Another source has chimed in that Games Workshop is in fact undergoing change of control.
The chatter is picking up as doubters check with their sources, who wind up confirming that something is going down. While the source wouldn't say exactly what type of change of control that is, outright sale, merger, change of ownership of a majority of shares, it is clear something is happening.
And to those who say "We'll I am a GW shareholder and I have heard nothing." Know that a public corporation is under no obligation to tell every shareholder what is happening all the time. Being that GW is very closely held and that Chairman Tom Kirby probably has a majority of the shares with him on any type of deal, the rank and file shareholders will find out when the deal is announced.
Stay tuned as we have our ears to the ground.
Loken
Yeah companies do this all the time, eventually people retire. Kirby isn't getting any younger.
ReplyDeleteBut why is any of this important or relevant to my hobby in ways other than price, I don't care what it costs i'll buy it anyway.
but why is reporting sales rumors relevant to my interest in apocalypse or the gw hobby it's self.
Corporate dynamics in this maturing hobby will certainly have an impact on your interest in apocalypse and the GW hobby. A significant change in leadership or an outright buyout will inevitably alter the design and release philosophy of the company as a whole. They may drop prices to try to get a slew of new users and crush the up-and-comers. Or they may go the opposite direction and make this game unaffordable. The IP could be diluted with licensing...fan-movies aside, 40k is ripe for a big studio movie franchise (if Halo or Gears of War don't beat them to the punch).
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think a lot of us share your "I don't care what it costs i'll buy it anyway" mindset without admitting it, some of us still care what's going on in Nottingham.
I'm sorry, if you're a shareholder while if a minority you don't get to reject the action, you still get informed and invited to the shareholders meeting where such will be presented.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, we do get told. British law requires such.
This was posted on heresy online a few days ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.heresy-online.net/forums/wargaming-news-40k-rumors/125329-gw-sold-major-shareholder-changed.html
Whilst GW can't be "sold" as such an interesting development here :
Shareholder statistics | Games Workshop | Investor Relations
http://investor.games-workshop.com/shareholder-statistics/
Shows that in May the Nomad Group was the major share holder.
Shareholder Overview for G7W Games Workshop Group PLC including Fund Owner Activity, Style, Equity & Debt Ownership, and Enterprise Value
http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-overview.html?t=G7W®ion=DEU&culture=en-US
Shows that they are no longer in the top 10 and there has been a considerable adjustment in the shares distribution.
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time to sell youre GW stock people ;)
ReplyDeleteNick, what you dont understand is that the deal can be all but signed and you will NEVER know. They owe a minority shareholder nothing UNTIL they are set to sign the deal. Then they take a vote where...your votes are meaningless.
ReplyDeleteGW is a closely held company with virtually all of its shares being in the hands of 5 or less owners. Deals could be struck for the purchase of those shares by another entity and thus give controlling ownership to the new stockholder. All of that can be behind closed doors to a point.
ReplyDeleteThere are also more than one kind of stock and I am not familiar with the UK system. Different kinds of stock have different regulations tied to them in regards to informing other shareholder of their transfer or purchase.
There may however be a threshold where at a certain percentage the existence of a new owner with more than the percentage representing that threshold will have to be announced outside of normal reporting duties to all stockholder. This could be immediate or this could be with in say 30 days etc...I do not know UK regulation.
People should not necessarily be excited by any sell of GW under the current circumstances.
They have been engaged in a bizarre process of selling codex and model releases on a monthly cycle or less for several months now and this rate of release is unsustainable when compared against their product line as a whole. They would have to think they could sell everyone new codices every 2 years to maintain this rate. Obviously that cannot happen.
So if a sell is happening and this rate of release cannot be sustained then what is going on?
I speculate that the new controlling owner is not interested in maintaining the old table top systems and is either planing to move to a different format like collectable and cliky gaming and or they are purchasing GW for its IP and not to continue sells of table top products.
If you will think about this for a minute before reacting you will realize how much sense this might make. It allows GW to boost its stock with artificially bloated sells numbers and if a company were buying GW to get its table top gaming business do you think they would like the company selling through its entire development portfolio for that part of its business before the sell happens?
I think not. GW is releasing its already developed and produced product lines that are essentially ready to go as fast as it can before the sell happens. Ultimately the new company is not interested in this part of the business and its existence offers GW no real value at the table.
Now if this sells happens pay close attention to who takes control. They will no doubt come out initially with statements that this means no "real" change in the direction and business model of GW and its customers should not be concerned.
Do not hang your hate on this because that, depending on the buyer, could very well just be them protecting the market for the IP while they position themselves for changes that can be presented to the customer base and following. Or protect the value of the IP while it sells rights for elements of the IP to other parties.
Also take note on GW's investor site that they have a notice up concerning stock issuance and a very interesting little tidbit concerning how to calculate their requirement to notify stock holders if changes occur.
ReplyDeleteFrom GW: posted June 3rd.
"As at the date of this announcement the Company had 31,732,339 issued ordinary shares of 5 pence each admitted to trading. Each ordinary share carries the right to one vote in relation to all circumstances at general meetings of the Company. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in Treasury.
The above figure may be used by shareholders and others with notification obligations as their denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules."
http://investor.games-workshop.com/2013/06/03/total-voting-rights-20/
Well done!
ReplyDeleteNo one can say for certain that something is or isn't happening.
ReplyDeleteAnd very well indeed there might be something happening. But backroom closed door deals are a far cry from public announcements and even a successful sale.
Also, if anyone is leaking information, it is a pretty serious breach of UK laws. Also ironically, Keep posting on this, cause one of the clauses in the law that can force a company to come public earlier with a sale is that there is large public speculation.