An interesting point of view and some uaseful insigjhts about Labcon's salesforce.
Yes, I agree with you that whether or not the Labcon deal fell over was a near run thing and that BCT had no real choice other then to start proceedings.
I'm a little skeptical about BCT now trying to run with its own salesforce because we've been there before and gave that idea away.
As for Saville, I also doubt whether they know any more than the rest of us. It is a small fund run by one individual. This is what they say about themselves:
"About Saville CapitalEstablished in 2016, Saville Capital is a boutique funds management business solely owned by its Principal, Jonathan Collett.Saville Capital’s investment approach is both intuitive and adaptive, drawing on the skills and experience of its Principal which have been developed during his extensive career at Goldman Sachs and Ord Minnett spent researching and analysing listed companies across a broad range of sectors.
Saville Capital is a boutique funds management business specialising in small cap industrial companies.Saville Capital’s Principal, Jonathan Collett, owns 100% of the business and is fully invested in the Emerging Companies Fund. This creates alignment with the Fund’s clients, but more importantly reflects his commitment to and belief in the investment strategy."
A nd this is what they said in their monthly Report on one of their funds:
"BCT announced that Labcon North America has provided notice purporting to terminate the chip supply agreement it has with BCT. As a result, BCT is now seeking recovery from Labcon of an outstanding balance of US$3.5m, which it considers immediately due and payable. While this is a disappointing development, we are not yet convinced this is necessarily the end of BCT’s relationship with Labcon (time will tell). Regardless, BCT continues to engage with other OEM partners and end customers (including in the IVF space), which we hope will deliver some contracts over the coming months to help replace the contracted revenue from Labcon. Importantly, BCT still has almost $8m of cash in the bank to help fund its ongoing business activities into the foreseeable future."
So there's not a hint of special knowledge there.
FWIIW it seems likely that having taken an 8% stake in the company they used present price weakness to increase their holding. That buying pushed the share price up and brought out a number of sellers. An illusion of "business" and speculation followed. Into this process one of the directors bought 500,000 shares by accident which added to the demand.
At the same time some of the substantial shareholders, who regretted not selling shares in the high teens having seen them fall to below 5c, were only too willing to feed the demand and lighten up on their holdings.
In summary, what we have just seen is a stuff up rather than a conspiracy.
(20min delay)