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AA

Do Spivvy PE Funds IPO Their Investments at Inflated Prices? – and HM Treasury Consultation UK Listings Review

Post Date: November 24, 2020
The AA 86% share price decline, coming on top of the Saga and Aston Martin makes me wonder if PE firms and others are exploiting those retail investors willing to buy into a fashionable story. I have to admit to losing money on Saga, whose share price is down 90% from its 2016 high. My mother-in-law was a huge fan of Saga and she gave me a present of Saga membership when I was 50, so when they were floated, I and ...
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Daily Mail, 24 Nov 2020, Roadside Recovery Firm AA Banks on £218m Private Equity Rescue

Post Date: November 24, 2020
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8979017/AA-banking-218m-private-equity-rescue.html quotes ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight who questions whether PE funds opportunistically sell their assets at inflated prices: Cliff Weight, director of small shareholders campaign group ShareSoc, said the AA's performance would raise further questions about private equity-backed floats in future. He said: 'In 2014 the private equity firms decided that they were better off selling the AA rather than holding on to it, after loading it up with almost £3bn in debts. It was floated with all the encouragement of the financial services ...
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Brands Have Limits – Saga and AA

Post Date: April 12, 2019
I have written before about the merits of strong brands. This is a paragraph from my new book soon to be published (entitled “Business Perspective Investing”): “Trade marks help customers to identify with the product, and make it easier for them to select the product on a new purchase. Brands are particularly effective when there is actually little difference between competitors’ products - for example, lager beer, gin or washing powder. Brands are exceedingly valuable if well maintained. Coca-Cola is a ...
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