Congratulations to The Kano Foundation for their magnificent fifth annual charity dinner on Saturday. The Kano story is beyond incredible and a credit to those who call ourselves Celtic fans – whether you are involved with them or not.
Well done also to everyone who participated in the Celtic Foundation Zip Slide across Celtic Park on Saturday, in aid of children’s’ charities. It was exhilarating and is sure to be repeated. A weekend without Celtic and hundreds of Celtic fans get stuck into our reason for being.
They can blame the last guys for the lack of commercial revenue streams, or for paying incompetent coaches too much money. They can even blame them for over-ambition when it came to funding the playing squad, but for all of its short corporate life, Rangers International PLC’s previous board members have been able to produce accounts on time and all received approval from authorised nominated advisers.
If the new board members are unable to deliver a nominated adviser, blaming the old board, as one newspaper tried today: “largely because of the scorched earth policy implemented by the previous board in the last days of the Mike Ashley empire – they must do so before the City shuts down for the Easter holiday”, would be both dishonest and a very worrying (for some) departure from a company which seeks to build its corporate reputation.
This entire question should be moot. Mike Ashely didn’t need to be on the newco board to exert the control he needed with an 8% share and neither would Dave King. King could easily take a back seat and appoint trusted men of stature who would breeze the nomad requirements. We can only speculate as to why King NEEDS to be on the board, and don’t count on anyone who can get close enough to King, or his PR, asking this question. The entire uncertainty is an unnecessary nonsense.
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Alfie, get on here now!
Over a 102,000 members ..
You done a braw job, laddie ..
That’s nothing to do with football either, but I’d rather argue amongst ourselves than feed the troll :)
parkheadcumsalford
You mean like a brother
TD67
Using the fact that a poor child was sexually abused by a Hun , to score points on here with a visiting idiot Hun……..tell me what makes you different from every Hun in this country (no matter what team they support ) ?
tonydonnelly67 16:43 on 30 March, 2015
I assume when you hear fans chanting about this stuff when they come to Celtic Park you wonder about their mentality. If that’s the case, I find it baffling that you would post the link with the line ‘one of your own?’
Of course you may consider it as banter, which would explain the post.
By the way, if someone disagrees with a comment, it is acceptable do so. That’s what happens on a blog.
Just in from work , thanks for all the birthday wishes Bhoys .
HH
Hi Billbear.
I think it’s great you’re posting. I sometimes visited Ibrox too. Where did you sit?
Big cup winners,
It’d be funny if you two travelled on the same supporters bus :)
FGF
Hoopy birthday buddy. Hope you enjoyed your prezzies from CQN today. Plenty of larfs from BooBear.
MWD said AYE
Fun with billybear. this avo I see. Not a Tim if you ask me.
Celtic pop up news? that was brutal.
KLV
larsson and mcstay
16:58 on 30 March, 2015
TD67
Using the fact that a poor child was sexually abused by a Hun , to score points on here with a visiting idiot Hun……..tell me what makes you different from every Hun in this country (no matter what team they support ) ?
Get thes straight stop the spin, it’s in all the newspapers and on the news, not everyone in here is from Scotland, it’s news, you don’t like it tough, scroll past, it was only last week we where talking about it after the NI game, and many had a lot to say about it, I didn’t see you weighing in then, or is it just me? And I am not using a poor child to grab points, it’s a news story, its a blog, people post all sorts of stuff, but as I said scroll past.
Larsson and McStay
on the money pal.
KLV
By the way, if someone disagrees with a comment, it is acceptable do so. That’s what happens on a blog.
I agree, that’s my point. That’s why I answered you, if you don’t like it scroll past.
BH-well done ,won @ 4/1
“One of your own ?”…..is that the article headline in the news ?
If so I apologise , if not then it is you who is “spinning”
You never did answer what makes you different from all the Huns who sing it at us?
tonydonnelly67. What would the point be of showing a picture of a Paedo on the front page it would only encourage the lynch mob mentality. The Paedo deserves a trial like everyone else in order to prove there guilt or innocence and if convicted they must be sentenced by a judge. I always think there but for the Grace of God go I. H.H.
burgas hoops,
Nice one, enjoy. HH
Companies that list on the AIM are usually small, young and high growth. The main advantage of AIM is its relatively low regulation and the ability of firms to get quotation when they have less than three years of age. However, in recent years a large number of these firms delist. Some of them do so to “move up the ladder”, i.e., to join the Main market, others delist through takeovers, breach of regulation (usually loss of NOMADs), while others do so at the request of the company. There are contrasting differences across these forms. In particular, firms that transfer to the main market are usually very good: they have high profitability, high growth and generate significant positive excess returns before and on the announcement dates. The worst are firms that delist voluntarily, i.e., “at the request of the company”. These, together with those that breach the regulation, generate significant negative stock returns, thus they destroy value. Thus, while, for the first sample the delisting is good and measures the success of AIM, the remaining last two forms signal the failure of AIM and the shareholders should worry about them.
