We would love to hear your thoughts about our site and services, please take our survey here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Vectura Group PLC - Chippenham-based pharmaceutical company - 165 pence-per-share takeover offer from Philip Morris International Inc receives 97% acceptances, including PMI's own 28% stake, by the original deadline of Thursday. The deadline has now been extended until further notice. Vectura is expected to delist on October 19.
The recent caper with CO2 supplies just goes to prove what I said about selling out to Johnny Foreigner!
UK down the pan again.
My VEC now all sold, with much regret.
GLTA.
Done and dusted then! No Knight in Shining Armour appeared, so what happens to those shareholders that have not taken up the offer by 30th September? On with the motley etc , GLTA.
If you are happy with the price they have bid you then accept. Take your money and move into something that will grow. Take a look at IES.
Anyone with a view as the whether to accept the offer at 165p? Apparently I have to decide by tomorrow whether to accept or decline the offer by PMI.
As a long term holder since the days of Skye, I agree with others who want this to stay UK! It has appalled me for many decades that UK cannot or will not invest in itself and prefers to sell out to other countries. What this does, to state something that Basil Fawlty would call Bleedin' Obvious, is to make a short term "gain" and then all the long term benefits and profits go abroad. Other governments would just not allow this, unlike ours which seems to encourage it. Maddening.
GLTA and let's hope for a UK Knight in Shining Armour to rescue it, and us. Fat chance!
Absolutely right Taverham
No wonder the financial services sector is so disproportionately large.
It also concentrates wealth in a few well connected hands to the detriment of the wider population.
I personally think this addiction to debt driven growth is much, much to short term, what is wrong with a good, well run company funding it's expansion via it's own profits, might be a bit slower but you would avoid so many debt driven collapses.
But then what would the money boy's/girl's have left to do?
Cheers R
What upsets me about foreign takeovers is that they are funded through low interest loans , often from UK banks - so why could'nt the companies gear up , borrow the money themselves and look after UK shareholders? Probably because the analysts and instituions/credit agencies would effectively stop them . We need a new mindset to debt in uk imv.
Hi Gavster-NBC
I agree, foreign takeovers are not my first choice either, but UK management only seem to be able to develop companies to a certain size, then sell them on. ( Is this short-term/ cash in mentally only taught in business school's over here in the UK?)
Very few UK based businesses seem to get to a global scale anymore, which long term is not great for the UK economy.
As for short term investors, some of us here bought into Skyepharma many years ago, which was then bought out by Vectura
Personally would have liked VEC to have stayed independent & grown the company organically, but see comment above about UK management selling out to early.
Regards R
I will always be amazed by the unscrupulous short term profiteering shown by investors in the UK.
Today is a win for Philip Morris. With some of these medicines and treatments bought and scrapped their customers can continue to be addicted for longer so making them more cash.
Most UK takeovers to foreign owned investors are bad judgement, this is morally corrupt as well.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2129523/How-Britain-sold-half-companies-foreigners.html
totally agree. it's ok to collect billions of pounds in duty charges from cigarettes by the government so they can build roads and bridges but it is not ok to get the company grow further.
So following that logic, oil major's should be stopped from investing in solar or wind assets?
Would you rather PM built another cigarette factory or put money into healthcare assets?
I know the situation is not ideal, but these tobacco firms need to diversify & if not now, when?
As for Private Equity taking the moral high ground well, you couldn't make it up!!
It is a bit of a dead lock, agreed. Hope PMI realizes that by increasing their offer to 170.5 unlocks the 11 percent and gets the deal over the line.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jfdqxaUTUQaZEjBvZcq56
Wrong link
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/10/health-firm-vectura-faced-with-choice-between-carlyle-and-philip-morris
Even the FT has caught on to this.
Excactly. This business is not bust that requires equity injections. This business just need refocus and stronger management, therefore PMI is much better fit.
I did see a note on the board mentioning that PMI needs 90 percent for the offer to go unconditional, but Carlyle is holding their stand with their 11 percent backers. So either Carlyle's backers pull a plug on them or make them withdraw their bid or PMI raises their offer to 170.5 Still a little game to be played here.
Makes you laugh a private Equity Firm claiming:
Simon Dingemans, a Managing Director in Carlyle's European buyout advisory group, said: "Carlyle believes its offer is in the best interests of the business and its stakeholders, including its employees, partners and customers, as well as, most importantly, the patients it serves and helps to provide with effective and accessible medicines."
Ask the guys at debenhams if they agree (after being asset stripped & debt ridden and then refloated on LSE) and then wanting people to accept a lower offer.
PMI should win but ironically private equity are claiming the ESG high ground in the hope their low offer suceeds!
Game over. Carlyle's last bid was final. PMI wins. Drama over.
This has been my pension pot waiting to retire,
Bought 750,000 when they were at 20p.
I'll hold on as they only cost me £150,000
I'll give it another year
I sold after the first offer when the price was above the offer price at 160, so you and me both. oh for hindsight
Ah! That's dislodged it.
I wonder why my earlier post, from 9:30, hasn't been put up, while it shows in the chat tally????
If I know my luck, now that I've just sold out, I predict this will fly, (you can thank me later). I think the PMI move is a statement of intent to dissuade Carlyle from continuing. I might have gambled on them coming back, if their counter offer to PMI's 150, hadn't been the weedy 5p above. I wanted a display of more commitment, though I understand they don't want to offer more than they have to. Good luck from here for everyone else - I shall torture myself by still keeping up with events and SP, but I will try and convince myself I'm happy with profit.