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Ageas should go hostile £3 would do it.
Ageas obviously not really serious - a paltry 4p improvement. No problem, as DLG's profiits start to improve, we will be back to some decent returns.
Ageas pulled out all stops to increase the bid by
4p !!!!!!
Looking like an Elliot walkaway all over again.
Readding on drops. Plenty of potential.
(Sharecast News) - Direct Line tumbled on Wednesday after saying it had received and rejected a second takeover approach from Belgium's Ageas as it continues to undervalue the group.
On 28 February, the London-listed insurer said it had rejected a £3.1bn offer from Ageas. This comprised 100p in cash and one new Ageas share for every 25.24 Direct Line shares, and implied a value of 233p per share.
It said on Wednesday that on 9 March it received a second "highly conditional, non-binding indicative" proposal from Ageas at 120p a share in cash one new Ageas share for every 28.41 Direct Line shares. This has an implied value of 237p a share.
"The board considered the latest proposal with its advisers and continues to believe the latest proposal is uncertain, unattractive, and that it significantly undervalues Direct Line Group and its future prospects while also being highly opportunistic in nature," it said. "Accordingly, the board unanimously rejected the latest proposal."
Add & trim - LT hold whether a bid of not.
Nice dip - 207p v offer 237.
I have seen this on quite a few shares over the years where the sp never recovers to the bid price and management get away with it , their salaries share options etc. Disgraceful and slefish behaviour.
No certainties in life - let's see 160p again
Price is dropping like a stone
Looks like a walkaway coming up as no engagement - more than happy to hold.
Someone on the ADVFN board has come across an article in the Theinsurer.com alledging the Ageas will "sweeten the offer" to 279p.
Indeed it's even likely they'll ask for an extension if they do a higher offer with agreement of the board after those numbers
I don't expect a bid prior to 21 March either. If the numbers are poor Ageas might go for a slightly higher offer to the first one, if good they'll have to go higher for a knockout punch. At or above 275p I'm all for it.
I think on some level she was hired to cover for some of Paul Geddes failings around the new system they implemented, the information I can gather it's been a massive failure promising cost savings and intact it's just been a nightmare.
Couldn’t agree more. Penny James was a box ticking exercise as is Carolyn McCall at ITV.
If I were Ageas I would wait for Winslow to show his hand on 21 March and then tailor my bid appropriately. I don’t think we see anyone gate crashing until Ageas has shown their hand. We sit and wait now for DLG numbers.
I agree, I’d be pleased with 275 and very happy with 300. 233-253 isn’t really that great
I suspect that most shareholders, including me, (and rather than traders who may have bought in more recently) are still here now because we couldn't bring ourselves to sell at a loss after the management stunned the market by completely scrapping the dividend - just weeks after indicating that the dividend was safe.
I held on for a bid to sell out at less of a loss rather than a profit which is still some way away, even before the loss of dividend income that I have foregone.
To make matters worse, as it was a supposedly reliable dividend stock, I held DLG in my ISA and SIPP which means that even if /when I sell, I cannot offset the capital loss against profits elsewhere.
I think the only scenario in which I would be willing to give DLG the benefit of the doubt would be if they were to announce a special dividend with the results because things have already started to significantly turn a corner. I don't believe there will be a special dividend declared particularly with new man only just starting who will want the glory during his watch, not at the start of it.
Bring on 275-300p from Aegis, or whoever, and we're out.
It's not that difficult for a new boss to turn around a long established business if he knows what he is doing, especially a business which has done well in the recent past. There have been plenty of examples in history of precisely that and CVB has gven us one. If AGEAS really want this valuable business they had better stop p***ing in the wind and make a serious bid or butt out.
McCormick / Premier Foods would be the counter example. McCormick offered 55p a few years ago for PFD which was rejected. Stock sank back to 30p but is now at 155p with management actions and Covid helping the business.
I tend to agree with you - a knock out 300p bid and I’m taking my chips off the table. Do not trust to hope for they have forsaken these lands.
Can onlty be a good thing
Red alert: with a predator on the prowl, the insurance brand is under pressure to cut costs and boost profitability
Direct Line boss beefs up defences after Ageas bid
New chief Adam Winslow set to move quickly on turnaround plans at troubled insurer following £3.1 billion approach from its Belgian rival
Sunday March 10 2024, 12.01am
Adam Winslow, the new boss of Direct Line, is expected to bring forward some of his plans for turning round the troubled insurer as he fends off a £3.1 billion takeover bid from Belgian rival Ageas.
The former Aviva executive arrived at Direct Line a week ago, just days after news of the unwanted takeover approach. The cash-and-shares offer valued the company at about 233p a share and boosted the flagging share price of Direct Line by about a third. It closed on Friday at 223.7p.
Most new chief executives would take months to set out their turnaround plans for a business, but Winslow is expected to indicate ambitions to rein in costs and boost profitability when he announces Direct Line’s financial on March 21.
Adam Winslow only took the helm at Direct Line a week ago, but now he is having to shore up its defences
Adam Winslow only took the helm at Direct Line a week ago, but now he is having to shore up its defences
Investors are waiting to see whether he can restart the dividend payments that were stopped in January 2023 — a move, along with a profit warning, that led to the exit of Penny James. For the past year, the insurer has been run by stand-in boss Jon Greenwood.
Winslow is expected to have to scrutinise the cost base of the insurer, which is widely seen as being higher than rivals, and look at ways to differentiate its brands — which include the eponymous Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege, which sells through price comparison websites. The business also owns the Green Flag recovery service for drivers.
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Analysts at investment bank Jefferies calculate that the bid price of 233p a share would need to be raised to between 270p and 300p to stand more chance of success. They suggest the Belgian insurer could add at least £500 million to the £1.3 billion cash component of the offer. Ageas has until March 27 — six days after Direct Line’s results — to make another offer.
Direct Line refused to comment.
Personally I’d accept an offer north of 275p. I’d reinvest the money rather than gamble on turnaround plans.
On a personal level, I would love to see a credible plan to get us to 400p in 3-5 years with some dividends along the way.
Https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/2eef76f1-2960-4f5f-8d0b-358b3b096788?shareToken=24e704bc52ba1a298d99421f3af65230
I think DLG resumes a small dividend albeit for probably the wrong reasons. The challenge Winslow faces is the turnaround he envisages will take a couple of years and involve some investment. At the end of the turnaround there is a good chance we are looking at 275-300p with a dividend yield of about 5%. Can he show us a path for this stock to be worth 400p over a 3-5 year horizon? This is more difficult especially with the asset sale last year but it is what he needs to do for investors to stay on board in my view.