The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Hi Base. I am well thanks and hope you are too. I've spent a lot of time between Nice and Le Touquet the past few weeks and have returned in time for the summer to finally arrive. Finding football rather frustrating. I'm sure my husband has been watching it all summer yet he tells me it is about to start again. I must have blinked and missed the end! How are things on the forum? The mood appears broadly positive apart from last few days.
Hello everyone. Fascinating times as usual. Breakdance, are they live on Sunderland ? They have a banner icon which looks like an advert but the main Betting tab on the right of the main menu appears to still point to Paddy Power for Sports Betting, Games, Poker and Casino. Similarly, I cannot find the link on Newcastle other than the small icon in the bottom panel near the Sky News banner. Can you direct me? Regarding the relisting, I think it is not the relisting that is the issue but rather that they should be announcing something now. The silence and lack of information is more frustrating but it does not mean it is necessarily bad. I suspect Southerndude is having de ja vu though.
Ah yes, I forgot about the distressed seller. It may well have drifted up towards 20p on its own momentum had we not been suspended and that is before the various news releases hit the market. It is going to be interesting to see what the market makes of the Worldlink Sports, City Index developments and the Accounts/Funding position.
That is quite a prediction but you've been pretty close so far on other things so not going to knock it. Of course, that does value Worldlink at £17M despite the 49% stake in Worldlink Sports having a recent market valuation of £1M (July 2012) and the current market cap being £3.36M after a 100% rise. Nevertheless, from 20p to 57p in under two days on the OMT news means anything could happen and we have a few days for more WGP announcements. They are good at PR so I would think they have something in reserve before relisting. I do think it will revisit 40p but not on the opening price. Would be delighted to be wrong on this one.
Hi Pal, I think this thread has had a far bigger problem with rampers than derampers especially the "boom" merchants who arrive for a day then disappear for weeks on end. We have had our fair share of negativity too (including from me) but usually based on actually experience with the company rather than lies and exaggerations from certain parties. I have been called both! If you are referring to SD, he has twice the length of experience with the company than any of us so I think he has earned his stripes in here. I think it opens at the same price it closed but it could gap higher or lower. I am not sure where it might go. I was thinking 20p plus after the Premier League announcements but all has gone quiet since and all eyes are on the Accounts. In my opinion, WGP relisting and posting any positive lift on the first day back would be good news. Anything better than that is a very nice bonus. Let's not forget the 100% rise in the few days before suspension which if my memory serves, was before the various Premier League announcements. It had a slight profit taking pull back the day before suspension so with all the news, maybe those people are ready to get back in. FIngers crossed.
The response from Worldlink is quite short and does not have much detail. It starts with a single sentence: They state the patent is “not invalid whether for the reasons alleged or any other reason”. City Index state the invention is not patentable in that they are not new having regard to the state of the art. They quote four pre-existing patents (“Tsoukas”, “Dao”, “Tornqvist” and “Madan”). They state there is no inventive step. They also state that the Worldlink patents do not fulfil the requirements of s1 (1)(d) of the Act being excluded by s.1. (2). Worldlink respond by saying “it is admitted that [names each of the above patents] at the priority date of the patent formed part of the state of the art at the time. They then repeat the first sentence at the top of this post. Worldlink also have a single sentence at the end “all the allegations in the Counterclaim and all the allegations in the Grounds for invalidity are denied”. City Index requested i) Court declaration of invalidity ii) order that UK patent be revoked iii) Costs iv) further or other relief. Worldlink state they are not entitled to this relief. My solicitor friend who is supplying this tells me it is not unusual for this type of document to be brief especially as in all likelihood, Worldlink will have to prepare a detailed defence to each of these pre-existing patents which will take time.
To the organisations that WGP have done deals with is whether or not they can pay the sponsorship they have committed for Official Betting Partner rights. If Worldlink Sports can pay the agreed fees to the Premiership Clubs, I would doubt they will be too worried whether or not the company is relisted or not, or is a going concern or not. If Worldlink Sports pay the amounts on time, that is the main thing. The suspension was requested due to the Accounts being late and it is not to difficult to summise that it is the sign-off for the PLC as a Going Concern for 12 months that is the issue. They will relist when it is all done together. It could be tomorrow, next month or never. Worldlink Sports is safely ring fenced from the Plc now however.
