

Otherwise I am beginning to wonder if they will be able to get this over the line.