Recovery may take time as Buckles gets investors onside
SHARES in G4S have recovered about a quarter of the 20 per cent-plus they lost on Monday after it announced the ISS deal, but that still leaves the firm chasing a serious hit to its market cap – with no storming comeback visible on the horizon.
Mired in a game of tug’o’war with investor groups, G4S has gone on the defensive, saying supportive meetings have been held and shareholders are being persuaded to come onside once they’ve had the “rationale and significant benefits” explained to them.
But opposition has strengthened over the weekend, adding weight to Parvus’ objections, and with influential investor adviser group International Shareholder Services (currently urging NewsCorp investors to throw out 13 of its board members) wading into the debate, it’s likely to drag on for sometime.
Nick Buckles clearly believes in the deal – he was quoted yesterday as saying the drop in price had come as a shock and is currently on a global charm offensive meeting investors – but he’s still got a long way to go to be sure of the 75 per cent approval that the deal needs, making any further recovery in the shares unlikely soon.