Sureserve Share Discussion Threads

[99] 16/12/2001 11:41

Santangello, will have a look.

Cheers.

[akcampbell] 15/12/2001 14:32

Interesting posts. Luke and Hugh seen dining at Pizza Express. Luke filling his piggy bank with £12m from NewMedia Spark and saying he plans to focus on his other interests. Can only be good news for Signature.

[girvin] 15/12/2001 09:56

RNS Number:7417O
NewMedia SPARK PLC
14 December 2001


14th December 2001


NewMedia SPARK plc announces Board Change


NewMedia SPARK plc ("SPARK") announces that Luke Johnson has today resigned as
a non-executive director of SPARK, and SPARK's brokers have placed his holding
of 11.3m ordinary SPARK shares with investors.

Tom Teichman, Chairman of SPARK, commented:

"We would like to thank Luke for his contribution to the Board during the last
two years and we wish him well in developing his many other business
interests."

Luke Johnson said:

"It has been a great experience working in technology venture capital with the
team at SPARK. I now need to focus on my other interests. I wish SPARK every
success for the future."

Could Luke Be raising the cash to take Signature Private? Interesting.

[girvin] 15/12/2001 00:46

Surprised there is very little volume in this stock today considering
yesterdays RNS. Patience will reward I would have thought that in this
volitale market this share is a sure winner.

[jeff h] 14/12/2001 12:24

Hi Santa.... yeah Mr D certainly is a good host.... he's been
abroad this week so I aint spoken to him... his sister is keeping
up the good work.

akc... did you know Johnson & Osmond were seen together taking lunch
at a Pizzaexpress restaurant a few weeks ago...I expect the Sunday
Mail to run a story on recent events..we'll see.....might get our
Xmas present yet

[tom2] 14/12/2001 08:04

Are we about to see something happen?

Times 14 Dec 2001 - Rumour of the day: Signature Restaurants, the old Belgo (speculation of corporate action)

[santangello] 13/12/2001 23:24

Hi Jeff,

U keeping OK bud ?
Enjoyed the dinner party, looking forward to doing it again (if invited ?)
I take it my behaviour warranted being invited again..........

Good to see you topping-up on Sig.
This soap opera is starting to develop with the lead characters starting to make themselves known. I think we are almost up to the commercial break, but after the adverts, me thinks the juicy storyline will provail (Jan/Feb 02.

Keep in touch,
Santangello

[santangello] 13/12/2001 23:17

99, run your eyes over Thomas Potts, while we await developments at the resteraunt.......

Santangello

[99] 13/12/2001 23:05

I've been a holder for approx 8 weeks now, the newsflow/mystique surrounding stake holders / Kintaro is compelling. Not a good basis to hold stock I know but the recent moves & newsflow is starting to re-inforce my 'original decision'. Does anyone have any idea what assets the company owns ie; freehold of buildings, cash in bank etc.

I believe the company currently has a market cap of £16.5m with a t/o of £38m with pre tax profits of £3m. This alone makes this stock extremely attractive, any further asset value makes this stock truly appealing, not just for me but also for a potential predator.

Good luck to all holders !!

I'm off to try and find some other little gems that have yet to be dug up and hyped.

[jeff h] 13/12/2001 22:06

yeah...that was my guess as well......Osmond doesn't own
the shares in his name, but I dont know the vehicle he is
using

[akcampbell] 13/12/2001 16:39

Hugh Osmond? He owned 2% before this 7% was bought didn't he?

[girvin] 13/12/2001 14:30

Park Place Columbia increase stake. Who are they?

[jeff h] 12/12/2001 19:03

I bought some more this morning partly on the basis that Kintaro
or some other potential big player could be adding to their stake,
but also I get the feeling the economy in London isn't too bad and
trading maybe picking up..... The Indy mentioned a couple of weeks
back that the Pizzaexpress restaurants in London were picking up,
so that must augur well for Strada

[santangello] 12/12/2001 10:18

Excellent retort akc.
You're right 14% would be too much to hold.

Are you suprised not to see any move this morning ?

[akcampbell] 12/12/2001 09:45

Yes. That's 0.7% commission. When I was an Institutional Equities Dealer we charged 0.2%. Paying 0.7% for a £1,000,000 trade is small change for an institution. The buyer got the stock 0.75p under the offer. The seller got 2p more than the bid. Both would have been pleased as punch. Agency brokers send out bid and offer lists every morning to institutional clients to drum up big crosses like that. Most mornings it doesn't work so to get £14,000 commission for two £1m trades in an illiquid stock when it does isn't outragoues by City standards.

[diggerdaws] 12/12/2001 08:19

Would a broker want £7250 for an arranged deal no risk?

[akcampbell] 11/12/2001 19:27

The 16:48PM trade looks like an agency cross. A buy at 35.25p and a sell at 35p through a broker rather than the market. The broker took the 0.25p commission for doing the deal. That sort of trade gets report to the LSE after 4:30PM. Could be the same institution buying and selling between funds to crystallise a loss for tax purposes before the year end. Or maybe Kintaro buying more from another disillusioned institution. Do any remaining institutional holders own that many? If it isn't for tax purposes something is going on. That's 7% of the company. Santangello you don't get 2 buys that big going through the market. Market makers don't sit on 14% of the company waiting for a buyer to come along. Will be interesting to see if the Press report the trade tomorrow or whether we get a change in notifiable interest announcement by the end of the week.

[justjim37] 11/12/2001 17:29

The last "two" trades was really one trade - a rollover.
look at the timing.

[santangello] 11/12/2001 17:00

Only two brokers trading the stock today.
Last two trades almost certainly buys,ahead of activity no doubt.
Trade codes look suspiciously like the same ones used for the seven figure purchases last month....

Very much watch this space.

[diggerdaws] 11/12/2001 16:50

Does anybody understand the two late trades just reported?

[akcampbell] 10/12/2001 19:10

I think £1 is realistic within 2-3 years. I can't see any upside in the short term other than a buyout and like you I only invest on fundamentals.

I plan to stick around as long as it takes to make a decent profit. One of my other cakes is nearly baked so I might have enough ammunition to support low 30s if investor apathy drags the price back to low 30s.

[santangello] 10/12/2001 01:04

We may see the MMs shake some frustrated holders from the Signature tree this week.

I,for one, won't be one of them.

I have invested on the fundamentals of the company, and believe the bid probably won't come.

Serious upside of these shares is some way off me thinks.
Any short term announcements will help, but on current valuations, I am waiting to bail out around £1, so I'll be around for a while.

Suggest others follow suit if you can.
Pluses way outstrip the minuses here.........

[akcampbell] 08/12/2001 20:44

I don't think Kintaro will bid for Signature. I read that it's a private investor who thought the shares were cheap. 14% of Signature is worth under £2m. Warren Buffet used to invest 100 times more than that in a company and not bid for it.

[nutsyboy] 08/12/2001 13:43

Kintaro are due to meet with Signature next week. Pure speculation, but why would they meet with them other than to propose a buyout?? Have Signature found out who Kintaro are yet? I think all will be revealed next week. It could be interesting. I'm holding my miserly 5,000 for the bid. Good luck and DYOR etc.etc.etc.....