Member Info for Ejackson

Happy with that and pleased to note the comment 'with recent weeks showing significantly stronger levels of growth'.
The Board appear to very focused on developing and rolling out the new technology, which has to bode well for the future.

Timing for an update is as I understand it too Columbo

It looks like it is about to get very messy over at SPD. I can only hope we don’t get caught up in it all by association.
It is feasible SPD could become a distressed seller of their shareholding in FDL as they look to shore up cash flow. Personally, I would welcome any dilution in their presence despite the likely potential for some negative impact on the SP. Elsewhere, I am looking forward to the next update from our Board which is due shortly.

Pleasing to see the SP so strong at this time of the year which hasn’t been the case in previous years.
My thoughts are that the US operation under the more hands on and beady eye of Jeremy Helsby is now bearing fruit. It was his baby and now he is free of the wider role of Group CEO, he can really get a hold of it and ultimately be lauded for his decision on the acquisition of Studley.

...is as tight as I can recall it being for a very long time.

£3 looks very achievable and in the near term.

Ask and our Board will respond!
A balanced view and a new fair value SP in excess of £4.

Still very much on board Skindle and added to rather than selling down.
I can’t blame 1GW for top slicing and considered the same having bought meaningfully at £1.72 but after taking a look at the 2 year chart together with all the confidence being shown by those in the know buying shares outside the closed period following an excellent set of FY numbers, I have concluded this isn’t a share to be out of at this moment.
Given we were at £3 under a year ago before we knew what we know now, the market, finally appears to be re-rating us but imo there is still some way to go. The Board are getting on with driving forward an excellent company in the right direction and I was delighted and relieved to see in the results how insignificant the SPD tie up was as this could have become a real problem further down the line.
I have commented before that I felt Education could be sold but I suspect they will want to beef it up further to get a decent price which would be put towards working capital or pay down our debt albeit the latter is firmly under control. In the meantime, as long as it’s being turned around and results are improving, it won’t act as too much of a makeweight to our progress elsewhere at Studio.
In summary, I cannot see anything other than a real sense of positivity and realistic ambition from the Board which critically is being backed up with the numbers. The market finally appears to be showing it’s agreement too but it’s still cheap given what we know and when the bigger picture is taken into account.
Will we see an RNS attaching a research note and valuation from Edison?

Respectfully, its the same old soothing words. We all understand the potential, that's why we are here.

Just get on and monetise it.

A to the point RNS and guidance has moved from the 25th January when it was advised: 'Group believes that full-year PBT3 is now likely to be towards the upper end of current market expectations' to today when we are being told we will be slightly ahead of expectations.
Given this, and echoing your sentiments 1GW, when will the market start behaving rationally and attribute the company an SP that is remotely aligned to fair value?
At the time of writing, to move upwards by a paltry 7p after todays update is shameful.

At least for the moment.
I was disappointed by the lack of movement in the SP following the news of the offer lapsing. I can only interpret this as some sort of notional backing by the market towards SPD as with all the knowledge we have to hand on trading, the current SP of c.£1.70 is woefully short of where we should be. Strange and baffling times.
The board must now do everything in their power to drive this business forward so that when either SPD or another suitor make a formal approach, a fair value will have to be paid rather than an opportunistic bid off the back of a distressed sale from a shareholder.
Yes, I would like to see a TU RNS but I am putting my trust in the board to deliver one when they feel, or are advised, is appropriate. Witness NBrown's shareprice in the past few days responding to a reasonable update as to what could and should happen here.
One further degree of comfort to align my sentiment with the board was to refresh my memory as to how actively they have been buying shares themselves and in doing so at the levels they did, how they believe the SP was not reflecting our future prospects.
I am feeling impatient after the closure of recent events but heartened by the almost total rejection of SPD's mandatory offer.
One final thought, I don't believe we ever had the relationship between us and SPD monetised. I cant help thinking that MA will play dirty and turn this relationship off to drag the SP down with the news as and when it breaks. An act of self harm, yes, but short term pain for long the long term gain of getting his hands on the company and our lucrative list of credit seeking punters at Studio etc Why else would the last RNS say how they are looking forward to working with SPD in the future? It smacks of us getting in a blow on the back of something the board know....

