Morrissey is back with a new album at no 1 in the album charts out on Sanctuary Records (SGP). This is a big deal for a pretty small company. Added to this the first half results out today should show improvements in first half sales - their niche strategy is working. Expectations of an upbeat trading statement with double digit growth bucking the trend in the music industry. Share should tick up today.

OK I know what your thinking - you'd be nuts to go into the music industry in view of dwindling hard record sales, internet downloads etc etc right? WRONG. Take a look at Sanctuary in light of their latest acquisition and apply a little bit of analysis. Now not only do they have several top 10 charting albums in the bag this Summer, Libertines, Morrisey (superb) and Blue Nile (stunning album) but they have become in a couple of audacious moves the world's lARGEST producer of Urban music. Why is this significant? Because they have taken a leadership position in the one niche where consumers are still buying hard product and it's a fast growing segment - 14% of UK sales (good) BUT 25% of US sales (outstanding) - SGPs artits play in both the world's largest music markets. This stock will explode given the FY potential which will blow away all the forecasts..

Here's the detail of the latest acquisition - much more significant than the investment community seem to realise, in my humble opinion....

The Sanctuary Group plc ('Sanctuary' or the 'Group') announces that on 30th
September 2004, in Los Angeles, it agreed to purchase Tony Davis Management Inc.
('TDM') from Mr Tony Davis. TDM is a music management company and Mr Davis, who
is to join Sanctuary's US artist management team, manages the multi-platinum
selling artist Nelly, amongst others.

Following Sanctuary's acquisition of Mathew Knowles' Music World Entertainment
in 2003, and the subsequent formation of Sanctuary Urban, the Group is now the
world's leading Urban music company. Sanctuary's Urban businesses include
Sanctuary Urban Management; Sanctuary Urban Records Group; URBANE, a
merchandising division; and a live booking agency. Urban music now accounts for
a quarter of all music hard product sold in the US and 14% in the UK.

The Sanctuary Urban Management roster has some of the highest profile artists in
the world and includes Beyonce; Mary J. Blige; Sleepy Brown; Destiny's Child;
EVE; Floetry; RJ Helton; JadaKiss; Mary Mary; Kelly Rowland; Solange; Angie
Stone; Carl Thomas; Trinitee 5:7; Michelle Williams and Xzibit. Sanctuary Urban
Records artists include Jon B; Chaka Khan; De La Soul; Earth, Wind & Fire; The
O'Jays and Ray J.

Tony Davis is one of the most successful and respected managers in the high
growth Urban genre. Nelly has sold 20,000,000 records worldwide and last week
released two new albums 'Sweat' and 'Suit' that have since debuted on
Billboard's top 200 album chart at numbers 1 and 2 respectively - an historic
achievement. In addition Tony Davis also brings platinum artists Murphy Lee and
St. Lunatics to the Sanctuary roster.

Take a very close look at this little baby. Up 5% again today and still so unfeasibly cheap. These guys are absolutely going to blow the analysts forecasts away - today with the price is 41.5 pence...this is just an incredible bargain. They have had so much HUGE commercial success in the last few months it's hard to know where to start. No-one is on to them yet it seems. Expect plently of activity in the balance of year - volume up in 7mm's today...unprecedented opps. I know this is a ramble but I'll do a decent post on SPG next week meantime if you have not already then GET ON...great small/mid cap sustained growth play.

Following yesterday's bullish trading statement, SGP set to outperform sector and also tipped in today's Times (Tempus). Guardian article below. Still at an incredible price in my view - 43.5 pence is amazing value.


Sanctuary on track for good year

Reuters
Tuesday November 2, 2004
The Guardian

UK music firm Sanctuary is on track to meet market expectations for its financial year, boosted by acts ranging from lugubrious lyricist Morrissey to rowdy rabble rousers The Libertines, it said yesterday.
Sanctuary, whose 150,000-track music catalogue makes it the world's largest independent owner of music intellectual property rights, said it expected to benefit from new albums and major tours by pop divas Destiny's Child and ageing rockers Iron Maiden. House broker Credit Suisse First Boston is forecasting a pre-tax profit of 18.3m for the year ended September 30.

The company said it had continued to invest in new recorded products, with advances to artists continuing at a similar level to last year's 14m.

Sanctuary made several acquisitions this year, notably reggae catalogue Creole Records and artist management company TDM. Sanctuary said merchandising had also performed well.

In this morning's Independent (and tipped in the Times)..no change to price (yet) so still time...

