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Troubled Stanley Gibbons up for sale

The collectibles group has put itself up for sale, and it looks like private equity might have the upper hand
June 15, 2017

For Stanley Gibbons (SGI) investors, this week has been rockier than most. Last week the share price rose 15 per cent in a single day's trading on news that Disruptive Capital, a private equity firm led by City financier and former pensions adviser to Boris Johnson, Edi Truell, had approached the group with a potential takeover offer. But there were no details released and the board warned shareholders that no deal was on the table.

IC TIP: Hold at 12.5p

Sure enough, it seems negotiations broke down over the weekend because come Monday morning Stanley Gibbons had issued a further statement. This time the board said it was putting itself up for sale, inviting potential suitors to come forward with offers. It also claimed that the strategic review of the company - which has been more than a year in the offing - was pretty much complete. The group has managed to claw back £10m in operating costs, as well as earn itself an additional £6.3m through various disposals. It went on to say that the group now had "a clear focus and understanding of its competitive advantages and achievable corporate goals". But it wasn't enough for the market to ignore the fact that Disruptive Capital had walked away, and shares fell back 15 per cent as a result.

Game over? Not so fast. Disruptive Capital was back in the picture at the time of going to press, clarifying to the market that it would like to take part in the formal sales process launched by Stanley Gibbons. There's a caveat, though: Disruptive has only agreed to participate in the bidding round if any offer it makes is eventually recommended to shareholders by the company board unanimously. It seems Stanley Gibbons has agreed to honour this commitment, which in turn sent the shares back up 16 per cent.