Vertu Motors Share Discussion Threads

[cootuk] 24/2/2007 22:13

The company will also want to keep a warchest of money available for their smaller acquisitions. They also want to keep the institutions onside for when they want another fundraising for another larger buy.

[peter rabbit] 24/2/2007 12:30

My guess is that any fundraising will be via a placing with existing holding institutions. I very much doubt there'd be any approach to small holders.

I also think that the target will be acquired for mostly (if not all) cash to avoid taking control away from the current Vertu management.

If this is the case, then the question at what price will funds be raised?
My guess would be somewhat less than £1, although more than the original placing price of 60p. Bearing in mind that the institutions may wish to pay more per share to keep the price of their existing holdings higher. Maybe 80p?

I'd certainly say that any small holders who bought in the last week will be out of pocket in the short term as a result when the shares are re-instated. Could be a couple of weeks before this happens though.

[cootuk] 23/2/2007 21:45

Firstly if they are raising funds, then will they do it by a block placing to institutuions, or will they issue new shares to all shareholders in a set ratio at a set price?
Secondly at what price will they raise funds?

At least once you know the target and terms you might get an idea of the true value of the company, and how much value Vertu hope to extract.

I was put off by the 50% premium that has accrued. Let's see what the takeover holds.

[shornlamb] 23/2/2007 17:50

so what will this mean to the small share holders ?

[mirandaj] 23/2/2007 14:37

Local area: The Journal

[mirandaj] 22/2/2007 13:01

A lot of people watching to see what happens:

[hard work] 22/2/2007 12:24

Reference your middle paragraph, I think you've answered your own questions. In fact, the news release alludes to this.

[peter rabbit] 22/2/2007 12:17

Am guessing the institutions were told about this earlier in the week, and therefore were unable to buy or sell any stock, which is why the price rose so much on so little volume.

Bit puzzling this one. Given that the company hasn't done anything yet, why complete another fund raising, unless they have a specific target in mind which they need the cash for?

Just have to wait and see at what price the fund raising is completed at. Is very unlikey to be at the current share price, so when trading starts again expect the price to fall back...

[cootuk] 22/2/2007 09:28

Reverse takeover and fundraising?

[cootuk] 20/2/2007 18:35

Given they have £24m cash, isn't the £40m market cap a bit steep?
They are effectively a cash shell atm, which should trade at a discount.
The team is impressive, but there's a large gap between spending the money and achieving synergies..

I'm looking at this, but would prefer a lower entry price.

[rmainee] 20/2/2007 17:37

Thanks, Mirandaj.

Looking forward to news on acquisitions to support the price.

[rmainee] 14/2/2007 10:00

Pendragon reporting this Thursday on Vardy integration...could be interesting to see if Vertu management team have been able to pick up some dealers.

[rmainee] 29/1/2007 09:29

Small retrace but still looking positive...any news on acquisitions would be v. welcome!

[ellie8] 14/1/2007 10:54

It wouldn't surprise me if the Inchcape acquisition of EMH didn't force Inchcape to have to sell some of their dealers and so the timing is quite intersting and some action might be on the cards soon.

[ferries5] 10/1/2007 20:58

rmainee Thanks

I see Karen Anderson has an interest in 500,000 shares. Bought or awarded?.
The rns was not very specific. Though the prospectus did say they would use options to entice the right management.

[rmainee] 10/1/2007 18:09

Peter Vardy does not appear to be connected but may have a stake. However, they seem to have poached Karen Anderson from Reg Vardy.

[ferries5] 10/1/2007 17:07

Does anyone know if Peter Vardy has an interest here. He was or is supposed to be starting up a new Company.

[tuckswood8] 09/1/2007 17:11

Good to see more of the highly rated Reg Vardy team coming together. All that is needed is a couple of good acquisition announcements and this should be a winner.
Bought a few today and will be keeping a close watch for more news.

[rmainee] 05/1/2007 17:34

Positive article at Citywire; looking for more next week.



Vertu nets bumper Christmas bonus for F&C and Flemings
Published: 09:25 Friday 05 January 2007
By Alan O'Sullivan, Funds Reporter

Ex-Vardy motor dealer executive Robert Forrester has netted a bumper Christmas bonus for shareholders F&C Asset Management and the Fleming Family in his latest venture, Vertu Motors, by returning them almost a third of their money over the past fortnight.

Vertu motors , a car dealership consolidation vehicle that floated its IPO on AIM in the week before Christmas, first listed at 60p. It is already trading at 77.4p, a return of 29% for investors in two weeks.

Forrester is a former managing director of Sir Peter Vardy's Reg Vardy motor dealer group, which was bought out by rival Pendragon nine months ago.

Forrester has since teamed up with former director Bill Teasedale and other ex-Vardy executives to form Vertu. It aims to take over small independent car dealers and tap into a market in the early stages of consolidation.

F&C Asset Management benefited from its 20% stake in the business after investing £5 million across four funds when Vertu raised £25 million on AIM on 20 December. These include an institutional fund run for Fleming Family & Partners, an insurance mandate run for Friends Provident and two of its own retail unit trusts – the Special Situations and UK Dynamic funds.

Makis Kaketsis, manager of the F&C UK Dynamic fund, used to be the largest shareholder in Reg Vardy before leaving DWS Investments for F&C in 2005. Kaketsis describes the former Reg Vardy team as 'the best car dealership team in the UK' and plans to invest more into the Vertu war chest as the year progresses.

'It has a very experienced management team that was let lose after the merger with Pendragon,' Kaketsis said. 'Pendragon has since made a lot of acquisitions, however it still has only 6% market share and there is a lot of scope for consolidation.'

Kaketsis said the fragmented auto sales market doesn't necessarily mean the big fish will swallow everyone.

'A lot of these are family businesses that may not want to sell to a big player but a smaller player that may allow them to have some on-going involvement. Also, a lot of these small businesses are backed by property, which offers some downside protection,' Kaketsis said.

Vertu will also have a strong focus on used cars and after sales servicing, which are more resilient to a slowing economy than the new car market, he said.

'When you have a softening of the economy, people may also put off a new car purchase, but they will not put off servicing their car and may even consider a second-hand purchase,' he said.

Kaketsis added that he can see the company, which he views as a 'listed venture capital vehicle', moving to a £200 million market capitalization as it has already moved on from owning 65 garages to 100 over the past few months.

'The important thing is that we have the capability to fund them through that expansion and provide the ammunition to their war chest,' he said.

[seahorseleisure] 04/1/2007 12:48

I agree, good track record of management and good take up at the placing suggests that this one has legs.

Cheers

[rmainee] 04/1/2007 12:12

Good start to proceedings and could do well on further news of acquistions. Friends Provident seem to have taken an early interest as well.

[rmainee] 04/1/2007 12:09

Company Website:

Vertu Motors floated on the AIM market on the 20th December 2006 as vehicle for rationalisation in the motor distributors sector. The CEO, Robert Forrester, and 2 of the other directors are all senior executives from Reg Vardy.