Morrissey helps Sanctuary Group hit the right note

The devoted fans of artists such as Morrissey, whose latest album sold more than 700,000 copies, and The Libertines have helped Sanctuary Group weather the downturn in CD sales in recent years.

In a trading statement yesterday, the music company said it had felt some margin pressure, but sales were still strong.

Only 50 per cent of Sanctuary's business is music publishing, however. The rest is artist management services, and Mary J Blige and Nelly have recently signed up, joining artists diverse as Beyoncnd the Manic Street Preachers. Record labels have to pay advances to bands that may subsequently flop, but as a manager, Sanctuary takes a lucrative 15 to 20 per cent of the artists' revenues with little capital outlay.

Sanctuary also runs a live agency that rakes in chunky fees for booking tour dates for sell-out acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Together with its merchandising arm, its reliance on CD sales is minimal.

Consumer spending power is an issue for the music industry, but at 43.5p, Sanctuary is only trading at about 10 times earnings with good organic growth potential. Add it to your collection.

Several large buys going through this morning

Interesting use of a logarithmic axis on the share price in figure above.
Makes the drops look less dramatic.

3mm volume today is 4x normal. Some sizeable buys sqeezing in just before the close. Price held flat today but expect this to keep ticking up this week especially if we keep seeing high volumes.

more big buys in the last hour..sp must clip on at this level of activity

There is no question that the investment community is waking up to that fact that Sanctuary have successfully established themselves as a new big kid on the block in the music industry. Tipped at 39p in June and now 47.5p on Friday...there is so much upside here and the second half profits will be absolutely stellar. Unlike many of the others, relatively unimpacted by the internet and will comfortably outperform the industry...

Sanctuary Group PLC
18 November 2004


Notification of Major interests in shares


The Sanctuary Group plc ('the Company')


18 November 2004


The Company was notified on 18 November 2004 that Morgan Stanley Securities
Limited ('MSSL') acquired an interest in the ordinary shares of the Company on
16 November 2004 with the result that MSSL now have a beneficial interest in the
Company of 27,898,004 shares, being approximately 8.19% of the issued share
capital of the Company.


MSSL have transferred from time to time 12,599,000 shares to a third party on
terms which gave MSSL the right to require the return of an equivalent number of
shares. Accordingly, MSSL's interest in 12,599,000 shares is pursuant to Section
208(5) of the Companies Act 1985.


MSSL is a member of the Morgan Stanley Group of companies. Those group companies
which are direct or indirect holding companies of MSSL are, under the terms of
section 203 of the Companies Act 1985, each interested by attribution in any
shares in which MSSL is interested.

oop's my shares have slipped a bit.
This one is now a target for a bid.

This share is going to be worth buying very soon.

I think this stock will recover (I do not hold at the moment)

The group explained that its growth strategy for its Recorded Product Division over the past two years has focused on acquisitions and signings of high profile established artists capable of generating significant sales.

I knew I should have got some of these.

Get on quick - will not be at these levels long!

run for cover all holders Clem has tipped it in Sunday Business, the kiss of death?

Oh no- not ANOTHER driver disaster too, oh dear,

This is going to bounce big time from this sp.

Reasons? Might be a short term bounce, but gamblers only. SGP is classic example of a business where any investor can learn that cash is more important, when reading the balance sheet, than profit (which can be massaged in many ways, particularly in an acquisition hungry business like SGP). In years to 2001 - 2004 SGP showed pretax profit 7.7m, 11.26m, 10.79m and then loss 1.8m after (non cash) writedown of investments 11.4m. On the face of it, decently profitable. However, debt in 2002 was 11.6m, in 2003 it ballooned to 51.6m and 2004 to 73.8m. Latest trading statement suggests bank facilities now 120m and there are also 30m convertible loan notes. Debt imo has spiralled out of control and banks appear finally to have had enough. Further pointer with the benefit of hindsight is the sale by each of the two principal directors of 5.75m shares each at 75p towards the end of 2000. One of my guiding principles is to get out if directors sell large chunks (whatever the stated reason) and imo it works more often than not.

partridge
Good post I think you are properly right I do not hold I sold at 46p

A much stronger H2 was what the group promised and based on August sales/new releases there is some small reason for optimism...

