Member Info for portswigger

It should be remembered that all HIG have to do by Monday is notify of an intention to make an offer or not. There may be no details of any offer at all which will come further down the line if they do have the intention. As the dividend is payable on the 7th December it is in my view very unlikely it can all be completed in that timeframe. If there is an intention to make an offer I full expect it to be reduced in light of the dividend announcement.

I take the point that some think the possible offer price is to low, but ultimately as well all know , any entity is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it regardless of any valuation metric. The people who need to know, know and I think if there was any other interest they would have shown their hand by now and it's getting late in the day so its unlikely but who knows.

Emotion really should be taken out of it about what we think it's worth, could be worth or should be worth. The board and two significant shareholders with their advisers will have considered the possible offer and have will come to the conclusion that it is fair offer for the business as it stands now. I for one don't know any better and hope it comes off.

Deep.... I don't attach the slightest significance to the appointment of th new non exec. I remember reading something that

DX were going to appoint another and non execs are not limited to PLC's.. Private companies can have them so really it seems a business need regardless of what may happen to DX.

It won't make any difference regarding the HIG offer. The boards only involvement would be to recommend or not make the recommendation to shareholders. The shareholders decide !

What struck me in the figures ws the £1.6m cost in legal and advisory fees for corporate governace issue. (Exclusive of the settlement to Tuffnells) Confirmation in my view of the staggering ineptitude of the previous board who are set to very well rewarded if the HIG offer goes ahead is accepted. Mind you reward for poor performance and failure is pretty common in this country so I've grown to accept it. !!

How long is that piece of string PEng. ?

I was involved in one well over ten years ago and I can't even remember exactly how long it all took but it was months rather than weeks before we received any money. Deep's post summed it up pretty well and it takes as long as it takes.

In my view Deep it's because it is still a "possible offer". You always get the excitement and inflated SP when you hear those words. It's just settled down... if the offer is confirmed I'm sure it will rise closer to the final offer price.

It's quite obvious HIG want the business hence the rejected previous proposals. I think I would be suprised if HIG pulled out now as something substantial would have to have changed recently. The offer price if it comes could still be anywhere north of 45P

Yes of course e-mail. As there have been a number of rejected proposals they should be pretty famliar with the financials and I'm sure they will have had the proposed finals before they are officially published. I'm not sure they get to know more.. they just have the opportunity to get earlier access, ask questions and drill down when we don't really.

I can't imagine HIG and their advisers are sat in a boardroom at DX HQ doing their DD while the hustle and bustle of running a logistics operation is going on around them.

In my opinion I think HIG probably know if they are going to go ahead with offer. If they are they are probably negotiating with DX about the detail and amount of the proposed offer and the effect of a dividend. It's just the timing of the announcement of that or when the markets are informed if they have decided not to proceed with the offer.

The results for year ending July 23 are due to be published in early October. It will be interesting if these are published before or after October 9th which I think is when HIG have to declare if they are to make a formal offer unless extended.

Perhaps HIG would want to go through the published final accounts before confirming an offer or pulling out.

HIG have already stated that they reserve the right to reduce the offer if DX announce a dividend.

It's a disclosure of the current positions and remaining share options outstanding. if the offer is confirmed and accepted they will all be amply rewarded. I'm not convinced anyone else is in for them...I think we would have heard whispers and I don't think the share price would be where it is. But I may be wrong and there's still time !

I think you raise a fair point sister. Presumably if this latest "possible offer" wasn't accepted by the board, Gatemore etc we wouldn't have known about it. I'm not 100% on reporting guidelines but it does seem a bit strange. The only reason I can think of is that they didn't want rumour in the marketplace which would have driven the SP up which certainly wouldn't have benefited HIG. It all seems very cosy !. Good Luck. Ports. !

Both letters of acceptance have been posted on the relevant website as per RNS and they are worth a read. Interesting that Hargreave Hale have not declared their intention so far when Lloyd and Gatemores reaction to the possible offer was lightening quick. I'm beginning to think that no-one else is currently in for them. Negotiations with TIG must have been going on for months and the board must be happy with the overall proposal. If there was someone else in the picture I don't think they would have been so keen to accept this promptly. I may be wrong and that doesn't mean another competive offer won't come in but negotiations take time before offers are made.

No-one can force you to sell your shares Deep. It's only the terms of the process or the courts I believe that can do that.

If the possible offer comes and that's all it is, alot will depend on the detail. The final offer could be anything and it's my understanding Gatemore and lloyd will accept 45p and above. If the offer doesn't materialise the SP will probably drop back to mid 30 levels in my opinion if no-one else is around. That's not a risk I would take but each to their own.

That's a fair point PS65. In hindsight I should have mentioned all considerations. But I have always said that DX and recent weeks before the offer that the financial postion was relatively heatlhy. I never said that financially DX was badly managed and I never meant to infer it, infact it's managed pretty well in my view.Perhaps my wording was incorrect and lacked clarity and for that I apologise to all. Personally I do think liabilities are on the high side relatively all things considered but that's just my view. I just responded to Stemis point that liabilities are not relevant to a valuation.

