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Started: mango, 2 Feb 2021 16:10
Last post: johnpwh, 7 Feb 2021 12:15
I doubt anyone will, read this!
Yes Mango, sad. I feel sorry for us when we invested in a company well placed to carry on expanding in a scenario of an aging population. I feel sorry for those who are already McCarthy and Stone residents, and those in future who will seek to spend their final days in sheltered housing, who are now in the hands of disinterested fat sharp suits who will see them only for the dollars they can extract from them. I am just hoping that the UK Governments U turn on the leasehold retirement home exemption comes back to bite them, though in truth I expect in practice it will be the elderly who pay the price. Shameful, I'm not normally vindictive but I hope the current McCarthy and Stone board rot for what they have done, which we all suspect was to feather their own nests.
Under the terms of the Merger, holders will be issued with GBP 1.20 in cash in exchange for every McCarthy & Stone share held
The official pay day is 15th February 2021.
From ii corporate actions.
A sad end brought about by poor leadership.
Started: jaffjoon, 7 Dec 2020 07:56
Last post: johnpwh, 11 Jan 2021 09:14
I took your advice a couple of weeks back banker, put money into BMN and BSN and have no complaints! Seemed odd to be able to get 119.8p when the bid is 120p, This is a sad end to this company, I shall forever condemn the Board.
J&J just checked in again, having already sold out, to see if I had missed anything
... frankly 120p revised offer is just adding insult to injury.
Recommend you cash out now and re-invest in gold / pgm stocks that are grossly undervalued
... SHG / THS / KAT & JLP are a few to consider
I reckon by the time the MCS offer closes and you get your 120p you could be up around 30% in any one of these
Got to laugh jaffjoon. You post asking if there is anyone there, and when I do you, and everyone else, ignores me!
Yep still here!
Only just noticed this. Why increase the offer that was already agreed by the puppet Board of Directors? I assume institutional investors have made it clear that they wouldn't support it. Will a measly 4% increase in the bid really make a difference?
I think we are supposed to be convinced that the BOD are good chaps and that we should support the Americans taking over our provisions for the UK elderly. Bizarrely it wont change my mind
I seem to be all by myself here..... just like last Christmas !
Started: johnpwh, 8 Dec 2020 09:35
Last post: johnpwh, 8 Dec 2020 09:35
Unless I am reading the RNS, and this mornings press comments, wrong its all done and dusted. Am I missing something?
Disappointed as I would like to have voiced my disapproval in an ineffective but personally satisfying 'No'. However no Corporate action request ever reached me from iWeb to afford me that opportunity.
Wait for this to be leveraged by this sharp suited mob and the quality of care for our elderly to deteriorate. Naturally I wish a plague of locusts to have a right good crack at the leafy Surrey gardens of the feckless Board of Directors.
There, with that off my chest I can go and have my bacon sandwich.
Started: johnpwh, 7 Dec 2020 17:09
Last post: johnpwh, 7 Dec 2020 17:09
Wow that's worthwhile. A RNS after close of the market saying one of the BOD is pledging support for the bid with all of his 658 shares. Including the 129 shares he bought recently. Gracious, that's £150 quids worth. That will sway the bid........
Sorry if I sound like a cynical bloke. Its probably because I'm a cynical bloke.
Started: CEREUS, 3 Nov 2020 19:30
Last post: RetiredBanker, 1 Dec 2020 13:26
Decided to cash in my holding today 116.6p is better than 115p !
If the offer is rejected next Monday at the GM, then the price almost certainly has to fall before any counter-offer is made.
I might put in a limit order to buy on Friday at <100p
Sad to see the lack of interest here. I will vote against this deal because I object to these greedy Wall St. types coming to the UK and asset stripping UK companies (albeit UK companies run by self interested BODs). I think any counter bid would have surfaced by now.
Definitely agree the offer is too low but whether we get a counter-offer is another matter.
Certainly a couple of large buys above 115p at eod suggests somebody else might want to resist this takeover, but given the BoD have been promised they retain their jobs / bonuses etc we can't be sure they won't just let the sp fall back to 70p if the offer is voted down. For my part I've been invested for a couple of years bought initially around 130p ; luckily I topped up at 70p so have an average of 107p and will come out ahead if this goes through
... but I was looking forward to a nice annuity stream around 6-7% as well as some capital growth over the next 5-10yrs
very interesting price action at the end of the day - maybe the white charger is heading this way.
Yes CEREUS, this is a miserly off by an American outfit who I cannot imagine will give a stuff about our old folk.