Sanctuary have 3 of the Top 5 UK singles for the second time in a month with:

James Blunt (managed by Sanctuary Artist Management/ Twenty-First Artists) at No. 2, Baby Shambles (Rough Trade Records) at No.4 and Iron Maiden (Sanctuary Artist Management/ Live Agency/ Merchandising) at No.5
Additionally, 2Pac feat. Elton John (Twenty-First Artists) is currently at No.12, Jamiroquai (Sanctuary Artist Management - North America) at No.14 and Super Furry Animals (Ankst/ Sanctuary Artist Management) at No.28

This gives Sanctuary 6 out of the Top 30 singles.

James Blunt remains at No.1 on the album chart.

"Iron Maiden have had more hits than any other heavy metal band in chart history, with 16 of their singles making the Top 10, 33 reaching the Top 40, and 35 entering the Top 75 since their 1980 debut Running Free" - Music Week

optimism being realised...

I can see this recovering in share price today and for the next week
or two.

You may ask how can i think that after today's news ?

Well to me it looks like the management have got all the worse case
scenario's out with this news, the shares had already priced in terrible
news and this mornings news was nothing worse than could have been
expected, there's potential for the shares to treble or more long term
once the management have trimmed and streamlined the business, sell
all the none core bits and bobs, cut costs etc etc, with the banks support
i think this morning share price of 7.5p was the bottom for SGP.

Seen this all before with Corus and Stagecoach as two examples, both their
shares have been rock bottom but with a little nursing they have returned to
health and returned a big financial reward to those who bought in at the bottom.

THe Corus and Stagecoach analogies are spot on Mackem. This is surely at rock bottom now and Ibthink it will be highly rewarding to buy/hold for the next 6-12 months.

I'm sure you can all see for yourself that there was some massive
support for the stock today.
And a lot of bid support on the order books all day, it was never going
back below 8p bid, some early birds got 7.5p which was a good price
and at least one institution was buying this afternoon judging by the
large buys.
The sooner SGP start announcing disposals even if they are small the
better, get the money coming in to keep the banks happy and then
let the longer term picture take place, still risky but this is where the
money is made in the stock market.
If you put say a grand in every stock that looks to be in serious trouble
and left it alone you will find that you make a lot of money overall.
Remember Ashtead ?...up to it's eyeballs in debt and the shares hit 2p,
banks gave them another chance, some disposals and cost cutting and
now they are 140p, imagine that...one grand now worth 70 for holding
a few years, it does happen a lot you know, Corus was under 5p and
Stagecoach was 12p.

DYOR

A few things to add !

Look at this :

Executive Chairman, Andy Taylor, commented:

"I am well aware that Sanctuary has disappointed the market significantly this
year and, with hindsight, it is clear we grew too fast.
I am totally focused on repairing the short-term damage to what is fundamentally
a robust business. We will be restructuring our business and supporting our
artists throughout. The Board and I are determined to steer a company that has
an extremely strong roster of artists back to a profitable trading position and
back to sustainable long term growth."

Well if he really means this he should be buying a large chuck of stock to show
his commitment and in his words determination to put this company right, this
would be a show of confidence which is badly needed right now.

Must stress again it's a high risk punt, all or nothing stuff.

3 hours and still no AT trade.

Didnt expect it to be this slow this morning.

Picked up late in the day.

Dont be deceived by the trade data, there was a lot more buying
than selling again today, price was cut in the morning but was rising
steadily in the afternoon.

I would be expecting some holding news soon and maybe tomorrow
to account for the large trades from yesterday and today.

Article in Saturdays FT not helping SGP today.

Whats happening today - high volume of buys going through inside last 30 mins?

joehargan1 can,t find news phoned my broker no one seems to know perhaps tipped in a share mag i,m holding 200k @8p.someone gives us a clue,perhaps they have found a buyer or maybe the volume is the shorters buying

Agree 700202 - buyer is still most likely scenario. This has been dragged down by bad news story upon bad news...most of it speculation and opinion. It is the classic case of a small - medium size player trying to get into the big leagues too quickly and over extending themselves in the process. When the facts are reviewed they show that they are worth much much more than this on the assets alone and the financials have to look good to the industry big boys looking for a tuck-in acquisition. Don't bet the mortgage on it but a seriously good moderate risk - high return investment at these levels. I fondly recall buying into Corus at 6p...it's an omen.

This looks like a positive step and commentary:-

Music publisher and band management company, Sanctuary Group said it has taken steps to cut its worldwide headcount by 175, or 25% of its workforce as of end March.

In a statement, the company said it does not expect to undertake any further significant headcount reductions.

