Member Info for wolfhound

Wasn't the Ms Karen and Abula holdings declared in RNS yesterday ?

Nice spike in sp on no news and US markets closed for TG.... might a US bidder be using the closure to issue RNS ?

Yep, tells you all you need to know, sit tight and wait for Santy ??

News coming I wonder ?? ?

Thanks will do,
I suspect any big US players who might bid will hold fire til just after Thanksgiving on 26th - so come 30th we may see next big step in activity

GLA

@Stefano, I believe that was GS buying/selling as a MM in playtec, it may / may not have actually been transacted on Aristocrat behalf, but GS do need to declare they have a relationship with Aristocrats as advisor to the bid

Hi Stefan - yep that me waiting for another 20% here first b4 top up ??

Hi Stefan, as they say all is well that ends well, Ptec operates in a space that is once again hot, so i suspect 1000p is almost inevitable if a bidding war erupts, as for stocks languishing beliw value there are quite a few but they always need a catalyst, this sector has seen alot of change in terms of divestment to repositioning for future strategy, the big q- who's next ?

Yep, and with 2 potential bidders Aristocrats will have to announce a higher offer pretty soon - couldn't go to shareholder court with an offer below market - wont pass and we are currently past the 10% premium so the pledges will not be binding.... note how orchestrated the RNS releases were this am, definetly Board are working with them....

His pledged shares are very similar to the number he subscribed for, ipso facto, borrowed to fund the purchase... tells you all you need to know....... big vote of confidence

From memory he spent a similar amount a few years ago to acquire 5% to raise his holding at the time to 20%+

If I was Aristocrats I would be getting concerned as to the stake being built by the HK co-hort - now past at least 15%+ by my reckoning, if that gets up to 25% they have considerable voting powers ......making a deal v likely at a much higher premium

GLA

Or GS clerk clerk going through a slab of Stella whilst drafting RNS, lol ??

Nice tick up this morning back up to the 735p level, looks like somone is acquiring a chunk

GLA

P.S. Gopher are an asset manager, they are simply the money, behind them is likely to be the real bidder imho

What is interesting is that one of those HK folks I mentioned that hilds in excess of 10mn shares is connected to a Casino chain, read earlier posts on this BB for his name...

Gopher hold around 5%, as do TTBond their advisors, and there have been a couple of folks in HK who have also taken chunky positions of 10mn shares each

You also have SciGames who sold their lottery division for $6bn

I think we are heading for a trade auction and at 730p market seems to think so too.... and Gophwr will need to bid a good bit higher than 750p if it wants to secure it and see off Aristocrats- speculation was £3bn so that would push it up to 780p - however I am hoping 800p+ possibly 850+

May not have long to wait, nice spike up into close, I also see Psquared had reduced short from 0.67% down to 0.27%..... maybe a sign of stirrings behind the scene

Yep, and a Hao Tang just bought 9mn shares....

Gopher hold almost 5% , and TT Bond ( their advisors) hold another almost 5%

The HK connection has yo be pretty strong here..... Paul gas the betting connections and Gopher and TT Bond have the capital raising ability......

Looking positive for an increased bid , LSE will have to set out the timeframe by which they must bid... I am hoping there is a 3rd/4th bidder yet to surface

And that downside risk just got bigger for psquared with news on Gopher, who if they want Board support will need counterbid at least 10% higher so a new floor of 748p, call it 750p min, more likely 800p , and who knows who else has been sniffing around, Board are reacting to press speculation so I suspect there are others in the fray, so Board have an obligation to maximise that interest, it is unusual to get a bid before even holding the court
GLA

Hi Stefan05, the downside risk was in relation to running a naked short when it was shorted at around 717p . Th downside risk is there is a bid - say 850p + for arguement sake shorter would have a big hit ( their downside) , on the other side there is a floor of 680p , bear in mind as an agreed bid the risk of it not happening are pretty slim. So likley max upside is 37p versus a downside of possibly 133p+ ( poor odds for a trader)

Most welcome Early Retire, lets hope so, has feel of a coiled spring about it ??
GLA