Stagecoach Group (SGC)

[Wizard]

https://www.ft.com/content/92bcd8d0-5b5 ... 1f5ada9d40

Stagecoach Group has been disqualified from three UK rail franchise competitions because it submitted bids that did not comply with the rules, particularly as regards to pensions, the UK bus and rail company said.

[PinkDalek]

For those without an FT subscription:

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exc ... 35147.html

Which includes:

We are extremely concerned at both the DfT's decision and its timing. The Department has had full knowledge of these bids for a lengthy period and we are seeking an urgent meeting to discuss our significant concerns

[idpickering]

Legal action against DfT on West Coast Partnership

Stagecoach Group plc ("Stagecoach" or "the Company") confirms that along with partners SNCF and Virgin it has commenced legal action against the Department for Transport ("DfT") in connection with the procurement of the West Coast Partnership franchise.

A claim has been issued at the High Court in London under Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules (a "Part 7 claim") together with a judicial review claim. The claim alleges that the Department for Transport breached its statutory duties under the relevant provisions of Regulation 1370/2007[1]and the relevant principles of EU and English law, in connection with the procurement of the ongoing competition for the franchise.

https://www.investegate.co.uk/stagecoac ... 00030526A/

[Wizard]

Further to the recent announcement by Stagecoach, the Board of National Express, the international and diversified public transport operator, confirms that it is in discussions with Stagecoach, the largest UK bus operator, in relation to a possible all-share combination (the "Potential Combination" to form the "Combined Group").
Under the terms of the Potential Combination, it is expected that Stagecoach shareholders would receive 0.36 new National Express ordinary shares for each Stagecoach ordinary share, resulting in them owning approximately 25 per cent. of the Combined Group.
The Boards of National Express and Stagecoach believe that the Potential Combination would be a strategically compelling proposition with significant growth and cost synergies, as well as delivering strong value creation for both sets of shareholders.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/new ... r/15142393

[tjh290633]

I am surprised. I would have thought that Stagecoach was at least as big as National Express. I must confess that I have not been studying their accounts, but in terms of bus operations, SGC have a bigger footprint in the country than NEX. Perhaps not so dense, thinking of the West Midlands and Scottish municipal operations of NEX.

TJH

[pje16]

Stagecoach takeover by Inframobility UK Bidco
The offer price is 1.05
There are two options
Accept or do nothing
The corporate action document says

"Upon becoming the holder of 75% of Stagecoach Group, Inframobility UK Bidco Ltd intends to apply for the cancellation of Stagecoach Group plc shares from trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Upon becoming the holder of 90% of Stagecoach Group shares, Inframobility UK Bidco Ltd intends to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares."

DAK know if that price will be 1.05 or is that the risk you take by not accepting

[Bouleversee]

Stagecoach takeover by Inframobility UK Bidco
The offer price is 1.05
There are two options
Accept or do nothing
The corporate action document says

"Upon becoming the holder of 75% of Stagecoach Group, Inframobility UK Bidco Ltd intends to apply for the cancellation of Stagecoach Group plc shares from trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Upon becoming the holder of 90% of Stagecoach Group shares, Inframobility UK Bidco Ltd intends to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares."

DAK know if that price will be 1.05 or is that the risk you take by not accepting

If they get the required no. of acceptances and there is compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares, the price will still be £1.05. I have just heard from IWeb (this was the first I had heard from them about any takeover) that I have to let them know whether I want to accept before May 15. Have you read the announcement on the Stagecoach website? There is something a little strange about it. A TMF article suggested it was "a cheap deal" and there might possibly be a higher offer forthcoming but I think it is a bit late for that and unlikely in view of possible monopoly issues. I suppose it is just possible that institutions think the offer price undervalues the company and vote against but it is always difficult to know whether to throw in the towel or hang on till after the deadline which may mean you have to wait a little longer for your money. There is also the option of selling in the market if you want your cash quickly. I haven't decided what to do myself yet; whatever I decide will be wrong!

[SPURLEY]

Hello Bouleversee I see on the latest announcement on the Stagecoach site that the company wanting to buy the shares has lowered its criteria from 75% to now 50% + 1 share . I bought shares in Stagecoach more than 20 years ago -- I only bought 1000 , but I bought them for the dividend , which have over the years paid me my money back . They had a special dividend payment years ago and my holding reduced to 508 , so now the value is tiny really , so I don`t really care what happens . I have not as yet filled in the paperwork to send off the certificates . I bought share in National Express about 5 years ago --- for the dividend -- which was a good payer until Covid came along . I am keeping them hoping for a restart of dividends . I think I will wait another week and then send off my certificates to sell them to the US buyer . Robert

[pje16]

IN BRIEF: National Express refuses to raise offer for peer Stagecoach

Stagecoach Group PLC - Perth, Scotland-based transport provider - National Express Group PLC confirms it will not raise the takeover offer for public transport peer Stagecoach that it made back in March. National Express says it believes its all-share combination with Stagecoach remains the better deal for Stagecoach shareholders, after being spurned for a cash offer from a fund managed by DWS Infrastructure. National Express notes its offer of a 0.36-times share exchange ratio currently values each Stagecoach share at 90 pence, which is below the DWS offer of 105p in cash. However, when including synergies, this rises to about 113p, a 7.6% premium. "National Express therefore considers the terms of its proposal to be full and fair and has decided that the terms will not be increased and are now final," it says.

https://www.ii.co.uk/secure/my-news-fee ... 5790318500
Login required

[pje16]

Stagecoach Group PLC - Perth, Scotland-based transport provider - Says that its shares will be cancelled on June 27. This comes after Inframobility UK Bidco Ltd, a company indirectly wholly-owned Pan-European Infrastructure III SCSp, acquired 82% of the company's share capital.