Executive chairman Andy Taylor said he is confident the company is 'well-placed to rapidly return to profitability going forward.

'I am pleased with the rapid progress we have made in addressing the key issues and costs in our business and we will continue to restructure the group over the next few weeks and months.

Sanctuary said the new cost structures and staffing levels in place will not compromise its level of service and commitment to its artists and customers.

Mistimed the bottom by a fraction but it has been reached !

The market loves a recovery story so if you have not got any SGP
shares yet then get some tomorrow before the price races away, lots
of smart money buying in late on today, i have a feeling that SGP will
be in the top 3 risers tomorrow, very strong finish and worth checking
for the after hours auction trades to see if anything large is purchased
at a nice high price for size.

Cannot see why SGP cant reach 10p this week.

spot on Mackem. The banking support is still all there as are the assets. Like you, I see no reason why this should not be another dramatic recovery play.

Traders are involved now so expect some short term volatility but trend should be in the right direction.

Just finished work, i see moneyam has a high traded of 8p so
it's come off a bit but still a good rise and i wonder if it will have
another late run, got to be a good play on a combination of lots
of fresh recovery buyers + shorters closing at these levels.

Institutions are buying - 2 trades of 2million each today.

I have to admit i got this one totally wrong, some idiots posting on
advfn but also some clued up accountants and it looks like a debt
for equity swap is on the cards and if so it wont be at 4-5p, it will
be at 2p or lower so it might be best to cut and run here, they have
valuable assets as in golden oldies such as Elton John but why sell
him on if the business can survive with him, Sgp will survive and make
money again but all the debt with the banks will probably be converted
into shares at rock bottom prices, could be wrong but there's more chance
of making 50% here by shorting than going long now i'm afraid.

I reckon short term if a DFE is done the shares will fall to 2p or lower,
if they do this then that is the time to maybe buy some and wait for
the recovery.

I think if they were going to sell on their best earning singers etc etc
it would have started by now to get the bank debt down.

SGP is not looking good at all now...would say 2 pence on the price beckons as D4E seems the only way out now...my short position opened at 5.51 pence on 450,000 shares in the Champion Investor game is looking rather good:

In today's Sunday Times:

The Sunday Times October 30, 2005

Business Digest

SANCTUARY GROUP, the crisis-hit music firm that manages Sir Elton John, will be forced to convene an extraordinary meeting in the wake of its latest statement that the company is facing a serious loss of capital. Sanctuary is considering a debt-for-equity swap among the options for repairing its balance sheet.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2769-1848996,00.html

Fidelity that usually are bottom fishers are now selling or at least
that RNS suggests that after they sold appox 3mil shares, do they
fear the worst, from being bullish to recovery i cannot see any light
right now and fear a DFE is a strong possibility.
And 36 million shares are not going to be shifted too easily either and
i think the market and punters have finally noticed what is happening.

Very brave to hold or buy on what we know right now.

Unfortunately the MoneyAM newsfeed has become clogged-up with medical info (due to Scheering having a "similar" EPIC) - but has Sanctuary made any ann about DFE?
If they are in such a dire position wouldn't they have advised the Market, to be sure all the News is out?
Earlier posters (here) have been quite bullish about the business - just what has changed to make the sp dive about 90% (ie was 40p only months ago - now 4p)
Like Mackem, I don't like the look of this - any comments anyone?

They made the classic mistake of trying to grow too quickly and became massively over capitalised weakening their balance sheet considerably in anticipation of the revenues to come. Their asset base is still strong however and their founder is fighting hard to save the business from liquidation. A DFE is possible certainly but not certain and they still have a lot of banking support but the real issue is whether they can continue to absorb the crippling cost of capital - they are desperately looking to offset costs and recently down-sized their workforce by 25%. They will also look at selling off the business (or arms of it) to right-size the business and return to profit. I would not give up on the possibility of a recovery just yet.

Still out bad news for holders.

Sanctuary says will need to secure extra funding near-term
AFX

LONDON (AFX) - Sanctuary Group PLC, the crisis-torn British music publishing and band management company, responded to press speculation over the weekend with a statement this morning confirming that the group will need to secure extra funding in the near term.

Whilst it continues to enjoy the support of its bankers, Sanctuary said it needs to secure further funding from them in the near future and, with debt 'too high', it is exploring other options including a significant equity funding.

Sanctuary is facing a massive 130-170 mln stg charge in the full year for provisions and write-downs and said it still expects to record a negative EBITDA for the year, before any of these charges.

