Van Elle Holdings

10th Feb '17 by Edinburgh Investor

13 comments 9393 reads

This company came onto the AIM on 26 October 2016. According to their website Van Elle Holdings (LON:VANL) 'is the UK's largest ground engineering contractor. The Group offers a wide range of geotechnical techniques and services to customers in a variety of construction end markets.'

I have had my eye on this one but was waiting for it to recieve a stock rank. It now appears to have come through with a healthy rating of 80. Again looking at their website their 'vision statement' is as follows:

'To grow a financially successful ground engineering business which operates profitably and safely in multiple countries around the globe, developing a world renowned reputation for excellence in our field and consistently delivering a market leading performance.'

Sounds alright to me, according to my newbie growth screen it looks pretty good too:

Be interested to get peoples thoughts on this newcomer.

Cheers

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cafcash49

10th Feb '17

I like it too and have just made my biggest ever single purchase of a share. I think it is a good one to be in on at the beginning. Great hopes for the future.
I wish you (and me) good luck with this one. Charles

daveo_33

This company popped up on my search screen. The half year reports looks to be ok and if the expected contracts are signed hopefully this will push the share price over the 50day moving average where I might buy.

It looks promising, good luck

Ramridge

Hi bogun investor -
I did buy into this stock shortly after the IPO; Quite liked the numbers.
However I sold out in January at a much smaller profit than I was expecting to make. The company issued a trading update in December which sounded reassuring but only six weeks later in January their Half Year results showed an adjusted ptp (before IPO costs) below the comparable 2015 one, and below market expectations.
The shares took a tumble and are now some 15% above the IPO price.

Having said this, the fundamentals are still appealing and it could be a good entry point. It may well be that 2HY will make up for the slow 1HY. Personally management's credibility has taken a dent and I am unwilling to go back in.
But I do wish you good luck

Bushranger

I had this on my watchlist after it being mentioned by someone in the comments of one of Pauls reports. I really liked the company. I saw it slowly rise up to almost £1.40 but just didn't hit the buy button as I was waiting for the first trading update and reaction. As Rambridge states it droped quite a bit. Market didn't like the EPS figure?

Peter171

12th Feb '17

Having done DD and learnt more about coy's operations and price having pulled back after initial IPO excitement, decided to take small position. Only fly in the ointment is mention of potential claim of payments to previous employees. Until more known further investment on hold

Carey Blunt

I bought and then sold as the price fell back. It's interesting but too small a market cap for me making it too unpredictable. Possible too tied to the construction industry in the UK which might make it too reliant on UK economy.

hayashi22

22nd Mar '17

Wow it has just delivered a shocker -bad luck to all holders here.

Edinburgh Investor

Yeah that wasn't great, expensive lesson.

gus 1065

Not a holder here, but for those that are may just be a bit unlucky with the coincidence of what appears to be a relatively mild profit warning (delays rather than cessation of contracts and possible litigation over unpaid bonuses) and a grumpy day for the markets in general. It may be that there is a credibility issue for management given this is all so close to last October's IPO but possibly one to keep an eye on as a recovery play.

Best,

Gus.

rhomboid1

Having just read the admission documents 104 pages, it appears that the Group MD who left with immediate effect earlier this month

http://www.investegate.co.uk/van-elle-holdingsplc--vanl-/rns/directorate-change/201703060700105467Y/

..is the son in law of the founder and a commercial lawyer by training, if as seems likely it is his bonus in question as today's mystery potential liability;

http://www.investegate.co.uk/van-elle-holdingsplc--vanl-/rns/trading-update/201703220700061442A/

...then my money is on there being a well documented and likely enforceable claim. His father in law has just retired

http://www.investegate.co.uk/van-elle-holdingsplc--vanl-/rns/board-change/201612230700076723S/

and it seems it didn't take the company long to boot out the son in law, I'm very wary of buying into a business where the family vendors and current mgt may have fallen out. It might be better to wait awhile to see how this all plays out.

Rgds

snickers

23rd Mar '17

Rhomboid
I'm a holder who didn't read the admission document quite so carefully - even if I had got down into (what I will still call) the weeds (LTIPs etc) I wouldn't have got the wind up: I was, and still am, going with the bigger picture (the stock's dreaded story) of more infrastructure getting squeezed on to increasingly crowded & less favourable land, and needing increasingly elaborate foundations to keep it there. If there's some personal squabbling, or financial engineering, going on, well that's what diversification is for.

What I'm curious about is the balance of ownership in Van Elle (this situation will apply to other firms I expect): The admission doc lays out a concert party, of the Ellis family and ex directors, and the CEO, which control a very nicely judged 49.9999% of the shares immediately post-admission. The family own about half of this block. This control will tip above 50% over the next few years as various options are granted. There's a clause which says no takeover bid need be made, unless one individual goes above 30%.

Now what is the purpose of such an arrangement? If wanting to stop an outsider breaking the firm up then a concert party of 17 owning 51% seems a little unrobust. Why not 71%? The teetering just below, and then just above 50% looks nitpicking.

A firm being a family firm is generally thought to be a bonus - but only if the family are actually front-seat drivers? What is the effect on a firm of having an unhappy group of original owners, big shareholders, who see the firm run in a way of which they don't approve - a more expansive, less conservative way, one would think? Are there any examples I might ponder?

Thanks for any thoughts

Hi
I agree with the macroeconomic backdrop being supportive..hence my interest.

The concert party bit of Wikipedia says;

"A 'concert party' is a group of people acting in concert in a takeover bid. In the UK, there are rules for such bids, regulated by regulators such as the Takeover Panel.

There is a 30% threshold at which a Mandatory Offer must be made. This is considered to be reached when a concert party jointly hold 30% of the shares in a company, not when one of them does. The same applies to other financial instrument holdings such as derivatives. Some entities are presumed to be acting in concert unless shown otherwise. These include the directors, subsidiaries, associate companies and the parent company of the bidder.

Even entities that are not part of a concert party may find that rules applying to them: they are required to disclose dealings in the share of the bidder or the target. These "associates" are people who have an interest in the outcome of the bid (other than simply as shareholders) but who are not deliberately acting in concert with the bidder, An example of associates are the directors the target company even when they are not acting in concert with either the bidder or a potential counter-bidder."

..so it applies over 30% , 49.99% is probably set to avoid locking out institutions that don't buy into minority float businesses? Just guessing really..

One other possibility is son in law getting divorced? ..but it's all guesswork as no one outside the family/business knows but I feel happier not buying in those circumstances.

13th Nov '17

So the family bust up is is now in the open, any holders got any insight into what’s occurring?

Van Elle Holdings

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