JAS MBO
So our favourite funny man in the telecom industry has announced this morning that he wants to buy out all the shares in JAS at THB 7.25/share.
If you remember your corp fin 101, MBO’s are typically done for a strong cash generative business and with plenty of cash on the b/s. Now JAS doesn’t quite the criteria on these 2 points, their business is stagnant given they’ve sold off the CF’s to a fund already and they’ve gone on a sharebuyback spree in since the 4G debacle. So how does this make any sense? We have our theories but writing them publicly would definitely be considered slander..
Anyways..here are the official announcements:
Source: SET website: Intention to make a TO; Additional Explanation
Xavi
I always thought JAS would look to merge or be absorbed by AIS as they have the balance sheet and a foot in the door of the FBB business.
Quite strange seeing the DTAC being mentioned, does Telenor have the stomach for a merger given the pummelling Dtac is taking?
Pon
I doubt DTAC would
AIS – only if they desperately wanted the fiber business…
Xavi
It would accelerate AIS transition into the FBB by putting them as a major player alongside true. Maybe if the price is right, AIS did save Pete’s skin by buying his unpaid 900mhz license, but then again the soap opera goes on…
Jay
My first thought reading about this was how this could become the next SSI for SCB…
Clearly Pete knows something the rest of us don’t!
Xavi
If Pete was smart he would have started accumulating JAS when it was much cheaper than what it is now…
Pon
What makes you think he hasn’t…just saying…
xavi
Well if he has been buying, he hasn’t declared it to the SEC which would be another in a long list of fishy practices for Khun Pete. I own JAS shares so track the management trades section daily. I think it is almost time to cash out but a part of me wants to hold off in case market delirium pushes JAS north of 9 baht, just like BAY a couple years ago…
Jay
Last Friday he bought a ton of JAS and JAS-W1, saw the official numbers on my management trades feed.
xavi
Yes Jay, but the average buying price is pretty much equal to his tender offer price which renders it kind of moot from a value perspective.
I was refering to the 4 months prior to this when the shares were hovering between 3.5 and 6.5 baht a share.
Jay
He’s been buying now and again but not in any serious volume.
Xavi
A quick search of the official SEC records shows he hasn’t bought any shares in the last 3 years excluding the 2 big lots this month. In fact he has taken a huge loss so to speak by buying back the warrants he sold last year at almost 3 times what he sold it for.
I don’t understand how any bank could back him given his business sense.
Jay
Did you check warrant purchases?
xavi
As was alluded to in my previous comment, the records shows significant selling of warrants last year and no buys by Pete…So he has taken a huge loss on the buyback this month. The records goes back to 2014 so I can’t speak for before this time.
Maybe he got one of his stooges to buy on his behalf but then that is pure speculation..
Xavi
Then again, he may prove me wrong by selling JAS to the likes of DTAC or AIS at a significant premium. Prove me wrong Pete, prove me wrong…
Jay
DTAC already announced they are not interested in a deal with JAS. I haven’t seen anything regarding AIS so far.
xavi
Christ Jay, I thought you would have more sense than to take what DTAC PR says at face value. Even their CEO came out and said they are exploring other avenues of growth perhaps foreshadowing a future deal with JAS?
Jay
Yes in Myanmar and beyond, it’s well known that DTAC no longer wants to invest in maintaining their market share in Thailand.
Calm down mate, you need to accept that logic has little bearing on Thai investment decisions. These things happen through conversations at golf clubs and massage parlours, not board meetings or research.
In other news, Pete is being investigated by the SET about this tender offer nonsense.
Pon
love the banter!