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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/09/16/evgeny-lebedev-among-newspaper-barons-battle-buy-metro/ warming up nicely another RNS next week Custos increasing another major shareholder reducing but not CA to early for them .
Another 1 million shares hovered up below 13p ... since last rns that's another 1% ... I reckon another holder as agreed to sell their share holding to Custos at 12.5 ... this is definitely getting interesting looking forward to the next announcement re debt consoldation I reckon the bond holders Crystal n Custos have some negotiating to do put looks good for shareholders when this gets finally sorted should allow for s steady rise .. with only 105 million shares at 13p current value johnston at 14 million ... imagine if we pay off bond at discount with a 160 million loan all of a sudden we have gained 60 million reduced annual 19 million debt interest payment to around 9 million also recent price increases 10p will add another 7 million to turnover selling 260,000 a i newspapers a day I wonder why all this positive news is being held back .. I reckon a conservative share price estimate 50p would value JPR at 50 million that's about right for a company turning over 200 million with a 19 million ebita ... anyone else got a view why JPR SHARE value stuck at 13 million ? ,
Agreed Custos has done a deal off market at 12.5 these buys being going through since 6th sept ,,, another 250,000 last night at 12.5 ... something going on that we don't know yet ... but custos and Crystal now own 31% if they're plotting together , when the news breaks ... pop ... I reckon may also have something to do with metro muted newspaper sale too , who knows something brewing and price being held for Custos to hoover up at 12.5 .... if debt agreed buy back is consolidated at 3% ... with this company behind us this could gain momentum ...
Im thinking Custos and Crystal Amber are plotting together , he's published this on his twitter feed today and promoting Jpr massively on their too , Crystal amber comments on JPR seems relatively positive surely once news of the debt consolidation starts the price should start to move up. after the period end, in August 2017, Johnston Press reported its results for the first half of the year, which were broadly in line with expectations: highlights included revenues up 4.6 per cent (excluding classifieds) compared to the same period last year, and a group EBITDA of GBP19.7 million. Performance continues to be driven by the i newspaper, which lifted earnings by 42 per cent, delivering revenues of GBP14.5 million and EBITDA of GBP3.7 million in the first half of the year and countering ongoing tough trading for regionals, particularly in classified advertising. Digital advertising also performed strongly with revenues (excluding classifieds) growing nearly 15 per cent in the six months to June. The Fund maintains the view that Johnston Press has the potential to benefit from further industry consolidation. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/prices-markets/crystal-amber-lays-out-case-for-its-portfolio-after-bumper-year/13/09/
Christen AgerA Norwegian investor has increased his stake in Johnston Press to more than 8pc in what he is calling a “strategic move.” Christen Ager-Hanssen, left, has announced he now owns 8.03pc of the regional publisher, having purchased an initial 5.14pc stake last month. Mr Ager-Hanssen’s firm owns the Swedish version of the Metro, and he is reckoned to be worth around £2.5bn. Speaking to HTFP today, the businessman described the purchase as “a strategic move for the consolidation going on in the UK media.” Announcing the increased stake on his personal Twitter page this morning, he wrote: “[Custos Group] increased its strategic stake in media conglomerate Johnston Press Plc.” The tweet included a link to the new share certificate, confirming the deal. Mr Ager-Hanssen told HTFP: “It’s all about consolidation in this industry. Regarding Johnston [Press], we see it as a strategic move for the consolidation going on in the UK media and we will take a significant part of that. “You have to create a new ecosystem around your audience. We want to do something with that, and we want Johnston staff to take an active part of that consolidation with this industry. “At the same time, we need to be aggressive on the digital side and we will be very active on this.” A JP spokesman said: “We have met with Christen; the conversation was interesting enough for us to arrange a follow up meeting later in the month.” Over recent years JP has paid off tens of millions of pounds worth of debt accumulated during the 1990s when it bought up scores of UK newspaper titles, but it still has £220m worth of bonds due to be repaid by 2019. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph last month Mr Ager-Hanssen vowed to help it sort out the bond issue, indicating that he had lined-up other investors to help take on the debt.
