sp doesnt go up on good news, page-5

I don't see any ambiguity in the date of record as being responsible for the market's cold reaction to the 'idea' of the spin offs.
I think that it reads like a test of market ehthusiasm for the idea at best or a feel good for shareholders coming into an AGM after the co. having seemingly dropped the ball a couple of times so far in 2007. The latter is particularly prominent given Items 5 & 6 on the AGM list.
This feeling was certainly reinforced 2 days later with the ann. that 1m options were exercised.

With regard to the date of record, this passage would seem to indicate a firm decision to spin off is quite some time away:

"The Board has not yet obtained detailed legal or tax advice in relation to the proposed restructuring, and its implementation is therefore subject to:
„h satisfactory resolution of any legal and tax issues associated with the
proposal; and
„h all necessary third party and regulatory approvals, including Compass shareholder approval."