I think a TU following the weekends expiry date is odds on as the board will be very keen to demonstrate true value and get the SP as far away from the current levels as soon as possible. I think they have very sensibly kept their powder dry in case they needed to defend the cause more aggressively.
In the near term, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Education division was lined up for sale.
With respect to SPD/MA, expect the unexpected. MA is a menace and will do whatever he feels is necessary to ultimately gain control. Sitting on the shareholding he now does, there is absolutely no room for our board to slip up so if there is a positive to draw from this process, every effort will be going into demonstrating shareholder value. In the meantime Mr Rowley continues to get an invitation to the board meetings. If that doesn’t worry you as a shareholder, then nothing will.

...has given us a flavour of what’s to come.
I sense it’s going to get ugly despite the obvious message delivered to MA in only 1% of remaining shareholders taking up his pathetic offer.
I trust our board has the strength and resolve to stand up to this corporate bully boy. If he really wants to buy us out, time to put up or shut up.

I was reflecting on The Board's rejection of the offer letter and in particular how they have seemingly gone out of their way to put a price on the company. I cant recall a company on the receiving end of a bid effectively naming a price so early on in the process and wonder why they would have done this.
My two possible answers are that:
1) They know SPD will pay up and want to avoid a drawn out bidding process which would damage morale, harm the business and lead to a reduction in revenue/ profit and therefore play into MA's hands of a successful lower offer being accepted.
2) They want to draw another bidder or bidders into the process and to do so, believed it would be advantageous to give guidance on what they would recommend to shareholders. This might well have been after a conversation with Schroders to establish their exit strategy.
Any other thoughts welcomed and not too long to wait and see just how many investors feel the offer price is fair....
One final point to reflect on, I really do hope Liam Rowleys presence at Board meetings has been revoked given the situation we are in. I have previously posted my total displeasure at him being allowed to have access to such sensitive financial information and I will wager his fingerprints are all over this deal.
Time for the fox to leave the hen coop comes to mind.....

Lots of MOU's now agreed. Well done
Revenue required, so RNS with contracts advising the same needed and soon, otherwise all options remain open, for example: company being would up, further cash call, buyout on the cheap after all the legwork that has been done to date is in place from eg Freepoint.
Once we see revenue, the market will respond positively towards the SP, otherwise we will hover around todays price for the foreseeable IMO.

Well set out and essentially saying, we are trading very well thank you and our future is rosy but our SP has been dragged down by two large institutional sellers, the latter of which was in significant distress. If SPD want to go away and offer something sensible starting with a 3, then we will talk.

My immediate concern is that the SP has done nothing to support the Board's statement and seems wedded to SPD's offer price. I can only hope that the 50% is not breached and then the market might start to be more responsive.

My only concern is that the market seems to be onside with the offer.

We were marched down to this level from c.£3 and the SP was ticked up when SPD's offer document came through yesterday only for the SP to be taken back down 5% after the unanimous rejection by the Board. It really doesn't make any sense given the current and future value/ prospects of the company.

I am looking forward to a resolution of this as swiftly as possible but cant help fearing something going on behind the scenes that may push the deal into SPD's hands. History and currently Debenhams has shown how MA behaves in these situations, and if there are any more jittery shareholders out there that have a need for cash, we could be in trouble.

Its now down to the Board to put forward the strongest of defences and galvanise shareholders into not selling on the cheap.

Quite agree Columbo. I remember the footage well and he thought it was all quite hilarious.
I also recall him acting like a petulant child when he eventually appeared in front of the Select Committee and didn't like the way one of Committee was looking at him.
The only other person that behaved the same way was Philip Green. Two peas in a pod...

Interesting to hear what you say on the dividend side Columbo and chimes with the below which is copied from SPD's original announcement:

Sports Direct reserves the right to reduce the Offer consideration by the amount of any dividend (or other distribution) which is paid or becomes payable by Findel to the holders of Findel Shares.

I would be delighted if your source is correct as this would be hugely in our favour.

Thanks for clarifying the situation with regards to what SPD has to do with their shares in the event they are unsuccessful 1GW

I appreciate we are all waiting on the publication of the Offer Document but 'death by a thousand cuts' comes to mind with the SP at the moment....

1GW, I suspect you may know the answer to a question I had , which was, in the event the takeover is rejected, at what point does MA have to reduce his shareholding back below 30% ?