With the trial so far away and a lot of good news recently, I think you have a good chance of making very good money on this stock and be long gone before July 2013 even comes round. If you are in already, that is a good place to be and I can see why you are excited. Hopefully the relisting is soon. GL
Little bird has told me City Index will not settle and want to complete the case and recover their costs and it was strongly implied to me they are not acting alone. A trial date has been set for 8th July 2013 so we have quite some time to wait for news. In the long run, this might be for the best. An outright win is more valuable to WGP than a settlement as it is harder for other infringers to argue against a Court decision. It also gives WGP more time to raise money so I think this might be a positive development.
I take it our favourite forum troll is back. You know you can filter him? Base showed me how and I am grateful for that. On a side note, have you seen the beta for www.betclearer.com? It is a sister company to Bet Butler and they have raised money to have a Google style interface and have also recruited mobile developers. Looks interesting.
Let's just say it is good that they at least have a shot at executing an opportunity in front of them for once. Too many false promises but at least it looks like they have a motivated external party here who is smart enough to not let Worldlink Directors retain controlling interest! It is not necessarily brilliant for Worldlink as a whole other than the subsidiary itself but certainly does not hurt it and may yet be lucrative. Time will tell but given that the alternative was they fail to get financing, fail to crystallise the Premier deals etc, it is better form than they have shown of late. The cynic in me says they just offered more than anyone else to buy the sponsorship business but let's give them the benefit of the doubt for a few days. After all, they have managed to win it without finance, then finance it and then close it - all in good time. Compared to other Worldlink actions, this is impressive and it would be unfair to say otherwise. Whether of not it is a good deal, we shall see. 99% of people actually don't care, they should want the SP to pop on the news. I have seen it pop on far less than this.
When you consider that it hit 57p on the back of the One Media Technology debacle, think what it could achieve with news that has genuine substance that is not only good now but opens the door to a bright future regardless of the Patent outcome. My only concern would be the heavy buying volume in the days before the suspension meaning that would-be buyers are already in. Hopefully this news will attract a whole new group of buyers.
For a suspended stock that has been at 4p for a while to win these deals and then finance them with greater the £2million of hard cash in this environment takes some skill and talent. I believe this to be quite an achievement by Worldlink and it bodes well for the future. A lot of credit must be given to the Board for making this happen despite other distractions such as the Patent cases. I would expect this stock to gap higher than the 8p. It could even end the first week many multiples of that.
Hello Base. WGP have signed conditional agreements with two Premier League Clubs to be an official gaming and betting partner. These deals work like sponsorships and require the partner to pay amounts of money to the Club for the privilege. Whilst not my area of expertise, it seems that Football Clubs work in the same way as other forms of sponsorship (like Harveys sponsoring Coronation Street). Please forgive the example! In order for Worldlink to get these deals, they needed to win them subject to raising money to give assurance to investors that the deals were done. They have then raised the money so they can pay the Clubs and also have a facility to pay more Clubs if they can win them. The investor does obviously not want the venture to be sabotaged in any way by anything beyond their control at WGP such as patent wins or loses, other business ventures etc or any other costs that are not specifically for the area they are interested in so they have isolated the business from the PLC under Worldlink Sports and the new investor has controlling interest. The 49% Worldlink Plc hold in Worldlink Sports is effectively now a business asset that can be valued on the balance sheet in the same way as the patents. If Worldlink Sports is sold, Worldlink Plc would receive monies as a distribution (taxed like a Dividend rather than a Capita Gain). Worldlink Plc will receive 15% of net revenue on an ongoing basis. It is not clear what this means but I imagine the new investor would not want any monies leaving Worldlink Sports to the Plc while they are building the business. In theory, the asset is now worth somewhere between £1.2M and £2.5M on the balance sheet of PLC depending on whether the additional facility of £1.3M is also part of the 51% or would require a further draw down if used.