Socialgo Share Discussion Threads

[the analyst] 25/5/2013 16:25

Chances are, imo, is that it's a disposal, then a reverse takeover, but how much they will get for the SocialGO business, what sort of company they will bring in, what sort of value they will generate for investors etc remains to be seen.

I still think that Dominic Wheatley wants the best for shareholders, but of course, that doesn't means he will succeed (his skills are now to be judged by his appointment of the new Chairman and what that brings the company) - only time will tell on that.

I'll be disappointed (but not surprised), if they get less than £4m for the business (0.8p per share), because it should be worth so much more than that in the right hands.

Of course, it could just be a simple placing to develop the product themselves, or to develop a new business. If that is the case, then it will be interesting to see whether they get a great placing price, like they did last time around, or whether they go low and dilute current investors out of the picture.

[the analyst] 25/5/2013 16:16

So then the question of value.

When Ning was sold, SocialGO had 1/10th of their revenue coming in - can they command 1/10th of the price Ning was sold for? Or has the price gone up, after the extra development that went into the product infrastructure and technology? That would be nice, but I seriously doubt that those sorts of valuations could be achieved.

So, is there any value in what they have developed? In my opinion, the answer to that is a resounding 'yes' - you only have to look at what they have built and the fact that unhappy Ning customers look at SocialGO as an alternative.

When you look at the Ning user comments about SocialGO, you can see that the company doesn't have an awful lot to do to get the product up to scratch. Nothing that a decent development team couldn't complete in a relatively short space of time, given the infrastructure already developed by the team.

You would think that, based on what SocialGO have developed, the company 'should' be worth at least £5m. But can they achieve that? - they would need the right people to make the deal happen, they would need to work hard, talk the talk. That's why I hope that we still have our man in New York and that he is working on it.

All that said, I still don't have high expectations - I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes and the Board have failed to take opportunities so many times in the past, that I will only believe that they will create value when I see it.

Note - they don't 'always' fail in creating value. Last time they needed to raise funds they managed to ramp the price up from 1p to 4p within a matter or days and promptly placed shares to raise over £1.5m at 2.95p - that was a huge success for investors.

[the analyst] 25/5/2013 15:54

Looks like Glam Media (who own Ning) have finally filed for an IPO:





Just for those not up to speed on things here, Ning are the biggest player in the 'build your own social network' sector. Around 18 Months ago Ning were bought out by Glam Media for $150m (£100m), despite being loss-making.

What is interesting to me, is that at the time, there was published data to show that SocialGO were bringing in revenues of around 1/10th that of Ning.

Since then, SocialGO have spent a lot of time and money developing their technology and in particular, on improving the stability and reliability of the infrastructure (an area that both Ning and SocialGO were failing badly on 18 months ago).

Even today, as one of my previous posts shows, people interested in building their own social network look at SocialGO as the nearest thing to Ning out there. A lot of Ning users are unhappy with recent developments there (changes to the pricing and product) and are looking at SocialGO as an alternative.

So, the big question is, can the company take advantage of the opportunity? Even if that means taking advantage of the opportunity to sell the company to someone with the skills to turn SocialGO into a serious contender in the space, to fill the huge void left by Ning after their recent changes.

I don't for one minute think that our new Chairman has a deep understanding of SaaS and social, so I doubt he can 'sell' the company on his own. What he does have, though, is a deep understanding of how to get deals done on AIM. He also has the connections, through his previous position at Peterhouse Capital.

So who would line the deal up?

My hope (and it is just a hope), is that the SocialGO guy over in New York is still working for the company and working hard to find the right deal. He certainly seems to be well regarded in the SaaS industry - he has an awesome CV and seems to excel in the areas of product development, customer acquisition, retention etc.

I have no doubt that he has a deep understanding of what would be required to transform SocialGO into a profitable growth company.

So maybe our man in New York will find the right people, line-up a deal, after which our new Chairman does the paperwork to make it actually happen?

Just hopes really, something to cling on to.

[ukpatco] 25/5/2013 01:07

RGF - In other words Peterhouse Capital, formerly RSCF, was formed out of a management buy-out from RSH.
Check RSCF out on the link provided and RSH elsewhere, then let us know what you think about SGO's future prospects under their guidance.

[ukpatco] 24/5/2013 12:42

RIVINGTON STREET HOLDINGS PLC

PLUS: RIVP

("RSH" or "The Company")

7th June 2012

Update on Rivington Street Corporate Finance ("RSCF")

On 2 December 2011, RSH announced its intention to sell RSCF, its wholly owned corporate finance business, to a newly formed company, Peterhouse Capital Limited, established for the purposes of the buy-out by Peter Greensmith, RSCF's CEO.

RSH is however now pleased to announce today that, following significant changes in the composition and structure of RSH since the December announcement, and the continuing strong performance of the RSCF business in this period, agreement has been reached in principle between the Board of RSH and the management of RSCF, to modify the original buy-out proposal, and for RSH to retain a significant minority holding in the business.

The revised ownership of RSCF is not subject to any further external approvals or consents and therefore, although it remains subject to final agreement, the transaction should be concluded without further delay. The Company is at an advanced stage of concluding an agreement with the RSCF management and full details of the revised structure and any other terms of the transaction will be announced shortly.

[29howard] 24/5/2013 12:14

Ramping scum applies to topinfo and his friends, nobody else gets close to them dodge !

[tomboyb] 24/5/2013 12:00

Oh dear! Then my assumption must be completely wrong -

[29howard] 24/5/2013 11:40

riff raff indeed, topinfo pump and dumper friends !

[tomboyb] 24/5/2013 11:39

Norbus - i'm only looking @ SGO from a logical perspective not an emotional one. You may have been a long term holder here and I understand that.

You now have Peterhouse as a joint broker - and there is 2 options here -

1 - Disposal + placing
2 - placing with the current business in tact

I suggest u look into Peterhouse clientele - That may give u a better picture of the possibilities.

[orange1] 24/5/2013 07:17

New joint broker appointed with a website under construction - very appropriate!

[tomboyb] 23/5/2013 23:02

Its only my view - I think one or two may take the company private hence holding 100% of the company versus 25-30% currently.

Any equity raisings will dilute a lot further and they may do better in the private sector for them ( they will hold 100% SGO) to raise funds because they will certainly need it - This sort of business is always cash hungry and unless you become cash generative ( and you may need a lot of capital to do it), there will always be a want.

Either way it will be tough - all this is speculation and I could be wrong so dyor -

[27macca] 23/5/2013 22:53

Tom,thanks for the reply,il admit to not knowing too much about the history of this lot as I said only got v.small amount so not that fussed but would becoming a shell be the worst thing??Seems to be in vogue of late.

[tomboyb] 23/5/2013 22:46

Oliver Cooke is a very average appointment whose history shows he has not delivered - what is so difficult about that? The fact Dominic is now non-exec leads me to believe the business will be siphoned off as a private entity leaving SGO a cash shell with no business -

I think you need to look @ it and figure it out - I could be wrong but I don't think I am -