Executive chairman Andy Taylor said the board has acknowledged that Sanctuary expanded too rapidly and it is working very hard to re-set the business for future sustainable growth.

Since late summer this year, the group has implemented substantial annualised costs savings, principally by reducing headcount worldwide by some 25 pct.

In addition, Sanctuary has focused its business on its core areas of expertise which consists of Recorded Product, Merchandising, Artist Management and Live Agency activity worldwide. It has sold its Book Publishing arm and its mobile recording studios and is in active discussions regarding the disposal of its music publishing and studios businesses.

The board said it is confident that the actions taken to cut costs and focus on the core activities of the group will allow it to continue to trade over the medium term.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

Still looks a bit iffy.

Down and down and down they go, I think thats one of theirs

Underwriting Announcement

1. Introduction

Your Board can today confirm that it proposes to raise approximately #110.0
million (gross) by way of a Placing and Open Offer of, in aggregate, 219,931,148
new Ordinary Shares at 50 pence per new Ordinary Share conditional, inter alia,
upon the passing by Shareholders of the Resolutions at the EGM referred to
further below, the publication of a Prospectus by 14 February 2006 and Admission
occurring by 13 March 2006. The Issue Price on a pre-consolidated basis is 0.25
pence which values the Existing Ordinary Shares at approximately #927,000. The
equity fundraising will result in substantial dilution to existing Shareholders
with the Existing Ordinary Shares accounting for less than 1 per cent. of the
Enlarged Share Capital. The Placing and Open Offer comprises 180,000,000 Placing
Shares to be conditionally placed with institutional investors and 39,931,148
Open Offer Shares to be conditionally placed with institutional investors
subject to clawback to satisfy valid applications by Qualifying Shareholders.
The Placing Shares are not available for subscription under the Open Offer.
Qualifying Shareholders and the holder of the BMG Warrants will be given the
opportunity to participate in the fundraising by way of the Open Offer, which,
following the publication of a Prospectus, will be made by Evolution Securities
on the Company's behalf. Under the Open Offer, new Ordinary Shares will be
offered to Qualifying Shareholders on the basis of:


8 Open Offer Shares for every 75 Existing Ordinary Shares or BMG Warrants held
at the Record Date


and so in proportion to any number of Existing Ordinary Shares or BMG Warrants
then held.

The Issue Price, which is stated on a post-consolidated basis, represents an
effective discount of 66.67 per cent. to the prevailing Closing Price of 0.75
pence per Existing Ordinary Share on 2 February 2006, being the latest
practicable date prior to the publication of this announcement. The Directors
were advised by Evolution Securities that an equity fundraising could only be
carried out successfully if priced at a significant discount to the prevailing
Closing Price of an Existing Ordinary Share. The Directors therefore propose to
seek specific approval of the Issue Price and the above-mentioned discount from
Shareholders at an EGM, in accordance with the Listing Rules. Since the Company is not permitted under English company law to issue shares for less than their nominal value (which for the Company is currently 12.5p), and to avoid having a very large number of shares in issue which would be quoted at a very low price, the Board has decided that it should undertake the Sub-division and
Consolidation in order to be able to effect the Placing and Open Offer at a
price of 50 pence per New Ordinary Share.

I think I have missed the boat here 176% up at 1300hrs

still going up now nearly reaching 2p

Well it reached 203% looks like down from here.

It's going to make 5 pence next resistance if a positive start tomorrow.

+40% so far today and climbing. 5p is the target.

1000000 buy@2.75

clears 3 and this will rocket on short covering

anyone think its a good time to buy now or wait for further drop in sp? dont think company likely to go bust so surely the only way is up.[i am not after advice merely other peoples opinions]

anyone think its a good time to buy now or wait for further drop in sp? dont think company likely to go bust so surely the only way is up.[i am not after advice merely other peoples opinions]

the company has effectively in last chance saloon...has raised some cash but if looses remain in the next 9-12 months they will be out of business....buying a share because you think it cannot go down any further is daft...look at the fundamentals of this comany they are terrible........do not listen to some of the jokers on this board here they were tipping it at 50p.

will give it a miss then, cheap buys for someone else maybe but too risky for a bit player like me

i've been in situation like this before and have always made some profit. it can't go any lower, its time to BUY ! even a small increase would make profit. I'm buying 4000000 @ 0.47p

i only play with small amounts at the moment so 500 wouldnt be worth it after fees + stamp. [my portfolio is only just worth 2000 with 4 companies, took some big hits a while ago and still recovering[lost 6000] they say only play with what you can afford to lose so with wife and 3 kids i have to stick to peanuts and hope for something spectacular