The reasons underlying the delisting are also different. Companies that move to the Main market do so because they succeeded in AIM, they have reached the three years trading statements required by the Main market, and they have very high growth they can finance only by moving to the Main market. In contrast, firms that delist voluntarily tend to have strong difficulties in raising equity capital. Their leverage is already high when they joined the market at the IPO date. It carried on increasing during their public life. This suggests that firms delist voluntarily when the costs are higher than the benefits. Specifically, they delist when AIM does not cater for their financing needs. This again indicates that AIM is not always successful in allowing firms to raise capital and to prosper.
There is the issue of timing. Companies that transfer to the main market seem to do so about three years after their IPO, suggesting that they do when satisfy the age requirement of the Main market. In contrast, voluntary delisting occurs at much later date, when the firm had no hope of raising equity capital to rebalance its balance sheet.
More fundamentally is that managerial ownership carries on being significant after the IPO. This suggests that managers may have less confidence in staying for long in the market. This could imply that voluntary delisting may have been pre-empted at the IPO date, meaning that some managers may have brought their companies to the market at relatively a high price, left them drift down through time, and then take them private at a lower price. The main losers are the shareholders who trusted these firms and ended up either selling their shares at a loss or alternatively keep their holding in what would become an illiquid security as the only alternative will be to sell to the management.
Overall, shareholders should be carefull when deciding to invest in such firms and that AIM should not accept such companies. While it is difficult to forecast such delisting at the IPO date, a deeper scrutiny of companies is required to avoid the failure of AIM. In contrast, marketing AIM for companies that are likely to move up to the Main market will be beneficial.
“For every 2 goals Celtic score we’ll give them 3”.
tonydonnelly67
17:10
He’s succeeded in turning Tim against Tim .. Probably his objective.
Heading out in this marvellous Scottish weather :(
Hail Hail
MWD
Thanks mate .
That bears in need of some serious help .
TD67
be careful what you wish for. Not many huns called Vincent…
livibhoy:
Couldn’t resist.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
larsson and mcstay
17:12 on 30 March, 2015
“One of your own ?”…..is that the article headline in the news ?
If so I apologise , if not then it is you who is “spinning”
You never did answer what makes you different from all the Huns who sing it at us?
Ehhhhhhh it’s on Phils Twitter, and anyway aye can post what ever I want I don’t need you or anyone else to tell me what you like and what you don’t , and your appolligise I don’t REALY need, it’s your opinion, I’m ok wi that.
tonydonnelly67 17:10 on 30 March, 2015
I could scroll past, but I asked you a reasonable question instead, which you haven’t answered.
What was the point in writing ‘one of your own?’ is it your idea of banter or what?
burgas hoops
Result mate :))
HH
billbear:
Miller time, he’s had his but hey you know that…:)
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
When you’re not getting the love you need from the markets, there comes a time when you have to look elsewhere. GrowthBusiness reports on the increasing number of companies opting to delist.
When the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) works well, there’s no denying it can provide a sturdy platform for growth.
Take Synergy Healthcare. It floated on AIM with a £12.5 million market cap seven years ago and has evolved into an international sterilisation and infection control specialist that is set to join the Official List. For the latest year-end, its revenues increased 47.5 per cent to £225 million and the market cap is around £425 million.
Likewise, Domino’s Pizza has moved from AIM to the Official List after the company grew its turnover by 23 per cent to £296 million for the most recent year-end. The market cap is just over £345 million.
Unfortunately, the story is very different for most of the companies listed on AIM, which are valued at less than £20 million. All too often shares lack liquidity and it’s not unusual for a company to have a market cap lower than its balance sheet value. For these concerns, AIM has turned into a form of purgatory. A business can neither go forward or backwards but is paying around £250,000 a year in adviser fees for the privilege of being listed.
The credit crisis has compounded market woes. Only 34 companies joined the junior exchange in 2008, raising £537.14 million, compared to 77 companies raising over £2.1 billion for the same period in 2007. Secondary fundraisings are way down too, with £1.5 billion raised between January and May this year, compared to £4.3 billion for the first five months of 2007.
Ken Pratt, the managing director of operations and finance for Imagesound, a supplier of in-store music, radio and TV services to shops and hotels, was part of the team who delisted the company from AIM in May. ‘AIM was failing us,’ he says. ‘We floated specifically to raise equity. The company was profitable and we wanted equity to come in and then to match that with bank debt to enable us to go forward with our expansion.’
It wasn’t happening. The defining moment came last summer: ‘We approached our nomad – this was before the banking crisis – and their appetite for raising equity was sort of there but couldn’t be guaranteed. As a result, we went and lost a very good deal – perhaps a life changing deal – because the equity couldn’t be brought in.’
Breaking free
From start to finish, it took about three months to delist from the market. To delist from the LSE, 75 per cent of shareholders have to approve the proposal (as opposed to 100 per cent when going fully private). Pratt says that 70 per cent of Imagesound’s shares were held by 15 people, so it was straightforward to know what direction the company could take.
‘It’s not a buy-out. All we have done is delist. The shares are still out on the open market; they are now traded on a match bargain basis by Brewin Dolphin over in Manchester. In fact I went and bought 16,000 shares the other day.’
