Uniq Plc Share Discussion Threads

[healyron] 03/6/2011 11:08

If you told the 20,000+ members that they could take a £5k lump sum right now or wait and see if the Pension fund can turn it into £25k in order to get back their 'losses' before you retire... what would you do...?

No idea what I'd do, and I'm not in that position, but on a person-by-person basis I'm sure there are plenty who would take the money and pop it into some other retirement fund...

Hope not, though. Recovery should be possible (albeit slow)

Ron

[oldtown] 02/6/2011 23:35

it's the proverbial lose lose situation imho,if no offer comes share price falls and if an offer does comes in it's hardly going to reflect the value of the company that would be apparent with a just a few years recovery behind it.

I honestly think the best situation set aside a 150p bid (not a chance imho)is for a failed bid and a share price fall to be able to get in cheap for the recovery that this management is well capable of achieving.
The pension fund is down over 450 million, are they really going to sell for 100 milion?

However in saying that, i remain suspicious of a possible management lowball buyout offer as well.

[healyron] 02/6/2011 23:19

The bit that worries me is that there seems to have been very little interest and this certainly does not bode well for an auction of any kind. Wishful thinking, I know, but wouldn't it be nice if someone was interested enough to put up a fight for it...?

Maybe the 21,000 pension fund members... :-)

[oldtown] 02/6/2011 21:53

what i find depressing about all this is on the day of the takeover talks the share price did not go up one penny.
If for some reason these talks end unsuccessfully how much will fall off the share price i wonder?
Very strange how the price actually falls on this news?, maybe the offer is lowball?

[healyron] 17/5/2011 21:37

Hey...

neverabanker - 16 May'11 - 10:12 - 10758 of 10760 
"An odd thougt occured to me.... why don't uniq now borrow 90M and buy back their own shares and cancel them making the shares of all of us who have held through the storm worth 10 x as much."


I don't know if its my naivete but that sounds almost plausible. They wouldn't even need to cancel any shares. They could, instead, do a 10-for-1 if they want to maintain a high nuber of shares in existence. I think a buy-back might, in itself, lead to an increase in share price.

Is this possible. If so, tell UNIQ. If not, what am I missing...?

Ron

[stevi111] 16/5/2011 15:14

Moved up a few pence today.

As ever 100p the target.

[neverabanker] 16/5/2011 10:12

An odd thougt occured to me.... why don't uniq now borrow 90M and buy back their own shares and cancel them making the shares of all of us who have held through the storm worth 10 x as much. after all it looks like that is the sort of figure they are suggesting that 90% holding is worth. A fixed and serviceable debt of that is a far better prospect than the previously unstable and seemingly ever increasing pension deficit. They could then back themselves to make decent profits and clear it instead of being beholden to the possible sale & break up of the company whilst the pension fund hold the controlling rights. Hell - they could even raise a decent amount of the debt then and pay it off with a rights issue - if my shares were going to be worth even 5 times what they are now after such a move I'd be willing to stump up a few quid. Probably nobody would lend them the cash, but they seem to like thinking out of the box...

[billybankrupt] 04/5/2011 15:26

I agree whole heartedly

I was disappointed that the opportunity to demonstrate profitability through management control, development and aquisition was not allowed.

With all the change over the last 18 months through factory closure, pulling out of Europe and the pension demand, the management now need to demonstrate focus and ability before the pension is allowed to jump at its first offer!

[neverabanker] 04/5/2011 15:10

perhaps no bad thing if they (greencore) are not enthusiastic at the moment, would be good to see if the company can deliver on its core business before it gets sold on- especially now the management can focus on that and not the pension. Maybe spend some time winning new business (though who will give them business whilst the shares/company are on offer?) and resolving remaining issues at minsterley- then perhaps everyone will get a better view as to what uniq is really worth. Perhaps the pension trustees are not so keen to hang on to their 90% indefinitely, but it won't do them any harm if things go well - and with the last set of data there is nothing to suggest that there is any immediate downside for the business.

[stevi111] 03/5/2011 09:27

Looks like a deal around 100p then.

Definately no lower than the current shareprice.

Could well get private equity interested in this as well so always a chance of more than one bidder.

[propane] 03/5/2011 09:17

Greencore eyes Uniq merger but 'decision weeks away'
By Laura Noonan


Monday May 02 2011

GREENCORE has asked advisers Barclays Capital to run the rule over Uniq but is "weeks away" from making a decision on a bid, sources said last night.

Greencore, which recently failed to clinch a €2bn merger with Northern Foods, sees Uniq as its next consolidation target.

UK-based Uniq has effectively put itself on the market after ceding a 90pc stake in its equity-to-pension holders to repair a massive pensions deficit.

