Ascential Share Price (ASCL)

I seem to have lost money here paid £999.6 cash ( paid 420p per share ) 27/7/2021

Appears the stock split left me with fewer shares ?

Paid out £795.20 for the remaining 140 shares post split .

AIM again notes on ( T )looks like £204.40 loss but chart does not indicate that .

Berenberg upgrades Ascential to 'buy' following Informa bid

Thu, 25th Jul 2024 12:33Sharecast News

(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg upgraded business-to-business media firm Ascential to 'buy' from 'hold' and hiked their target price on the stock to 568.0p from 395.0p following a takeover offer from Informa.

Berenberg stated Informa had made a firm offer for Ascential at 568.0p per share, in line with the possible offer price disclosed on 23 July, and representing a 53% premium to the closing price on 22 July and valuing the company on a CY24 and CY25 enterprise value/underlying earnings ratio of 15.7x and 13.8x, respectively, pre-synergies.

"The CY25 EV/EBITDA of 13.8x, pre synergies is higher than historical take-out multiples in the sector - Informa bought Tarsus for 12.5x EV/EBITDA in May 2023. It also bought UBM for 14.3x in January 2018. Hyve was also bought by Providence February 2023 at >11x EV/EBITDA. When we take into account the potential synergies and better-than-expected trading, we estimate the implied CY25 EV/EBITDA valuation to be c11.5," said Berenberg.

The German bank added that Informa noted in its H1 results that its larger events were growing at above-average rates, benefiting from scale economics, and that Ascential expects H124 revenue to be roughly £158.0m, as organic growth came to 15% year-on-year.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Ascential says dividend from potential Hudson MX sales unlikely

Wed, 11th Sep 2024 07:53Sharecast News

(Sharecast News) - Ascential, the B2B media and events company that's being taken over by Informa, announced on Wednesday that the sale of part-owned Hudson MX is unlikely to yield a special dividend for shareholders.

Atlanta-based media tech group Hudson MX, in which Ascential holds a 36.5% stake, has been up for sale since October 2023 but talks are still ongoing with multiple parties.

However, Ascential has now said it "believes that it is unlikely that the proceeds of any sale will be sufficient to permit a distribution of net sale proceeds in accordance with the terms of the [Informa takeover] scheme".

Ascential, which agreed to a £1.2bn acquisition by Informa in July, explained that any sale is unlikely to be structured as a divestment of Hudson MX shares, as required for the purposes of a permitted dividend under the terms of its takeover.

"The Ascential board therefore does not currently expect a permitted dividend to be declared," the company said.

I got lucky here!..I bought in before the offer as I was looking for a bit more diversity in my portfolio.

My logic was quite simple, I thought that Fintech companies would utilise the developing AI phenomena for data management. Maybe that was not an original thought but it has worked for me on this occasion. It was not “insider trading”, I never discussed my intent to purchase with anyone, I don’t know anyone with any knowledge of either companies and I don’t know any traders or market makers, I just got lucky! I am no longer holding but sitting on a pile of cash looking for my next opportunity.

For balance, I have not always been this lucky but hey ho!.. that’s part of the thrill with investing! 👍

Its quite clearly explained not sure what you mean.

Can someone shed a light on this statement from the RNS.

"In addition, Informa and Ascential have agreed that if the Hudson Disposal completes prior to the date of the Sanction Hearing, Net Sale Proceeds will (subject to the approval of the Ascential Board) be returned to Ascential Shareholders by way of a cash dividend and Ascential Shareholders will be entitled to keep that dividend without any reduction of the Cash Consideration payable under the Offer".

thanks Robsky