Stemis... With all due respect are you seriously trying to tell me that a company's liabilities are not relevant to its valuation?

Why is it not relevant.?If liabilities are greater than assets then it is a sign of financial stress and the business may not be able to pay its creditors. If you were buying a business and considering an offer, are you telling me you wouldn't think its liability position was relevant ?

I have a different view on your final paragraph. We have no idea what HIC plan to do with the business. We know they see value that is why they have made an offer but they may plan to sell bits off. who knows.. But Is it relevant?

Do you really think seasoned succesful investment professionsals at Gatemore et al and Lloyd "can't see the value in front of their noses" ! and considered DX's potential before accepting the offer... Ofcourse they have. I've seen posters in various forums thinking the offer should be 60p plus, 75P or even a £1....based on primarily a PI's desire for more money. A business can be worth anything in the future... what matters here is what it's worth now.! I see posts all over chatboards from Pi's who own 0.0001% of the business who think they know better than seasoned investment professionals who do it for a living day after day or CEO's and think they can see value professionals can't. I'm not saying its true in your case and I certainly don't.

We can all sell our shares whenever we want, people sell for a variety of reasons. We don't know what the II's motivations may be to accept the offer but they obviously think it is an offer worth accepting.

Tuffnells demise isn't the game changer, its only a net gain of 8 depots. DX have said it will take 18 months to optimise and a margin of 10% is achievable only when everything comes together. Projections aren't that startling. If there is value that we are all missing that I'm sure there will be others prepared to make a higher offer...lets see.!

Yep, I'm not in the same league as them... certainly as regards shareholding. What Lloyd, Gatemore et al make is of no concern to me. We have a different opinion as regards value but it's no problem. DX have 100m in liabilities and that's only increasing now they have Tuffnells infrastructure to bring on board etc. As a turnaround play DX attracted me... as a growth stock it doesn't but I fully appreciate others a have different opinion. If the offer comes we can all vote the way we want. !

Confirmation from HIC today with confirmed support from Lloyd and Gatemore. Full of the usual garb but they obviously feel 45p+ is fair value at this point as I do. Some think it falls short but I am in the camp that takes the known rather than putting faith in the unknown.

Well wouldn't 60p be nice e-mail. A take over premium of 65% or so as against the proposed 34% give or take. To achieve that it's a bidding war and I can't see it. I'm intigued by the series of proposals from HIC that have been rejected which suggests discussions have been going on for some time. Personally I already think the large shareholders will have known that HIC have been circling and will have made it known where they see a valuation they would accept. It's potentially an all cash offer which is advantageous to shareholders.It's a welcomed approach at the moment and it's unlilkey HIC would proceed with due dilligence or make an offer if they didn't think the institutional shareholders were on side.

Yep. I understand the philosphical point but I'm long past caring about PE motivations. They do what they do.

I have no idea what I'll do with money from DX if it comes off. It all depends on what's going on at the time. But I won't be investing in companies that aren't making money, paying a dividend or can't service their debt comfortablity or have sufficient assets to cover liabilities.

Infact if there are no other bidders for DX I may even sell if it reaches a level close to 48P before an offer is even made. A loss of 1p to 1.5p or even 2p from 48.5p makes no real difference when the SP is passed my exit point already and it covers me if HIC withdraw at the death. There's alot of watching to be done in the next few weeks !

I'm not sure what HIG have to bring to the table Ragnarlothbrok. Do we need to be concerned what they bring to the table.It's not about what they bring to DX, it's about our return on our investment and that's a decision for every shareholder. They may be offering 48.5p a share which I think is a very fair price for the business with 100m in liabilities all things considered. The board aren't stupid they will have taken financial advice where necessary. In a best case scenario it may be undervaluing the business but who works on best case scenarios.?.Is the offer in the best interests of shareholders at this moment in time. If the offer is formalised I would be very suprised if it was rejected. An offer may not come again and then we are left hoping another bidder comes in because that is the only thing that mover share prices this much. Something about gift horses and mouths. !

We should remember that this is not a firm offer just a possible offer and we should hope that a formal offer is made after due dilligence presumably. If there has been prior conversations between HIG and DX then HIG have been cirling for a while and then they really should be close to knowing all they need to know. The demise of Tuffnells and the potential benefits to DX has sped many things up including this offer in my view and against the economic uncertainty we face and DX's projections over the next couple of years I would be biting their hand off.

The board are minded to recommend the offer and I for one agree. Interesting that there were a series of prior proposals that we know nothing about. The interesting thing is if this flushes out any other potential suitors and wouldn't we like that.Good news for DX shareholders and if this had it 40p for any other reason today I would have sold. But looks like I'll remain seated till October. !

Deep... Updated shareholder list on DX website... shareholder section.

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