As I stated on 24th July when they were 70p , an offer had to be made . I said it was a half price offering , and worth at least 140p , I still think the offer is too low. Anyone agree with me?
I totally agree. The board seem to have no belief in their own ability to steer this business through a rough patch, even though the exit path from the current crisis has always been there.
It's not as if the supply of older people is ever going to dry up.
How any of them justify their pay is beyond me.
Funny how the remuneration report in the annual accounts is one of the longest sections..shows the priorities of this troop of unimaginative time servers.
I may be completely wrong, I openly admit that, but to me the most negative spin possible is being put on this business by the MCS board . With just enough positivity skilfully thrown in to provide them with a plausible defence against such accusation.
Yes I am a cynic, but this board, who have very little skin in the game, are about feathering their own nests rather than acting in the interest of shareholders or indeed the elderly UK population against an opportunistic bid.
Started: Malchaufa, 31 Oct 2020 14:06
Last post: johnpwh, 3 Nov 2020 10:29
sadly as time goes on there isn't much sign of anyone on a white charger hoving into view
Lets hope. There was a surge towards the end of the day and SP still holding above the offer price even though the completion of the LS deal months away. I'm hopeful
Strong potential for a higher offer.
McCarthy & Stone (LSE: MCS) Acquisition Details
https://mergerarbitragelimited.com/mccarthy-stone-mcs-acquisition/
Started: KeithJ, 30 Oct 2020 18:51
Last post: KeithJ, 30 Oct 2020 18:51
Hi all, my first post here but have followed everyone’s posts for a while..
I noticed in the RNS yesterday that Bridgemere increased their holding from 3.373% to 4.2%. I can’t claim to understand everything in these forms but it did strike me as odd when everyone else seems to decreasing their holdings.. any ideas why?
I sold my holding last week when the offer was announced, but beginning to think I may have jumped the gun!
Started: jaffjoon, 26 Oct 2020 16:53
Last post: Crank001, 28 Oct 2020 15:14
There is life on this board! Yes we have both been on AML, hundreds of post every day there. There are some promising companies who are lucky to get 6 posts a year on lse. Wonder what the psychology is behind that?
Normally I would sell my Grandma to make a few bob (not an easy task as they've been brown bread for years!). But I don't like this bid - ok I don't like the price, but mostly I don't want to see a good British asset caring for the UK elderly sold to some feelingless US Private Equity shark/vulture who will no doubt follow the usual formula of saddling it with debt and leave the residents (present and future) with paring down of services and escalating costs. Doesn't sit well with me. There is a place for ethics in investment. The BOD should be ashamed of this.
Seems a great disinterest amongst shareholders here. I cannot remember another share 'in play' attracting so few comments. Anecdotally I conclude that there is little or no support amongst investors to support this bid. Hopefully this means many will vote against this opportunistic bid, like I will. Keep MCS British!
Hard to decide what will happen here.
The SP persists at just over the offer price implying, that the market thinks tha the action isn't over yet. The comments I have seen in the press imply they think Lone Star are taking the p***. With a low shareholding there is a reasonable chance of the bid being rejected, especially as looking at the price chart over the last few years must mean that a significant proportion of shareholders will be in a loss position at 115p. This is reinforced by a feeling that the SP was probably at the bottom of a cycle with the aging population and leasehold concession meaning the business model is strong.
Conversely you have to consider what LS will do if the bid is defeated. Will they increase the bid? If not the shares will drop, and you have to assume that LS will bail pretty quickly while they are still in profit (you have to assume that their holding was largely accumulated at sub 80p)
Canaccord should be a bit braver and do what Barclays did today and set a target price of 9,600 P !!!! obviously a typing error on the Hargreaves Broker round up site but I would be happy with half that thank you.
Started: mango, 23 Oct 2020 11:15
Last post: mango, 26 Oct 2020 15:04
Moles?
In Yesterday's Prufrock column in the Sunday Times we read that Paul Lester the chairman of MCS who has made the deal to SELL MCS at a knockdown price, "was also chairman of brick maker Forterra until last year, a position he took up in 2015 when the company was owned by .....Lone Star.Fancy that!"
I find this to be incredible....and can't
get the image of a beady eyed mole out of my head.
Meanwhile in Saturdays Times , Alistair Osborne writes " McCarthy bid seems puzzlingly low "
Answers on a postcard please.....
Sadly Marble, the way things are at present you wont have the option. Your shares will be sold from beneath you.
