Member Info for Skindle

This time with the Trent 1000 Ten over at Singapore Airlines. As you appear to be living under the boardroom table at RR Arsenal 17, I’m disappointed you didn’t report this problem to us all last week before it happened. I can never get ahead of this type of information being released by just reading the papers.

I am delighted to note that Schroders will be rejecting the Sports Direct mandatory offer. Excellent news.

Sports Direct have already made a mandatory bid for Findel. The difference here is we are now a strong profitable business. The SPD offer significantly under values our business and is entirely unwelcome. Findel shareholders have until next Tuesday 9th April to accept or reject this derisory offer. Not much else to discuss really.

Debenhams shareholders will come to discover that dining with the devil can have serious consequences on the value of their investments.

That’s a relief, our own broker. Phew !

I really hope the buyer wasn’t Sports Direct Columbo.

Assuming the buyer is the same for both transactions, one million shares is equivalent to 1.15%. Any holder above 1% during this offer period is obliged to report their position I believe. I find it frustrating that the purchase of one million shares does not move the share price but selling 58 shares pushes the price down !!

Two 500,000 share trades today at 161 pence. Has someone finally recognised our extraordinary value ?

Isn’t it ironic that over at Debenhams both the board and shareholders are desperate for Sports Direct to make a firm offer for the business while here at Findel both the board of directors and the majority of shareholders wish he had never invested in our business in the first place. Mr Ashley today stated that the advisors to Debenhams “should be jailed”. The pot calling the kettle black comes to mind. Mr Ashley is blatantly trying to wrestle our business away from us for as much as fifty per cent below its true value. He has no interest In anyone or anything except his own self gain. Please God forbid our larger shareholders from accepting this insulting offer.

That is a very positive rejection of the Sports Direct offer. Although mention was made of the Toscafund sale, no reason was given as to why. I am quite concerned that we have now presented an excellent half year report, a strong third quarter update and now this firm rejection of the offer and the share price has not moved. What will it take to get the share price moving back in the right direction ?

Meanwhile at Sports Direct, they are in danger of losing their entire investment in Debenhams and Goals Soccer Centres have suspended trading in their shares due to a large VAT error which will impact accounts going back a number of years. Sports Direct own 18.92% of shares in Goals.

Let’s hope that our fourteen larger holders see sense and choose to reject the Sports Direct offer.

I missed Standard Life/Aberdeen PLC from my list at 1.09% bringing the new total up to 93.5435% held by fifteen holders. We have also only had 63.663% of 23.97 pence convertible shares declared from three banks. Who owns the other 36.337%.

Legal and General - 1.45%
Norges Bank - 2.92%
K Chapman - 1.11%
Hargreave - 2.9615%
Teviot Partners - 1.07%
FIL - 8.86%
Pru/M&G. 1.20%
Ennismore - 3.16%
Schroders - 21.052%
Lombard Odier - 4.16%
Blackrock - 1.28%
Janus Henderson - 4.36%
Milton Group - 2.07%
Sports Direct - 36.8%
Total - 92.4535%

According to the 2018 annual report we had seven shareholders collectively holding 91.35 per cent of the shares. Now we have thirteen shareholders collectively holding 91.42 per cent. 1GW_ you are correct that Aberforth and River and Mercantile have both sold their holdings, as well of course as Toscafund. City and Financial bought 5,000,000 shares on the 7th December at around 192 pence. They sold 6,000,000 shares to Sports Direct on the 4th March at 161 pence. I can’t find a holdings in company announcement from City and Financial confirming their purchase of the other 1,000,000 shares.

The most effective way for our board to fend off this unwanted offer is to drive the share price to a higher level by whatever means are available to them. As far as I am aware, there is plenty of good news to come out about the 2018/19 financial year that should in normal circumstances drive the share price back up well over 200 pence. If this should happen, 63.2 per cent of shareholders will have no hesitation in rejecting the SPD offer of 161 pence. While the share price hovers around the 160 pence mark, idiots like Norges Bank may consider 161 pence to be a realistic offer.

Some larger scale investors are not always the most well informed individuals as City and Financial recently demonstrated. We have to hope Ejackson that our lot are not under the spell of Sports Direct and do as our our board have robustly advised us this morning and vote to reject such a derisory offer.

The statement by the board was immediately followed by another form 8.3 posted by Norges Bank confirming the sale of 20,000 shares at 156.19 pence ! That indicates to me that they will vote to accept the SPD offer ? Why sell at this lower figure when in three weeks time they can accept 161 pence per share.

In conclusion, Norges Bank will not be privy to any inside information about Findel so therefore they can only be completely stupid.

Never invest in any funds managed by Legal and General or Norges Bank.

Thanks 1GW_. I was trying to find logic in a totally illogical situation. That still means then that an investor in Findel is selling shares at over four pence per share below what has already been offered. Why would you do that ?

A possible explanation might be that Numis are borrowing shares from Sports Direct and making quick profits by shorting the company to push the price lower for the benefit of Sports Direct.

Continuing to acquire at under the mandatory offer price. Why would investors sell at 156 pence when they already have an offer for those same shares st 161 pence ? It just doesn’t make sense.

I cannot find a single example of shareholders benefitting from Sports Direct and/or Mr Ashley’s involvement in any business. This man really is the epitemy of the poisoned challice.

We must at all costs block this attempt by Mr Ashley and his associated companies/investors from taking place. Their sole interest is not to maximise the potential of the business but to rob shareholders of their investments.

I note the continual (share price reducing) trickle selling which I assume can only be controlled by Mr Ashley and his associates. Do not fall for the intentions that this man portrays, he is a thief who will steel your investment if he is allowed to takeover. I only hope that our board have seen sense to bar Mr Rowley from all meetings.

We are under attack and must treat our largest shareholder as our absolute enemy.

You must have been a lawyer in a previous life 1GW_. I can’t find this information even though you are telling me where to look. So thank you for your invaluable investigative work.

The movement of the share price since the half year report RNS is giving little or no cause for optimism. How much further can the price fall ? Could this fall to 150 pence or below by the month end ?