From this morning in The Australian... ECX

If it wasn't for Trump opening his big fat mouth about Tariffs for China, this could have hit $1.20 this morning on the open with this speculation.

"Eclipx CFO exit spurs private equity speculation

Mr McLennan’s departure was announced by Eclipx on April 16 in what some believe was an unusual move, given that he was considered by investors to be a capable executive and was leaving at a time that the group remained under strain.

One theory for the departure is that he may be joining with a buyout fund to acquire Eclipx.

SG Fleet will not comment on its position, but it is understood that both SG Fleet and McMillan Shakespeare take the view that acquiring the business at the current time would now be nearly impossible because of its public company obligations.

This is despite shareholders from both groups earlier being eager to see them buy the business at a cheaper price. Another factor is that no clarity yet exists on the value of the Eclipx businesses Right2Drive and Grays Online which are in the process of being sold.

In March, Eclipx told the market that its trading performance had softened since it updated the market on January 29 after an earlier profit downgrade had already caused its share price to plunge.

This was due to a continued underperformance of Grays Online and Right2Drive, along with lower than expected new car sales and increased fleet receivable provisioning.

The group, run by a number of former Flexigroup executives, were now working to improve the business that carried $283.7 million worth of net debt at March and has also seen its market value fall to $334m — almost a third of its value a year ago.

Eclipx now plans to simplify its core business to focus on fleet and commercial equipment across Australia and New Zealand, Novated leasing and new car buying and trade-in services.

Eclipx generated $78.1m of net profit after tax and amortisation for the 2018 financial year."

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/eclipx-cfo-exit-spurs-private-equity-speculation/news-story/b17a35dc92d0685c8108760e45a80953