I'm assuming that the Lone Ranger (or whatever they call themselves) will increase their holding by buying in the market - why not, they buy at the current price and gain shares on which they can cast votes that count towards rubber stamping their takeover or wait until the end of the bid process when they will probably pay pretty much the same price for shares on which they were unable to cast votes. So they may as well go for it. Anyone know the rules about them buying (and to what limit) after the offer is announced? I'm assuming they can increase to 30%, the limit where making a bid would be forced upon them.
I think they will be tight on this offer - I noticed the para about retaining the right to reduce the offer price if any divi was paid out. That may be standard but strikes me as a company that is unlikely to put another 40p per share on the table. A white night is needed, preferably someone who will sack this totally spineless board.
It's a 140-150p share and in time it will easily recover. I don't want to sell.
This is a gut-wrenching offer for LTH - I count myself in that crowd having invested 2yrs ago.
This stock is easily capable of generating eps of 10p+ so the offer is little over p/e of 10 ... and I would much rather have a 7-8% annuity income than this one-time cash.
I'm certainly not selling in the open market and will vote against the sale ... quite optimistic that another opportunistic Private Equity or Hedge Fund will counter-offer in the 125-150p range ... which is still below long term value
Thankfully I averaged down when the sp dropped below 70p so will walk away with a small profit if this goes ahead, but I purchased for the yield not the one-off gain
Undoubtedly the BoD have all been advised that they will be retained on improved contracts to continue to manage the business ... so much for representing the shareholders
Some of the posts on advfn are worth reading. Talk of an earlier 180p bid rejected by the then board, when the NAV was lower than today.
Obviously for a substantial company the SP has to be viewed relative to the level of the market which it is in, in this case the FTSE250, as well as the sector of operation. The FTSE250 is down 10% over a year. Even after the bid MCS is down double that figure..
Not sure what point I'm trying to make here, but to me this bid is opportunistic and the BOD is weak and barely invested themselves in the equity. Certain fact is that the fate of MCS is in the hands of Institutions, not private investors. Our clout is negligible.
Started: johnpwh, 25 Oct 2020 20:05
Last post: johnpwh, 25 Oct 2020 20:05
.... to 115p following Fridays news. Brilliant! That's why the guys with red braces earn so much!
Started: Hindy86, 23 Oct 2020 22:02
Last post: mark99999, 23 Oct 2020 23:12
yes there is alot of money gone in from after hrs buyers. strong poss of a counter bid? gla
Gone through for higher than the offer price of 115
Don’t get it?
Started: OnFire238, 23 Oct 2020 10:22
Last post: johnpwh, 23 Oct 2020 12:33
Crank
They do need over 50% (of which they have 17.2%) to secure the bid. 30% means they have to make a bid (from my understanding, often flawed!) but that is irrelevant since they have already bid. Not sure whether as a declared bidder they are allowed to carry on buying in the market prior to the vote, thereby giving themselves more votes. Maybe someone can inform me. If not they need to persuade 32.8% (ok strictly 32.9%) of shareholders to back them. Exciting times. Wonder why they didn't try to get closer to the 30% before declaring the bid?
Crank
We'll see. If I sell at the current price I will clear the 115p. Just. If I wait I'll get ..... 115p. I think I will wait my time rather than make one of my (in) famous investment decisions elsewhere, at least its safe(ish) where it is.
Why on earth would it be unethical? Its a market and the shareholder vote hasn't been taken. For an ongoing company It up to the majority of the shareholders as to what happens
Might be whispers of a counter offer but as price offer per share now public that would be a tad unethical, but you never know. Shame I didn’t get in early this morning but concentration was elsewhere on the pharma sector.
Quite right Mas, there will be no MCS post deal, at least not a quoted one. The board of MCS have rolled over and accepted their pound of gold without a fight apparently, justifiable only if there is something nasty which hasn't been announced - and if you believe that then you should dump in the market because due diligence will flush it out before the deal is finalised. The SP was over 150p earlier this year and pretty much throughout the whole of 2019, despite the leasehold model scare. Property prices still high, the population is still aging, so the model very much intact with no real competitors in the UK. Leasehold issue now sorted and the deal with Anchor Hanover announced recently. This seems anecdotally a low offer and the BOD is welcoming with open arms? Cant say I am impressed . I note the SP is, as i write at least, steady at a premium over the cash offer price which will take months to receive - what is that telling us?
