focusIR May 2024 Investor Webinar: Blue Whale, Kavango, Taseko Mines & CQS Natural Resources. Catch up with the webinar here.
Yesterday morning the S4 share price hit an high of 62.95p +8.45p, share price closed today @53.05p -9.90p 17.07%
I was considering adding to my investment in S4, but with this market I don't think I will bother, just cannot trust this market. The share price could be back to 40p with the way this is being played. Not sure how the market can justify this 17% swing within this short time frame, with no company news. Disgusting.
GoCPI, I agree, I've been saying this for over 2 years. I even emailed SMS to ask why not have a Nasdaq listing, his reply was it's not an easy thing to do. Well plenty of other companies are managing to do it.
Auson, I've thought that for months now. Our two largest shareholders USA funds Franklin Resources & Third Avenue Management as you know have been acquiring over the past 14 month and hold approximately 14% - 15% of the company. I believe that there's a good reason why they were happy to pay much higher purchase prices than we currently stand at today. Time will tell.
I think that Stagwell would have to offer at least a 50% - 50% joint merger valuing S4 at £1.5bln or 257p per share, maybe that would appeal making the combined company much larger and give S4 a USA listing. Although, according to the March 22 WSJ report Sorrell rebuffed Stagwell's offers so far because they undervalued the company and he didn’t view Stagwell as a good strategic fit with his firm. Don't rule out private equity firm New Mountain who also have been showing interest according to the WSJ report.
"The first approach was rebuffed and Penn is understood to have made a series of sequentially lower offers for his British rival, with the last worth around $700 million, as the UK-listed S4’s share price fell. S4’s stock is down around 55 per cent since this time last year and the business has a market value of around £365 million.
Sorrell has described the offers as not “credible” but those familiar with the matter say Penn, 70, is serious."
Full article The Times ...... https://archive.is/LgGCE#selection-2725.0-2729.112
At the Q1 results webcast Sir Martin was asked about M&A, he said that he knows that P/E has plenty of dry powder. I think that most of us are in agreement that S4 Capital is undervalued and we expect that the the share price will recover over the next few years if ad market conditions recover, S4 should be well placed. The question is will we get that chance, or will someone take S4 Capital out. The one good thing on our side is that SMS holds a golden share, he won't let S4 go cheaply. £3 per share at least, would be my stab in the dark. Jam today, or jam tomorrow.
Brokerages Jefferies and Liberum cut their price targets on SFOR; Peel Hunt analysts say S4's AI efforts "will be a major advantage as client spend improves"
https://www.xm.com/research/markets/allNews/reuters/uks-s4-capital-inches-higher-after-mixed-trading-update-53835372
One positive, S4 announces 6 new clients in Q1. Burger King, Panasonic, FanDuel, AliExpress, Decathlon, Santander and ICBC.
New business and AI
New business activity continues at significant levels, particularly with a focus on personalisation at scale. New business wins in the first quarter include Burger King, Panasonic, FanDuel, AliExpress, Decathlon, Santander and ICBC. In addition, the Company continues to capitalise on its strong AI positioning winning multiple exploratory assignments as clients experiment and explore applications and develop use cases. These are currently focussed on visualisation and copywriting, personalisation at scale and general client and agency efficiency. Developments around media planning and buying and democratisation of knowledge are starting to build.
Interesting S4 Capital Q1 results presentation....... One analysts asked the question regarding future M&A in the sector going forward. Sir Martin's replay said that lower interest rates would help and that he knows that private equity has plenty of dry powder. Watch this space.
On 22/3/2024 it was reported in the Wall Street Journal (link enclosed below) that S4 Capital had received several merger offers from Stagwell, one offer worth almost $700m 96p per share. It was also reported that new York private equity firm Mountain Capital held exploratory talks with S4 last year about a possible acquisition.
https://archive.is/xIgUA