Well it seems that ISYS is waiting for news...maybe it's round the corner !

SSA leads chase to buy Baan

2 May 2003 SSA Global Technologies will shortly conclude the purchase of Invensys' Baan software subsidiary, according to mounting rumours circulating in the City of London.

The revitalised enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor SSA GT is set to conclude a deal within weeks for Baan — and for radically less than the $708 million that Invensys, the troubled engineering conglomerate, paid for it in 2000.

SSA GT is awash with cash after raising $75 million from venture capital group General Atlantic Partners just last month. CEO Mike Greenough's plans to make SSA GT a $400 million company by July 2003 are well known. It even retains a head of acquisitions to research potential opportunities.

Both Baan and SSA GT were once top five ERP software vendors.

In April 2002, SSA bought the Interbiz ERP division of Computer Associates, but its revenues still run far short of Greenough's target. In the second fiscal quarter to the end of January 2003, the company posted revenues of $64 million, up 55% on the same period a year earlier.

System Software Associates (SSA) was one of the stars of the early enterprise resource planning (ERP) software sector, but sales collapsed dramatically in the mid-1990s following the botched introduction of new product.

Called BPCS 6, the package was bug-ridden and, before those bugs had been ironed out, the company tried to force users into upgrading. That led to a fall in sales and a crisis of confidence from which it never recovered.

It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000 and the assets were purchased by Gores Technology Group in July of that year. In May 2001, another venture capital investor, Cerberus, took a majority stake in the company.

http://www.infoconomy.com/pages/news-and-gossip/group78868.adp

Invensys secures 2.7bn refinancing
Debt rescheduling and share issue ends need for sell-offs and puts group on firmer footing
By Saeed Shah
06 February 2004


Rick Haythornthwaite can for the first time run Invensys as a business, rather than just fight for its survival. The engineering giant was a mess long before Mr Haythornthwaite got there. He was put in place in 2001 to try to make the company work. It couldn't. However, a 2.7bn refinancing announced yesterday puts Invensys on a secure footing at last.

Mr Haythornthwaite, 47, came in with a reputation riding high as a something of a City wonder-boy, after he put up a much-applauded defence against a hostile bid as chief executive of Blue Circle. But the seemingly permanent crisis that is Invensys soon threatened to sink him.

After grappling with debt, the economic downturn, a pension black hole and forced disposals, he could finally sit back yesterday with some breathing space.

The refinancing package announced yesterday was so comprehensive that Invensys was able to call off most of its disposal programme. Appliance Control and Climate Controls, two big and well-regarded businesses that were put up for sale last April as part of a 2bn disposal programme, were taken off the market.

A placing and open offer will raise 450m, while a further 625m will come from a high-yield bond issue and there is a new five-year bank facility of 1.6bn.

This is a major turnaround from the situation the company faced in November, when it admitted that its disposal programme was not going well and that it might need to come up with alternatives. The company had been facing a 515m debt repayment in June and it was not likely to have the money.

Mr Haythornthwaite admits that he cannot be said to have been pursuing anything approaching "a strategy" at Invensys. So far, at least. "When I came in, the company had already been read the last rites. Then things got worse," he says.

"I did find some good businesses but it was a struggle with the financial issues rather than tackling the operational side.... It was not a way to run a business."

Invensys was formed in 1999 by the merger of Siebe and BTR. The dysfunctional resulting company was made up of dozens of unrelated engineering businesses, from manufacturing controls for factory conveyor belts to railway signals. It was led by the pugnacious Allen Yurko.

However, as a capital goods manufacturer, the newly merged company was entirely dependent on the state of the economy. Economic conditions soon faltered, cutting income to the point at which it could not handle its debt pile.

What followed was a painful series of profit warnings and repeated lay-offs of staff. Mr Yurko quit.

Mr Haythornthwaite brought in a considerably more charming approach, but the mode of the company remained one of fire-fighting. Divestments followed. However, by April last year the company was still drowning in debt and plans for further 2bn worth of disposals were announced. Invensys did manage to sell metering systems last year for 390m but this was far less than expected.

By November last year, things were not looking good. The liquidity crisis was spooking customers. Potential buyers of businesses knew that Invensys was desperate and were exploiting the situation. Total liabilities were estimated at 2.3bn. The company admitted it needed a plan B.

Mr Haythornthwaite then toured the City, meeting shareholders and, as he says, "the conversation turned to 'what if'". The outline of a rescue plan that investors would support began to come together.

The rise in Invensys shares in recent days, with a further 12 per cent jump yesterday to 26.5p, was testament to the relief felt in the City. Strong and well-sourced rumours of a rights issue, which have been circulating in the Square Mile for more than two weeks, had very helpfully been pushing up the share price anyway.

The placing announced was at 21.5p a relatively small discount of 9.5 per cent to the closing share price on Wednesday: not bad for a rescue refinancing. The package comes at a cost of 108m, meaning a bonanza for the City advisers involved led by Cazenove, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Mr Haythornthwaite now has five years' money in place. The shares offer is fully under-written. Current trading is not brilliant but is "satisfactory". Appliance Controls and Climate controls are to be retained. "Now, for the first time, we can tackle things from the front foot," he says.