Started: Squib456, 23 Oct 2020 11:04
Last post: johnpwh, 23 Oct 2020 11:16
Squib
Yep, if it goes through without opposition (ie without the terms being improved) you will get 115p cash per share and your holding will be cancelled. MCS will cease as a qu0ted company on the Stock Exchange. You wont get the money for some months as there are various regulatory hoops to jump though including a vote from us, the equity holders. You could sell (or indeed buy more) in the market right now, but you would have to pay dealing fees as usual which you wont if you simply wait for the deal to conclude. As I said in my previous post, its odd that the SP is above 115p right now, if the market was convinced that its a done deal at this offer price then you would expect the SP to be at a small discount to reflect risks/ interest until the payout. I would have expected, say, 112p/113p?
Hi all long term shareholders What will happen will we lose all our shares!! Should we sell or ok to hold ?? Cheers
Last post: Gogetum, 23 Oct 2020 09:59
Brilliantly timed investment from Alchemy. Now we know why the share price was holding up for the past few days when the rest of the market was falling. I had planned on sitting on my investment here for a couple of years in the hope that it could return to approx 150p but I can't complain at a 61% increase on my investment. Think I'll hang around for a possible counter offer.
Started: Bobbybullet, 23 Oct 2020 09:04
Last post: Bobbybullet, 23 Oct 2020 09:04
Good profit. But I was expecting much more from this share over time.
With just over 17% of shares backing this bid could there be a counter bid?
Last post: johnpwh, 22 Oct 2020 21:44
Come on everyone, the SP is going up, lets have some views!
on the hope of reinstating the dividend like bellway
Any ideas about the rise in SP this morning or is it the lads with red braces playing games? Have seen these leaps (and fall backs) frequently recently
Good PR too, image of a caring company supported by the Government rather than being suspected of being a nasty greedy corporation intent on lining shareholders pockets at the expense of the elderly. Being cynical there is always the danger of McCarthy being seen by relatives of the elderly as out to syphon off their hard earned inheritance!
Great deal announced with guaranteed earnings for next year. Not surprised the market liked it today. Undervalued with a lot more upside.
Started: CEREUS, 24 Jul 2020 09:15
Last post: ODONNELL, 17 Aug 2020 21:46
We bought in a few weeks ago around this price and will be doubling our stake
Very interesting development - someone else is smelling a bargain here. Bridgemere has taken a 3% stake (see RNS from last night). Bridgemere is the offshore investment vehicle of Steve Morgan, ex-Mr Redrow, etc, etc. A passive investment in a massively undervalued company or the start of a strategic stake-build and takeover or shake up? Or is Steve now so old that he needs a retirement apartment? I suspect he has a plan. Fill your boots time here methinks and let's see what flows...
This share price is getting silly now , down to 70p! A half price Company with stamp duty cancelled for time being , do not understand it. The market should be getting stimulated surely.
Started: CEREUS, 22 Jul 2020 17:27
Last post: CEREUS, 22 Jul 2020 17:27
This share must be about to move up again . With stamp duty not being levied on buys and sells , an ideal time for older people to think about moving into easier managed premises as they get older. I have just invested again today albeit a small quantity as times are very unpredictable .
Started: courtier, 6 Jul 2020 14:15
Last post: OnFire238, 9 Jul 2020 12:49
Courtier - I would not feel regretful about buying in at 80p, unless you were after a very fast profit.
The demand for the MacCarthy & Stone product is only going to grow over the next 12 months + and the business is well placed to take advantage of this. I would not check the daily price too often but if you can sit on this until next year there's a lot to suggest the price will be well above 80p by then in my opinion
I do have regrets here, having bought at 80p. This rise today alleviates them somewhat. I would be interested to hear the opinions of others as to why they hold. The fact that I spent several happy years in an Mccarthy home in Maldon may have influenced me too much?
Started: courtier, 22 Jun 2020 19:35
Last post: courtier, 22 Jun 2020 19:35
Over 7% up today is good for me. I bought on June 8th at under 78p per share. I hoped that I was buying at the bottom of a curve, but it has not worked out. I am 12% down in a few days. I remain hopeful and do think MCS is well worth its current price.
Started: Freedom4Uall, 22 Jun 2020 15:35
Last post: Freedom4Uall, 22 Jun 2020 15:35
Steadily rising even though the markets are in the negative.
Started: CEREUS, 18 Jun 2020 11:29
Last post: CEREUS, 18 Jun 2020 11:29
This share still looks too cheap , nett asset value is near double share price . With Coronavirus , a lot of older people ; those of us still alive ; may be thinking of selling up their houses to move nearer family ,and reduce their outgoings , and MCS developments are well built and well maintained. Must be an upturn soon. £1.20 looks an achievable target .
Started: Freedom4Uall, 18 Jun 2020 11:25
Last post: Freedom4Uall, 18 Jun 2020 11:25
Mccarthys sp looking good