AA

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

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 ...

Daily Mail, 24 Nov 2020, Roadside Recovery Firm AA Banks on £218m Private Equity Rescue

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 ...

Brands Have Limits – Saga and AA

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 ...

Departures – AA and Blur

Yesterday was the start of many people’s holidays. But two company chief executives are going to be taking longer holidays than they expected. The Executive Chairman of the AA Plc (AA.) Bob Mackenzie has gone. The announcement from the company said he “has been removed by the board….for gross misconduct, with immediate effect”. According to press reports, this arose from a fracas in a bar, although there is also a suggestion that he may be suffering from a mental illness. Some newspapers ...