I am seriously thinking of giving this a shot @0.47. The re-sale of shares is happening in March, so its got a chance of going up before that.

yip edd....great invetsment strategy...it cannot go any lower.....yes it could it will probably go bust...so yes it can go 100% lower

robalex, I would think nobody in their R.Mind would punt on this share. The TA is poor and the future PEGs are poor. If you have only 2000 to play with and don't have any immediate calls on it, the more sensible thing to do would be to find two share in the Midcap range which have established and sustained upward SP Trends of reasonable rate. Split your capital, place relatively close trailing stop losses (to cut your losses, you have had enough already) and ride the uptrend taking moderate SP growth over a period until you get your original stake back. Changing the shares when the trend reverses and moving on. You are more likely to profit than reading some of the BS written on BBs.

IMHO Good Luck.

great more money!!!, sold my 4000000 @47p for 60p. Profit of 5,200
you have to risk it to make it

HI EDDMCM WHAT ABOUT YOUR COST??????5200 IS NOT ALL PROPIT?????

edd....cannot see your trade today or from yesterday actually....if you are going to lie about it please try and be realisitic......or if you point out the time of the trades..I will post them up here...if not please do shut up old boy....anyone else is welcome to have a look at the LSE tarde data which tells no lies

I'm prepared to add 2p to the consortium buying the receptionist's desk leg. Well, they did say never invest more than you can afford to lose. ;-0 I'll have to wait 'til next month for my next Fruit Salad. LOL

al...usual nonsense going on here..EDD still waiting for you tro point out your trade on the official LSE trade jotter.......or have you decided you have made a big enough arse of yourself?

Hmm, must be the latter then, T. ;-))

There's quite a few people who seem to fib slightly and disappear when it is pointed out that what they say can be proved or disproved. As for SGP - real shame. Nice outfit at one time

SGP are offering their shareholders the right to subscribe
for additional shares on the basis of 8 new Ordinary shares for every 75
Ordinary shares held 50p per share when the shares are re-stated in March. Any sensible analysis on whether to go for this option or cut losses as they stand?

Can anyone explain what has just happened with sanctuary's share price. I am a novice investor and sold last week at 0.29.I looked to-day and they are now at 53.0. Did I miss out on a massive profit??

frsSim, dont panic you didn't miss the boat[or the profit] there was a share consolidation to reduce the number of shares in the market. [ i dont pretend to know the exact consolidation as i am only an amateur myself but prob something along the lines of 1 new share [at approx 50p] for every 150 old ones [at approx 0.3p] thus the new price of 50p[+/- todays movement]. I dont know if the the shares are a good move, i watched and decided against them but that is just my opinion. the professionals may be able to give you the exact consolidation split.
hope this helps

robertalexander, thanks for replying to my post. You have made me feel better. I think I will stay away from Sanctuary for the moment.

robertalexander, thanks for replying to my post. You have made me feel better. I think I will stay away from Sanctuary for the moment.

Still suffering even after consolidation the sp was below 0.0030 converted to about 55p now 27p not looking very healthy.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=1367581

something up here...apart from the price?

31% up on the day...wait fo the announcement....

The Company has noted the recent rise in its share price. The Company confirms
that it has received approaches from third parties that may or may not lead to
an offer for the Company.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

47% up and no ones interested...lol....

foale
Missed it what about you.

Sanctuary takeover bid
MoneyAM
Struggling UK record label Sanctuary Group announced an agreed 20p per share takeover offer.

The offer, from Centenary Music, a subsidiary of Universal Music, values the company at 44.5m.

The company said the bid represents a 77.8% premium to its closing price on May 17th, the day it announced that it was in takeover talks.

'Growth and profitability will continue to be hampered by the Sanctuary Group's present capital structure and by industry factors. Therefore, we intend to recommend this offer from Centenary,' Sanctuary chairman Robert Ayling said in a statement.

News of the bid came as Sanctuary reported a first-half pretax loss of 6.7m, down from a restated 27.1m a year earlier. However, sales of recorded music fell to 16.4m, down from 25.3m last time.

Sanctuary, home to Morrissey and Marc Almond, hit financial problems two years ago, hampered by an expensive US acquisition and delayed album releases. The group narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2006 after tapping up shareholders for 110m.