Analysts point out that Invensys does not offer massive earnings growth potential as its businesses were performing reasonably debt was the issue. And Mr Haythornthwaite will admit that the six main businesses he has today do not go together naturally. There is no guarantee that the company will not still be ultimately broken up. But at least Mr Haythornthwaite now has a chance to actually run the company, develop a strategy and ride the economic recovery.

from http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/040923/237/f363x.html

*Gossips believe Invensys (LSE: ISYS.L - news - msgs) has received a very preliminary takeover approach from Siemens

don't hold your breath!

This another example of British businessmen not having the skills to move with the times.
Taking on Debt is plain madness unless it's covered by orders and some fall-back position should the customer fold. It never ceases to amaze me that Directors win whatever they do.
When the employees are made redundant it's the country that has to carry them and their dependants - we should send the directors to jail so they can't wreck other businesses - and it would have a terific effect on concentration in the Boardrooms in the UK.
"No nodding off at the back! Snoggins, just what was that investment plan?"

This is like Corus a year ago. Can we see 56p this year?

hightech
I think you could be right I hold these and its nice to see them ticking up a bit at a time, no rush.

Invensys is back on its foot.

will the sp follow????

Out of the woods on tip toe "Holding"

The sp will follow.

Are you sure that it won't go down to 11p???

Any reason for the fall?

Does anyone know their cash position?
Are we looking into a void of impossible dimensions?
Is there any value within their operations - or are we witnessing a Marconi where Management is blisfully buying duds to complete their set of Directorships?
/
It's a shame companies are not subject to instant inspection, rather like the VAT-man can pounce......except in large companies he rarely does because the accounts are in two offices in separate towns.......Grr.
/
I've held a small position in this co but I think we can forget ever getting back to 50p let alone a ten-bagger to 1.20 - and to think some folk bought this over 3.50 = wasn't that a truely magical time, eh?

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/050509/183/fidrt.html

London Underground to Use Wonderware Industrial Application Server Built on ArchestrA Technology to Equip 150 Rail Stations with an Advanced Station M
By Business Wire

......
The $21.5-million contract between Thales and Atkins Rail will leverage the Wonderware Industrial Application Server, which offers the simplicity of a component object-based approach to application development. The Wonderware Industrial Application Server is built on Invensys (LSE: ISYS.L - news - msgs) ' groundbreaking ArchestrA industrial automation and information software architecture, which enables the creation of objects and reuse of engineering and configuration. The ArchestrA objects can be easily shared throughout the rail enterprise. ....

Results tomorrow.

The 13 day average has breached 30 day average yesterday so the short term
outlook looks positive. Anyone any comment ??? p/271

Better opportunities else where, leave alone.

Nop. here is better

I don't like volatile stocks, nor blue-sky - the first needs too much screen-gazing and the second falls to earth when the Directors have lathered themselves with Options at our expense.
ISYS is employing top-notch execs to turn the business from a dog into something worthy of its turnover. The PE ratio tell it all - just negative and close to unity. If these execs could not see this as advancement they'd not bother to come on-board - it could affect their career chances..........so if you think there is recovery possible (I do) then at 13p there is plenty of up-side - they were trading close to 25p for a long time until further news knocked them down, so I think any more recovery will show a profit. This company is supported by institutions - that bought at MUCH higher prices, so they could be looking at break-up to recover their cash........either way the current sp is too low - Provided the execs are really earning their salaries and at the AGM it would seem that is likely to be so.
(There is a pension-pot problem but that is common to many large co's and I understand it is much-improved although not solved.) A further concern is the method of incorporating Proxy votes at the agm. A "show-of-hands" is open and difficult to fudge, whereas adding proxy votes really means they don't need an agm ..... this is something the FSA needs to stamp on IMHO, as it could lead to fraud....if widely used.
This stock is ISA-able - not many multi-baggers like that, are there?

Personally, I believe we will look back in few months time and see what a bargain ISYS was at 13p (or lower) ! DYOR

OUTLOOK Invensys set to report modest Q2 results amid tough trading conditions
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Invensys PLC, the UK electronics and engineering group, is expected to continue to show a continued recovery in its second quarter and half-year results Thursday amid tough trading conditions and after an extensive restructuring.

The London-based company now comprises five divisions, including Rail Systems, Appliance Controls and Process Systems, which serves the booming oil sector.

According to Deutsche Bank most divisions are expected to show progress, although Appliance Controls has had 'embattled' customers demanding price cuts.

The analysts' consensus forecast is for operating profit from retained businesses of 49 mln stg for the second quarter, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. For the half year operating profit is seen at 81 mln stg, compared to 67 mln in the same period a year earlier.

In its first quarter results Invensys announced an 82 pct rise in operating profit, slightly ahead of expectations, and a narrowing of its pretax loss to 24 mln stg from 69 mln in the same period a year earlier.

nick.huber@afxnews.com

nh/cml