Not mentioned Quarto QRT before mainly because it’s a bit more complicated than the others I’ve mentioned. Bought some a year ago without looking into it too much and it has doubled in value since then although dropped back a bit in the last week. Having recently looked into it some more which has been an education and invested more. I’m told it is one of cheapest shares out there based on cash generation as a metric and fair value should be in the region of £4/5 rather than current £1.50. I really should look into and understand this metric more as it’s going to be a more reliable value indicator than the more usual price earnings (PE) figure when the Earnings bit can be legally played about with by clever Finance Directors. Anyway - why is it so cheap? According to this article it’s because there is a danger of it being taken private. The story is that veteran investor CK Lau took a large stake as well as the Executive Director role at QRT (an underperforming book publisher) and successfully turned it around. He has been buying up more shares which along with their good results has driven up the price and he now has a 50% stake. Because QRT is domiciled in Delaware it is not directly subject to UK company law even though it operates as a UK company - so for example it is audited as if it was a UK company. However, it is not subject to the UK takeover code where exemptions have to be obtained if a person’s holding (and any associated parties) exceed 30%. Last year the FCA reduced its requirement for a listed company from 25% to 10% of shares being in public hands (the free float). There is another 20% owned by a vehicle associated with another Director so the free float currently is 30%. Therefore Lau can still potentially still buy up to another 20% stake before breaching listings rules. It is also possible that he could take just another 5% and come to an agreement with the investment vehicle to use their combined 75% vote to take the company private. The fear here is, as the linked article points out, that you are left with untradeable shares. However, normal practice is to make a reasonable offer to minority shareholders and Lau (I’m told) has a good track record in this respect.My take is he will keep buying the shares whilst he thinks they are a good price and that in turn will help keep pushing the price up 🤞
When you sign the application form, you also make some declarations. One of the declarations is an agreement to assign windfalls to charity. You agree that if we transfer our business to a company or another body corporate within five years of you becoming a shareholding member of Skipton Building Society, any conversion benefits to which you may become entitled as a result of that transfer will go to charity. If you have any questions about our charitable assignment scheme, please ask us.
From T&Cs:QuoteWhen you sign the application form, you also make some declarations. One of the declarations is an agreement to assign windfalls to charity. You agree that if we transfer our business to a company or another body corporate within five years of you becoming a shareholding member of Skipton Building Society, any conversion benefits to which you may become entitled as a result of that transfer will go to charity. If you have any questions about our charitable assignment scheme, please ask us.Assuming you weren't doing this for charity?
Big windfall coming for Old Oaks PLC, a charitable organisation dedicated to helping ageing Sheffield landlords enjoy the delights of continental bolt-clipping
Quote from: Will Hunt on April 25, 2024, 01:37:11 pmBig windfall coming for Old Oaks PLC, a charitable organisation dedicated to helping ageing Sheffield landlords enjoy the delights of continental bolt-clipping Not a bad thought.Does seem like there are money spinners to be had. Identify areas where the government want to direct money. Set up a charity focussed on that area. Pitch for grants. Pay yourself a decent salary as CEO.
Does seem like there are money spinners to be had. Identify areas where the government want to direct money. Set up a charity an 'official' sporting body focussed on that area. Pitch for grants. Pay yourself a decent salary as CEO.
UK PLC In Play?Update on WG and some other UK-listed Model Portfolio names that fit the current UK takeover theme.CONOR MAGUIREJUN 10“The UK has become structurally very attractive for M&A,” said Luck. “There’s a lot of frustration behind the scenes with valuations and the sense that the market is not properly rewarding UK companies.”Takeover interest in UK companies hits highest since 2018, Financial Times, 12 May 2024.“… knockdown share prices are piquing the interest of these groups’ foreign rivals or private equity buyers, making it a risky business to bet on share price declines… The numbers [valuations] are just so low in the vast majority of cases that a $2bn UK company is peanuts for any mid-sized American company.”Hedge fund short sellers burnt by flurry of UK takeover bids, Financial Times, 4 June 2024.I believe the increasingly frequent news reports of takeover bids for UK-listed companies are evidence of my long-held view that “UK Plc” is in play, with a diverse range of UK stocks subject to live takeover interest and/or fitting the profile of likely takeover candidates.The UK public equity market currently offers a wide range of attractive “real” businesses (that is relating to tangible assets and essential services, as opposed to over-hyped or speculative tech stocks) that are cheap in both relative and absolute terms, trading at objectively low multiples compared to US comparables and to their historic average /through-the-cycle multiples. This has made many UK stocks obvious takeover candidates for both private equity and strategic acquirers as the opening quotes from the FT above allude to.Of particular relevance here is the fact that the private capital industry currently sits on a record ~$3.9 trillion of dry powder, of which ~$1.2 trillion is in buy-out funds:[graph]Source: Bain & Co, Private Equity Outlook 2024.Furthermore, within the private capital complex these buy-out funds are further supported by almost ~$500 billion of dry powder in private credit, which has mitigated some of the recent caution across the high yield bond and leveraged loan markets in funding M&A amid inflation and interest rate uncertainty.In simple terms, I believe this combination of well-funded, highly incentivised private acquirers and cheap, out-of-favour UK-listed companies constitutes a thematic value catalyst for UK equities, which is now starting to play out as recent news headlines indicate.