29 February, page-8

Bergo

None of us knows the +ve cash expected timescales from HL . You are right. it is a material element of the picture.

However Atom has suggested debt equity swap as a debt reducing restructuring possibility.

Nobody has yet suggested a debt for debt swap during 2016. Nobody has suggested retail finance.
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In the 1980's in the UK the govt was keen to ensure the 100's of small building societies sector was consolidated . One of the behind the scenes moves was a wholesale corporate bond market where the bonds could only be traded weekly. UK Govt even allowed a market encouraging tax efficient component to be built in. Over $4Billion of these corporate bonds were issued. I placed a few myself.

The UK AIM mkt especially is an absolute minefield. The professional value strippers can hold shares at a price with Bots, pump dump, employ people on boards like this to spread nonsense and fear. The prof value strippers can make fundamentals almost irrelevant. There is not much which can be done when a wall of shorters come out to play. However they do need a weakness. In SGH they have a vacuum of info and high gearing. Maybe even pressure on the divy. Bank debt reduction certainly would help.

To get private wholesale or retail bonds away you need a couple of smaller banks to act as issuing houses.
Well last week the Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank was sold by NAB and is now a standalone bank.
Richard Branson's Virgin Bank? Both might leap at the chance of getting $200M bond away with a high yield by acting as retail issuing house. It is difficult to find good reliable yield if you are a retail ( retired?} investor .

No corporate financier will suggest retail capital raising. However if a company can point at reliable dull future cash flows....why not in 2017? Wholesale non traded corporate bond would be quicker.

Merger...even quicker.

mel