Mike,
Thank you for the date in which the "10% covenant" expires. If nothing happens by the end of the year ie takeover activity then I think we can assume nothing will. The insurance sector stocks will probably not be cheaper for some time and I guess if the one other financial services companies can acquire it given the current conditions, they should do quite well (not having to write off heaps of goodwill 5 yrs down the track like some Telco's have). As banks move more and more into wealth management ad other products, this company looks like a good addition.
In the bigger context of things I do not think that the 17m is much of an issue.
I wonder if this is why ABN Amro listed it as one of their stocks that will do well???
Thank you to everyone on their contributions. It certainly has given me a little more confidence in staying with this one stock for the longer term.
Phaedrus,
With regard to opportunity cost, if there is an offer on the table in the region of $6.80 - $7.20 down the track, then along with dividends the equivalent return per year would be around or over 10%. I do not consider this to be a bad return at all especially as there would be no tax on the capital gain. Again it comes down to what the future may hold. We are all buying future expectations.
I
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