Now holds 8% and share price being held ... something going on that we don't know about will pop when news breaks
http://www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/johnston-press-launches-newsroom-of-the-future
Mr Ager-Hanssen, who runs Custos from Mayfair, London, said: “I believe in the company and I think that they will be able to sort out the bond issue and that we can help them do that.” “I think we need to move quite quickly. This is something that will happen over the next six months.” The 55-year-old added that he plans to “take the initiative” ahead of US hedge funds that have bought up Johnston Press’s bonds at a discount. Lenders led by GoldenTree Asset Management have been positioning themselves to take control of the publisher following an ongoing restructuring. Credit ratings agencies say it will not be able to refinance its debts when they are due for repayment in 2019. lots more press over the wkd will bode well :-) Mr Ager-Hanssen said Johnston Press cash generation is “strong enough” to refinance the debt at an interest rate of only 3pc, compared to the current rate of 8.6pc. He said he had investors lined up to take on the debt and that shareholders can maintain control of the company, which has a stock market valuation of only £14m. Mr Ager-Hanssen declined to identify the would-be lenders or say whether he was working with Crystal Amber, the activist fund that is Johnston Press’s largest shareholder with a 21pc stake.
Silver Grey , I understand your frustration I sold 50% at 25p in Feb. and then watched my other 50% go all the way down back to 10p my average was 12p , I bought back in yesterday at 12p and expect to sell another 50% at 35p , i'm sure with this news, though our equity is worth 80p when the debyt is resolved ... hold on for the ride up and enjoy this time :-)
repay the debt at 3% will reduce our payments by 15 million a year based on reduced debt buy back . What a deal that would be money left over to even repay more debt ... I'm hopeful; of a steady rise from here when the deals done this boom !!!! l glad I got back in yesterday about time my luck changed :-)
JPR if they do refinance the debt at 3% will not have to pay 220million at todays bond discounts I'm guessing around 160 million , so current profit would easily cover the repayment and with our national paper the I newspaper improving revenues its easily a buy. At todays share prices is suggests JPR only worth 16 million when its making 50 million EBITA so easily at PE of zero should be worth 50p. once debt consolidation sorted we should see a steady rise GLA
Oslo-based investment fund Custos, the owner of free Swedish newspaper Metro, has taken a 5.14% stake in Johnston Press, it was revealed in a stock exchange filing. Custos is now one of Johnston Press’s top six shareholders, according to The Telegraph which first reported this story. The company is controlled by Christen Ager-Hanssen, a Norwegian financier based in London. Johnston Press acquired the i last year from Independent News and Media despite a track record of holding debt. In March the company reported that net debt was £146.1m, down 13.1% year on year.
may have to buy back in ............. very interesting this guy takes no prisoners maybe in a deal with CA ,, who knows but dipping my toes in again on this development .. I did keep asking myself how can a company can only worth 12 million when it paid 25 million for the I newspaper that's making 7 million on its own... here the new shareholder and looks like hes topping up today From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Christen Ager-Hanssen Born Christen Ager-Hanssen July 29, 1962 (age 55) Halden, Norway Residence London Nationality Norwegian Occupation Entrepreneur Christen Eugen Ager-Hanssen (born July 29, 1962) is a Norwegian Internet Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist and since late 90s based in London according to the press.[1][2][3][4] He is a highly controversial Venture Capital & Private Equity professional. Ager-Hanssen has been involved in several high profile M&A deals and have a special taste for public hostile takeovers.[2][3][5][6] In a cover story in Canadian Business, Canada´s leading Business Magazine, Ager-Hanssen was described as Gordon Gekko and a modern-day Viking. «In an age of 37, Ager-Hanssen rose from obscurity to become Norway's richest son, worth more than $2.5 billion in early 2000».[2][3][5][6][7] Ager-Hanssen is also known for his insight on the Internet Industry and pioneering work in the movement to commercialize the Internet in the first and second part of the 1990s, including early experiments with search engines for the internet, Internet Infrastructure such as early experiments on Satellite Internet access, legal music distribution on Internet¢¢, Internet as the new desktop, Banking and financial services offered on the Internet, e-mail advertising, contributions to the development of the banner ad, practical applications of pay-per-click advertising.[2
Highfield says: "I think that by acquiring stuff like the i and disposing of some assets, we will, over time, both be able to pay down more debt and get the debt-to-EBITDA to a level of around 2.25, which is our magic number where we can start paying a dividend again... they run their algorithms but they don't really understand the market or what we're trying to do either, so actually we're not really losing much sleep over that." The i gives Johnston Press a national footprint and scale, which should give the company more clout with media agencies and the opportunity to sell in a "premium" package across its network of print and digital assets. That — alongside the divestment of a cluster of non-strategic assets — should immediately play well to the company's cash position, Highfield said.