The costs are not as prohibitive as might be imagined, argues Tim Stocks, head of the financial institutions and markets group at law firm Taylor Wessing. He estimates that for a company with a market cap of £50 million, the costs of going totally private would be around ten per cent of that public valuation.
The ‘take private-lite’ option is considerably cheaper than going fully private as fewer advisers are needed. ‘Without any technical bells or whistles, I think you should be able to deliver this all up, including the advisory fees, for in the region of £200,000,’ he says. ‘But you’re dropping between £80,000 to £150,000 straight to the bottom line anyway [in advisers’ fees]. You’ll get payback in the first year.’
Exodus
Gaining an exact picture of the number of companies leaving the market under AIM Rule 41 can be difficult, but it has increased this year. Twenty companies left the market – as opposed to moving to the Main Market or being acquired – during the first five months of 2007, compared to double that number so far in 2008.
Jamie Brooks, a fund manager for Gartmore, says he has actively supported companies in their efforts to delist. ‘The market, when it’s a bull market, is great for a buy and build strategy. But if the market dries up and the shares are so undervalued you can’t use them to make acquisitions because nobody wants the shares, or it’s not easy to issue shares to raise money, then I think you have to consider whether the market is right for you. From our side, we are encouraging people to look at the right strategy.’
For Peter Wilkinson, CEO of IT and communications specialist InTechnology, AIM had served its purpose. ‘We went to market in 2000 when we needed to raise money. We raised it and built the business, generating positive cash flow so there was no need to raise any more.’
In addition to this, the company sold its distribution arm in December 2006. ‘We were comfortable about selling that off as it paid all our debt. Now we’re sitting here debt free, with cash in the bank for a highly cash generative, profitable business,’ says the Yorkshireman, who notes that he owned 60 per cent of the company so gaining shareholder approval wasn’t difficult.
However, Wilkinson also argues that his majority shareholding proved contentious with the City, and that the company was too innovative for the conservative tastes of investors. ‘We felt [our shares] were half the value they should’ve been and we didn’t need to raise any money as we had £11 million to £12 million in the bank,’ he adds.
Wilkinson has pedigree when it comes to building innovative companies. He sold Planet On Line to Energis for £85 million and Sports Internet to BSkyB for over £300 million, and his ambition doesn’t seem to have diminished with age.
‘I’m going to make a phenomenal success of InTechnology like I have with other businesses in the past,’ he says.
Cost savings
Imagesound’s Pratt has a similarly liberated air about him. ‘We’ve saved money on marketing, a nomad, PR and we don’t have to do a full-blown annual report. Most importantly, when we were listed, every presentation we put through our institutional share base we had to post up onto our web page courtesy of Rule 26 of AIM.
‘That meant all our competitors could see immediately who we were dealing with and what kind of margins we were making. The first thing I did when we delisted was pull certain things off the web page, although we still insist on operating to the standards of a plc.’
As for Wilkinson, he can concentrate on growing the company without any distractions. ‘We don’t have to do presentations and sit with analysts who don’t understand the business, or go around trying to persuade people to buy shares when there aren’t any to buy anyway.’
Pratt stresses there was no falling out with the City and they wouldn’t rule out taking the public route in the future. ‘I would consider listing again but we need to be a lot larger. We’re on an EBITDA [Earnings Before Income Tax Depreciation and Amortisation] of around £3.5 million and you really need to be knocking on £10 million.’
Wilkinson doesn’t rule anything out either. ‘There was no fall out and there’s nothing to say we wouldn’t go back to the City in a year or two years and refloat the business.’
For the meantime though, being away from the public glare of AIM suits both men just fine
f.a.b. virgil (watrc)
17:17 on 30 March, 2015
TD67
be careful what you wish for. Not many huns called Vincent…
Be careful? I don’t care what denomination Vincent is, he’s a beast and a rat bag, and hopefully will get his during his seven year stretch.
an tearmann
Really looking forward to going to Dortmund on Friday , as long as Celtic beat St.Mirren then the rest will take care of itself :-)
The Dortmund v Bayern game should be some experience , might even have a couple of beers :-))))
weet weet weet(GBWO)
17:18 on
30 March, 2015
burgas hoops
Result mate :))
____________________________________
-)) I’m in the process of working it oot now.
steinreignedsupreme
Iv told you WHOIS headline it was.
We Celtic supporters consider ourselves as different from other supporters and that we are more tolerant in fact I feel very proud when I see other clubs praising our support.If in fact we are different as long as BillyBear abides by CQN rules we should be happy to read his posts and respond in a civil manner.In my opinion that makes us different as it would never happen the other way around ie. one of us going on a the Rangers site.H.H.
Bring back billybear he was more fun than the peado talk. sad face.
KLV
sipsini
I see you’re on. Have you nae (hun infested) work to go to?!
:-)
Mailed you.
Hail Caesar!
FourGreenFields
Hoopy Birthday sir
hoop its a good one :-))
HH
sipsini
17:14 on
30 March, 2015
burgas hoops,
Nice one, enjoy. HH
________________
Sorry mate i missed your post. Thanks very much.
fgf
A very happy hoopy birthday to yooouu!
HH!!
FourGreenFields
Happy Birthday mate.
hope yer shift was quick.
KLV