A takeover bid for Group NBT was announced this morning – a cash offer of 550p per share from Hg Capital. On a quick analysis it does not look particularly attractive – a prospective p/e of 15 and 2 times revenue for what is a high growth company in a hot sector. Talking to the chief executive, it seems the bid came out of the blue and they did not shop around for alternative offers. I suspect a full research of the market for such companies might have found a higher bidder. That might still be possible as a lot of the shareholder commitments to the deal can be cancelled if another bidder comes forward. If none does, I will probably personally vote against it. It’s a fair price but insufficient bid premium in my view. Are there any other views on this?
As a shareholder in HG Capital Trust (LON:HGT) , I'd probably better not express a view, other than to say that HGT doesn't tend to overpay and may spot opportunities where others don't. However, HGT's strategy is to add value by offering businesses access to its expertise and deep pockets - so NBT is likely to grow faster under HGT's wings than if it remained stand-alone and subject to the vagaries of markets and banks to access capital.
Strange that HGT haven't made an announcement, so far - but I guess they won't until/unless a deal has been concluded, so thanks for highlighting Roger.
Best,
Mark
