Royal Mail Stock Holding – What to Do?

7500ngc1569

boingy said:

The most likely scenario is that the acquisition will go ahead regardless of your decision because the acquirer will secure the bulk of the shares from the big corporate investors and you'll be forced to sell your shares regardless of your wishes. It's happened to me a couple of times and I can't say I liked it but it's how the system works.

super helpful, thanks. 

like 78daniel i was a little concerned if I didn't do anything, my shares would vanish

cazlou71

My parent have sent me an email about this that they don’t understand.  Do they actually have to accept the offer or will they just have their shares purchased along with everyone else if the deal goes ahead?

wmb194

cazlou71 said:

My parent have sent me an email about this that they don’t understand.  Do they actually have to accept the offer or will they just have their shares purchased along with everyone else if the deal goes ahead?

They don't have to accept the offer but if the required majority of investors agree to the deal then those shareholders who abstained or voted against will have to sell their shares at the agreed price, see below. If less than 90% but 75% or more and you don't accept the offer it looks like you'll end up owning shares in an unlisted company.

It could still fall through and not happen anyway but if it were me I'd accept the offer and save myself the headache of owning shares in an unlisted company.

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/market-news/recommended-cash-offer-for-ids-plc/16491666

From section 16 of the offer document:

https://idsoffer.shareview.info/docs/Offer_Document.pdf

MDMD

They also have the option to implement it through a Scheme of Arrangement - a court hearing is held which then will force the sale of 100% of the shares

https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/international-distributions-services--ids/recommended-cash-offer-for-ids-plc/8227019

wmb194

MDMD said:

They also have the option to implement it through a Scheme of Arrangement - a court hearing is held which then will force the sale of 100% of the shares

https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/international-distributions-services--ids/recommended-cash-offer-for-ids-plc/8227019

This is where they have 90%+ acceptances.

Ocelot

I sold most of mine at £6, like I did with Bradford & Bingley shares (just as well), but held onto 20%.

I haven't received any notifications or offers. I always assumed smaller shareholders had no option but to sell if a takeover was taking place.

wmb194

Ocelot said:

I sold most of mine at £6, like I did with Bradford & Bingley shares (just as well), but held onto 20%.

I haven't received any notifications or offers. I always assumed smaller shareholders had no option but to sell if a takeover was taking place.

How do you hold them? No, shareholders in the same class usually have all the same rights. There can be issues if you're domiciled abroad, particularly in the US where laws will prevent residents there participating fully or at all.

The problem is that some stockbrokers aren't very interested in participating in shareholder democracy so you need to push them* and if you hold them via certificates the registrars aren't always very good at sending out the communications promptly e.g., see recent threads on the National Grid rights issue and complaints about Equiniti.

*And even then they might show no interest, which is my recent experience with Trading212. However, with the National Grid rights issue it was perfectly fine.

Upwind

I have a small holding of 227 and have just had the IDS letter - which is indecipherable to your average Joe... like me.
As with many dealing in life, it normally pays to sit tight and not accept the first offer.  I shall be ignoring this initial offer of £3.70 as I don't need the cash and hope a better one comes along..... I expect that it will be irrelevant what small share holders do either way. 

wmb194

Upwind said:

I have a small holding of 227 and have just had the IDS letter - which is indecipherable to your average Joe... like me.
As with many dealing in life, it normally pays to sit tight and not accept the first offer.  I shall be ignoring this initial offer of £3.70 as I don't need the cash and hope a better one comes along..... I expect that it will be irrelevant what small share holders do either way. 

Have a look at my comment above; the danger of not accepting the offer is that you could be stuck in a limbo where you continue to own shares in the company but it's delisted and you won't be able to sell them at a time of your choosing.

benny5

Don’t know which way to go on this.

As they don’t appear to have stated a date when this offer will be closed/withdrawn and I have no idea what support is coming from the big institutions (who will ultimately decide the outcome) its difficult to decide.

What would happen if a small holder, like me, accepts at £3.70 and the major holders then secure a better offer, will the price be determined by that prevailing at the time of acceptance or the eventual price?