With a portfolio including prepared sandwiches, salads and deserts, its business is seen as complementary to Greencore's food-to-go proposition.

Sources last night confirmed Barclays was looking over Uniq on behalf of Greencore, but stressed there was no imminent bid or deal.

Greencore is mulling over a number of deals.

"Uniq is just one thing that's being looked at," a source added. Greencore declined to comment on any possible deal with Uniq.

While significantly smaller than Northern Foods, Uniq's annual revenues of £312m (€352m) would be a significant addition to Greencore's sales of €856m.

- Laura Noonan

Irish Independent

[billybankrupt] 03/5/2011 08:19

The interesting part of the article was the bit about Greencore only being potentially interested in part of the business. From memory, the desserts part was where the speculation laid. The market conditions and its struggle for profitabilty apparently according to the acticle made it less appealing.

[neverabanker] 02/5/2011 17:13

100M? that should see the share price rise to about 95p then... but whether the pension fund trustees think 90M is enough for them in a once and for all deal to top up the investments they already have to meet the previous uniq pension commmitment remains to be seen. Even with the IAS valuation ,the fund was 140M short, the buyout deficit was nearly 400M - the valuation for PPF purposes usually falls between the two somewhere - I know the regulator let the deal go through - but can the PPF really be confident that only 90M achieved in a sale will be adequate - if they are there must be some information that we have not been party to about the state of the pension fund... or perhaps they saw this as the best way of retrieving anything at all rather than just having the proceeds of a fire sale when the company eventually went bust as might have been likely if nothing had changed. Does anyone know what value the directors have to achieve for the company, in order to get the bonuses that were part of the restructure agreement?

[peawacks] 02/5/2011 12:18

Greencore Group Plc (GNC), the Irish food company, is considering a bid for rival Uniq Plc (UNIQ), the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Greencore, based in Dublin, is working with Barclays Capital to study a possible acquisition of all or part of Uniq in a deal that may value the food group at about 100 million pounds ($167 million), the London-based newspaper said. Greencore declined to comment, it said.

[healyron] 02/5/2011 10:47

propane:
RE: "Our 10% share of uniq is currently capitalised at £80m (as below)"

I'm not sure which of us is confused. According to my reading, the whole company is worth £80 million. Our (non-pension trustees) share is therefore worth £8 million.

Ron

[propane] 02/5/2011 09:24

Stewjames, .......healyron, where he states, "only £1million - split between all of us"

[stewjames] 01/5/2011 23:49

propane, I'm confused. Who are you saying has got their maths wrong?

[propane] 30/4/2011 11:09

Someone needs to revise their basic maths, 10% of £80m leaves £8m.

Our 10% share of uniq is currently capitalised at £80m (as below)


......The move this month from the full list to Aim left shareholders with 10 per cent of a company with a market capitalisation of more than £80m..........

[healyron] 30/4/2011 10:11

"The move this month from the full list to Aim left shareholders with 10 per cent of a company with a market capitalisation of more than £80m instead of 100 per cent of equity worth less than £7m."

Sounds really positive when you say it quickly... until you realize the difference is only £1million - split between all of us ;-(

Ron

[propane] 30/4/2011 09:56

Revamped Uniq shows taste for sandwiches

By David Blackwell

Published: April 30 2011 02:48 | Last updated: April 30 2011 02:48

Uniq, the chilled foods specialist that was once the UK's largest milk and cheese distributor, increased revenues from £287.2m to £311.9m last year and moved into the black at the operating level with profits of £4.1m ($6.8m).


It was a sterling performance considering the complicated deal in which it ceded 90 per cent of its shares to its pension scheme in order to escape a pension deficit of more than £400m.

The move this month from the full list to Aim left shareholders with 10 per cent of a company with a market capitalisation of more than £80m instead of 100 per cent of equity worth less than £7m.

The pension scheme has put Uniq up for sale, which leaves the share price in limbo until a buyer puts a value on the business.

But Uniq sees a bright future, with growth in its sandwich business for Marks and Spencer and a revitalisation of its desserts division after a strategic review

[stewjames] 29/4/2011 04:29

potential purchaser could aquire some of those available and then use them to manipulate the price downwards to put pressure on the pension fund to sell at a good price or a discount (and we holders would have no choice but to follow suit) - is there a law against this?

Yes, such price manipulation would be illegal.

On the other hand, it would be pointless. It certainly wouldn't force the pension fund's hand. The share price is very nearly irrelevant to their decision making process.

[healyron] 28/4/2011 22:02

"is there a law against this?"

Probably not but even if there was, what difference would it make? Very little, I would think...