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Mid price on this website is rubbish. I did dummy buy at 17p. If sell is 16.1p, mid is 16.55p.

The two directors who are getting options must be the ones regarded as the company’s key executives from now on.

They are exercisable from 2024: I’m guessing from this that JW and the other PDMR’s who’ve not been included in the current grant do not expect to be around in 2024 to exercise them.

The balance of the options (875k – 450k = 425k) must have been given to employees, including the new FD presumably, who is not yet a director. I accept that the employees need incentivising. However if a takeover occurred in the near future, they couldn't expect to receive very much from the bidder in respect of forfeited options, in view of the limited time for which they'll have grafted.

I agree dc2_ that we need some good news - something more than just a repeat of "more than 254,000 connections", which tells us nothing. Maybe they've been holding back good news until after the option grant. One can only hope...

With the previous grant in July 20, there was a condition that the SP must exceed 50p at the time of exercise. There is no such condition this time, even though the SP is still languishing at rock bottom levels. So have they given up on 50p even?

Existing shareholders (including ML presumably) will not be happy, to put it mildly.

Trak has already, of course, attracted interest, in the form of ML's just over 20% holding, and this may have discouraged interest from others.

As for JF, on the face of it, with his leaving, Trak is not about to shoot the lights out as a standalone company. But that’s not necessarily the case, because there are all sorts of reasons why people move on (personal, chemistry, etc) that we won’t necessarily be told about.

If true though, this would make a takeover more likely, but at a lower price than the 100p+ we’ve been talking about. And I still think that his departure could be connected with the prospect of a takeover, and the fact that of the two FD's, he'd be the one to lose out.

Despite having left, JF can still profit from his 600k shares if the Trak SP recovers, so hopefully he won’t be selling any time soon while the SP is so depressed (but, as dc2_ implies, we’ll only find out if he does while he remains a director).

...mid-July, ie this week.

There is nothing in Trak’s accounts concerning what would happen to outstanding share options in the event of a takeover. So it certainly looks like the base position is that awards would not vest early, ie they’d be lost.

If they were to be honoured, it would obviously dilute existing shareholders, which the company could not do unilaterally. However, I suppose a proposal to allow early vesting, in full or in part, could be incorporated within any takeover offer, on which Trak’s shareholders will ultimately have the final say.

In a way, the fact they are recruiting from within increases the chances of a takeover, since it would be difficult to sell what would be a short-lived job to an outsider.

Also, if a takeover is on the horizon, Furber has nothing to gain financially by staying: he'll get paid out for his 600k shares whether he stays or leaves, and would probably lose his 700k options (exercisable at 32.5p if SP >50p) even if he stayed.

Not sure what to read into "private equity back business", except that they don't proof-read their RNSs!

"so long as they manage their business well". Very true. Before Covid came to the rescue, to be honest they were floundering. The jury's now out on whether management has the ability to capitalise to the max on their "lockdown luck" as we get back to (relative) normality.

Yes, but it's the market that took it to £4.30, or £4.40 in fact, in the first place, before taking it down by as much as 15% at one point today. So the market can't make up its mind - partly due to continuing Covid-related uncertainties.

They do love these meaningless headlines!

HFD certainly seems to be out of favour at the moment - down by an astonishing 12% in a matter of days. I don't know what reasons Panmure gave for their cut to "hold", but I still think the likely relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel is a factor. The current negative publicity on electric scooters may also be weighing on the shares. That's apart from the supply issues the company has already flagged up.

No let-up in activity by ML on the Companies House website, so it certainly looks like their IPO is getting close…

Whether there’ll be a subsequent takeover of Trakm8, remains to be seen.

Trakm8 would, of course, need the approval of its shareholders, however I don’t think ML would necessarily need the approval of its own shareholders: relevant factors might be, for example, the type of listing (AIM or Main, premium or standard); any provision in ML’s constitution concerning the directors’ power to issue shares; the number of shares issued; the value of Trakm8 relative to the value of ML…

But I’m sure that even if shareholder approval were required, ML would be able to demonstrate that the takeover would be earnings-enhancing, hence not difficult to “sell” to its shareholders. If Raza believes it’s in ML’s interest, he would find a way…

By the way, Raza already owns shares in Trakm8 personally, so as part of any takeover ML would be acquiring Trakm8 shares directly from him (as a director of ML), which certainly would be a transaction requiring ML shareholders’ approval. But I can't imagine this getting in the way...

Drop could be a reaction to the prospect of a relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel.

FWIW, group a/c's for y/e June 20 now filed.

Turnover c£50m, gross profit 55%. But high admin costs created a loss before tax of c£4m, so even ML is not immune!

Investment in Trakm8 was, as expected, written down by £0.6m, from its £2.2m cost.

I imagine they've made a decent profit for the year just gone, otherwise they wouldn't be in a position to consider an IPO.

ML are now late filing their 2020 accounts. Presumably they're not bothered about paying a late filing penalty.

"And, why no update on the number of connections". I thought that too.

RNS is clear. HL often get it wrong.

No PDMR buying in the past year. If they've been in discussions for most of that time, that would be a reason.

Microlise Group Holdings Ltd - the top company in the group these days.

More docs filed today by ML: definitely looks like the IPO is on.

Of course, Trak may or may not be affected. But once ML has tradeable shares, this does at least open the way for an offer of shares rather than cash, which would be more attractive to many Trak shareholders - assuming the takeover offer is a good one! - because instead of paying CGT, any gain would be rolled over into the base cost of ML shares.