Agree Mont, a takeover would have to be past 20 cents for starters, just based on the major shareholders re-entry point at the last capital raising. Remember Dr. Gray's performance? I doubt he would succumb to a cheaper offer.
I was thinking more of a compulsory privatisation (often called a "selective capital return") along the lines done recently by several small, thinly traded companies (Vantage Gold is an example - almost exactly the same circumstances as TIG). The major shareholders would have to agree to hold their shares in a private company and compulsorily acquire all other shares held by individuals with parcels below a certain threshold (say, less than 5%). The "attraction" for this sort of deal is often that the shares are ill-liquid and this is the only way for small shareholders to realise their holdings.
Paul Little is a very astute investor. His track record as founder and CEO of Toll Holdings is testimony to his great ability to build a business through acquisitions. Since his departure from Toll, he has replicated the same model in other industries, particularly real estate. It just occurred to me that with a substantial holding and with the agreement from other major investors, he might want to privatise the company. It is effectively that anyway when it is untraded for weeks at a time, with no sellers and no buyers.
Of course, he may just be judging the company to be massively undervalued and is taking the opportunity to load up big time for the long term. What would I know? I'm only guessing. Perhaps his companies have a year end of December 31 and he already had these holdings in several other Little controlled companies with taxable profits - an off market transfer to another Little company at a paper loss would be advantageous in this case. (This looks possible given there is no notice yet saying who the substantial shareholder was that sold to him.)
Re his involvement in Tiger - yes, he is close to the key players. At one stage, I remember he stumped up a loan for working capital to ensure the company got through a tight period before a capital raising (the last one at 20 cents, I think?). You don't do that without being a great supporter. He is involved with the parent company Tiger Resources (?) too, and that is probably where his weight lies most. Pretty sure he and (another Essendon man) Owen Hegarty, and other key players, are well aligned on our Tiger cub. This is my understanding from speaking with others who would be closer to the company than I ever will be, so I'm just repeating what I have heard, not vouching for the complete accuracy of the relationship.
Sorry to ramble Mont - just pumping out my thoughts. I hope this is all good news for TIG and it's near term future.
TIG Price at posting:
3.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