If they can post a profit in March of any sorts ... even after selling 17 titles ..then that's progress . national newspaper plan working really well at the moment increased circulation 20% results would have been awful had it not been for the I ...... I can only see this gathering momentum with the CA interest ... then comes 1st quarter results in April if those show further progress then I can't see why this can't return to pre brexit numbers .49 and should keep nudging North GLA
GB00BRKY334 21,217,184 -----------------------22,848,184 21.36%
Johnston Press defended plans to buy back its own bonds at a healthy discount. The beleaguered publisher, whose share price is a fifth of where it was at the start of the year, said that this was not a new policy. "We have always stated we would use disposals to both strengthen balance sheet and pay down debt," said chief executive Ashley Highfield.
Regional newspaper group Johnston Press could come under pressure after an activist investor took a 19 per cent stake in the company. Crystal Amber today increased its stake from 6.7 per cent to 18.6 per cent., knew this going to get tasty now 😜😜😜😜
LONDON (Alliance News) - Johnston Press PLC late Wednesday said a shareholder with a significant holding in the business has sold its entire stake. The news company said Vidacos Nominees Ltd sold 12.6 million shares on Tuesday. Vidacos, Orbis Asset Management and Orbis Investment Management are all held under parent company Orbis Allan Gray Ltd. Johnston Press confirmed the shareholding represented at least an 11% stake in the business, but not detail the exact stake held prior to the sale. Based on the company's issued share capital on Wednesday, the stake that was sold was equal to an 11.89% stake. Johnston Press, as of November 8, 2016, said Orbis Investment Management Ltd was its largest shareholder with a 12.97% stake. The sale was completed on Tuesday. Johnston Press held a general meeting on Wednesday, when shareholders approved the sale of Johnston Publishing East Anglia Ltd, which received minimal opposition. Johnston Press shares closed 12% higher on Wednesday at 15.0 pence per share. CA .. have made an offer for the lot hence the rise
Amendments to the Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility Following the announcement on 4 October 2016, the Company is pleased to report that it has agreed further changes to the terms of its Super Senior Revolving Credit Facility with all of the lenders providing that facility. The amended terms are effective immediately and will provide the Group with a revolving credit facility of £10.0 million, such amount reducing over time until 30 June 2018 (the "Amended Facility"). The Amended Facility will be tested against revised leverage ratio covenants (tested quarterly), with an obligation to prepay and cancel the Amended Facility with 75 per cent. of net cash proceeds of any disposals outside of the ordinary course that the Company receives on or prior to 31 December 2016 and 100 per cent. of net cash proceeds of any subsequent such disposals thereafter. The Amended Facility currently remains undrawn. On 16 December 2016 the Company announced that its subsidiary, Johnston Publishing Limited, had entered into a conditional agreement to sell the entire issued share capital of Johnston Publishing East Anglia Limited to Iliffe Media Limited for cash consideration of £17.0 million (the "Disposal"). The Disposal is conditional on shareholder approval. If the Disposal is completed, the Amended Facility will be cancelled.