Current stock price: 104.90 pence
12-month change: up 18%

Source:
https://www.ii.co.uk/secure/my-news-fee ... 1771151200
(login required)

[pje16]

I have just receved my cash for the takeover
and the shares have been removed from my holding at II
Did I miss something as the last date I was aware of was 27 June

[Bouleversee]

I have just receved my cash for the takeover
and the shares have been removed from my holding at II
Did I miss something as the last date I was aware of was 27 June

I am surprised you have received the cash already. I don't seem to have received any cash for my Iweb ISA shares or the certificated ones I hold. This is what IWeb says under corporate action history: " Please be aware that should you choose to accept the Offer, your entitlement will not be released until the Offer has been declared unconditional in all respects, as stipulated in the Takeover Code. Once the Offer has been declared unconditional in all respects, payment is expected to be no sooner than 10 working days following the date of such announcement or our advice date, whichever is the later. You can monitor the progress of the Offer's acceptances through any regulatory news provider. However, we will notify you once your entitlement has been credited to your account. They also say that should you accept the offer, Stagecoach will be removed from your account after their advice date and will not be available for you to sell. I did accept the offer for my IWeb holding but I don't seem to have had any communication re my certificate shares after the letter of l4 December 2021 re the National Express Offer.

If ii has had the dosh and distributed it to shareholders, I wonder why IWeb have not. Perhaps you accepted as soon as the offer was made. I hung on till it looked certain it would go ahead.

I have to say that I find it unsatisfactory that it is wiped from the portfolio before the cash is received and that Corporate Action shows zero. IMO it shouldn't be consigned to history until the whole deal is completed and I have had the cash. The same goes for other CAs in process at the moment. It still has a value, even if not paid out yet, and I think it should be shown on the portfolio even if with an asterisk to a footnote with an explanation or in a separate list of such at the end. As it is, it could cause confusion to executors or just make it difficult for those oldies like me with poor memories.

[SPURLEY]

I sent my certificates off to sell them at for the offer and they received them on the 14 th of May . I emailed them the other day to ask when I would by sent a cheque and the reply was "The offer was due to close on the 21st May at 1pm , however this has now been extended until further notice . Once the offer is closed and the acceptances have been collated , the relevant department will be in contact with you separately ". Link Registrars .

[Bouleversee]

I've just had an interesting if rather strange conversation with someone from the Link Corporate Action team. She asked me whether my shares were with them and I said they were with me, in my share cert. file, but since they were the registrars surely they had to send details and acceptance forms re offers to all holders. Apparently not, according to her, if you have bought them through a broker. Anyway she looked up my address and found it and is now going to send me an acceptance form which I should complete and return immediately. It will probably take a week to arrive in view of the bank holiday. I was surprised to find anyone at Link working after 5 p.m. I wonder if the acceptance date has been extended because Link has failed to send details and forms to many shareholders. The share cert. I hold is dated 10.10.11, issued by Capita Registrars after a consolidation.

PJE will be interested to know that she said that nobody has received any cash for the shares as yet and it is not yet wholly unconditional but in the unlikely event that a higher offer was received, I would still get that .

[pje16]

I don't she knows what she is talking about
On the offer form I got from Interactive Investor it said the election had to be made by 17 May (a few days before this deadline)
https://www.businesstravelnewseurope.co ... over-offer
How can she say "no-one has received their cash", I can assure you I have
PS the offer IS unconditional
https://scottishfinancialreview.com/202 ... -bid-wins/

[Bouleversee]

I agree with you PJE. Par for the course when dealing with any company/organisation these days. I started off by telling her that somebody had already had their money and asking why I had heard nothing from them.

Stagecoach has been a lousy investment so far as I am concerned.

[pje16]

OK thank you Bouleversee
I bought mine years ago (2011) when they were 90p
hindsight says sell them in 2013 or 2014 when they were over £3
hey ho

[bungeejumper]

OK thank you Bouleversee
I bought mine years ago (2011) when they were 90p
hindsight says sell them in 2013 or 2014 when they were over £3
hey ho

Ooof, hard luck, it was the only ten bagger I've ever had. I bought mine in 2003 for about 40p, after SGC's share price had been outrageously oversold because of its withdrawal from Hong Kong. Sold at nearly 400p in 2015. And the divis were pretty good throughout.

The problem was that you had to be prepared to put up with Brian Souter, who was quite a controversial figure because of his views. Rather than get myself into a libel suit, I'll point you toward his Wikipedia biog. The problem with being a hard-man hard-business genius is that there's nobody behind you when you've screwed up.

BJ

[tjh290633]

OK thank you Bouleversee
I bought mine years ago (2011) when they were 90p
hindsight says sell them in 2013 or 2014 when they were over £3
hey ho

Interesting. I bought in 1999 at 208p. Took up the open offer at 154p, then bought more at 96p, 64p, 59p and 34p, that last in Jan 2003. Sold 20% in Sep 2003 at 76p when overweight. In 2004 we had an issue of B-shares and a consolidation at 87p. Sold another 20% in December 2006 at 152p. In May 2007 we had a C-share issue and consolidation at 179p, and the yield was falling below 2%, to 1.65%, so I finally sold in March 2008 at 258p.

My IRR was 22.3%, and I have kept an eye on them, but they never got back to a range where I might have considered buying back into them.

TJH