Newly floated so I have been watching this one. It did not need to raise cash and the company has performed well for its investors but the shares fell soon after the float. now they are rising again I'm tempted--anyone else bought some??

It really depends on investor confidence. If investors start to withdraw their funds en masse then you may end up with a situation like NRK but without the prospect of a government bail out.

Starting to look good.Time to get on board!

This is the Death Star.

Not if you bought in at 1.6 p on the 9th Last Tuesday),now up over 100%,and 76% today.
Anybody into what is happening here and if it is worth a punt!

More than 10 bids expected this week according to the FT on 26th Dec. Imo price will be anywhere between 6-8p at some point this week. Jason Streets at Evolution Securities had quoted a figure of 8p in mid-December. Blue Planet will consider any offers but they quoted a minimum price of 20p as a very conservative valuation. With their 6.7% stake they can round a few shareholders to ensure the highest possible price is offered.

New Star attracts potential bidders
By Kate Burgess

Published: December 27 2008 02:00 | Last updated: December 27 2008 02:00

More than 10 potential bidders have expressed interest in New Star, the troubled fund management group that this month agreed a debt-for-equity swap with its banks. The banks, a consortium of HBOS, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and National Australia Bank, which put the group up for sale this month, hope to receive bids by the first week in January.

A speedy sale will help to end uncertainty among clients about the future of the management group and stop more redemptions from New Star funds.

The group, which managed more than 20bn six months ago, now has just more than 12bn under management.

A number of rival fund managers are thought to be looking over the business, among them Henderson, Gartmore and Neptune Investment Management.

People close to the banks have sought to counter speculation of a management buy-out by New Star managers of institutional funds or a piecemeal sale of fund management contracts.

They say the bank consortium is hoping for a quick disposal of the whole group rather than looking to break up the group.

New Star, which was founded by John Duffield in 2000 after he left Jupiter, a rival fund manager, established itself quickly as one of the best known fund management names on the high street.

However, it put itself into the hands of its banks this month after a sudden drop in confidence and a sharp rise in redemptions by clients following the downturn in the property market, turmoil on stock markets and poor performance by some of its star fund managers.

The group's market capitalisation, which was estimated at more than 1bn 18 months ago, has decreased to just 5m.

The shares have fallen steadily over the year but they went into a tailspin this month when New Star suspended trading in its flagship European Property fund and fears escalated that the fall in assets meant that the group was coming up against its banking covenants.

The banks agreed to write down their 260m of debt, swapping it for a mix of 94m in preference shares and three-quarters of the group's ordinary shares. Plans to delist the group by the end of January continue, but by then the banks hope to have signed a deal to dispose of the business for no more than 115m.

UBS has been appointed by the banks to advise on the sale of New Star. New Star and UBS declined to comment.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c55fcb2-d3b8-11dd-989e-000077b07658.html

At what price for any offer would Blue Planet find it acceptable?

“We support the management’s restructuring proposal, which we believe will add value in the next 12 to 24 months, but if an offer is made in the meantime, we will consider it.”

http://www.dealmakerdaily.co.uk/news/item/27335.html

‘Even on most conservative basis, the think the minimum current value of New Star is around 20p per share but more realistically between 40-50p – plus it has the ability to shed costs.’

http://www.citywire.co.uk/Professional/-/news/investment-trusts/content.aspx?ID=323598&Page=1

DEALTALK-Quickfire New Star buy could bag a bargain

By Laurence Fletcher and Joel Dimmock
LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - New Star Asset Management could find a buyer for
its business even before its investors vote on a debt-for-equity swap that will
see its banks take hold of the troubled fund manager.
Investors may find themselves asked to support a takeover thrashed out
over the Christmas break at a January shareholder meeting, sources close to New
Star said.
A deal may value the group at around 200 million pounds ($297.5 million),
or about 8 pence per share, said Jason Streets at Evolution Securities.
New Star's founder and Chief Executive John Duffield, a well-known figure
in London financial circles, is set to walk away once there is a deal with
creditor banks, according to a source close to the firm.
New Star, which took on debt last year to fund a payout to shareholders,
agreed a debt for equity swap with banks this month, whereby a syndicate owed
about 240 million pounds will end up owning some 75 percent of New Star.
On Tuesday, the company said it had received a number of expressions of
interest from others and that it might put itself up for sale or consider other
options for its future. UBS is advising the company.
Aberdeen Asset Management and unlisted Neptune Investment Management are
possible buyers. But Jupiter, another fund firm set up by Duffield, is not
looking at a bid for New Star, a source close to the company told Reuters.
Evolution's Streets said New Star could be worth 200 million pounds --
150 million for the UK mutual funds and 50 million for the hedge fund and
institutional arm.
New Star's shares have slumped from nearly 500 pence last May to about 2
pence on Friday. And on Thursday they temporarily suspended dealings in its 29
million pound Heart of Africa fund.
"The banks probably want to dispose of it as soon as they can and get
their cash back," said Gurjit Kambo at Numis.
New Star still has respectable assets under management of 13.9 billion
pounds, despite recent outflows.
Fund firms may sell for more than 5 percent of assets under management at
the top of the equity markets, but bear markets can throw up real bargains.
Insight Investment bought Rothschild Asset Management in December 2002,
near the trough of the last bear market, for a mere 0.6 percent of assets -- a
move that later looked shrewd given the upturn in markets in March 2003.
Aberdeen, which in January sounded wary of big acquisitions, has altered
its tone as market conditions have changed and would not rule itself out of the
running for New Star.
"In this market environment we view Aberdeen as a consolidator rather
than being consolidated," a spokesman said.
Neptune has indicated its interest in part or all of New Star, although
with a war chest of just 10 million pounds it may only be in a position to take
part of the assets.
A management buyout may be unlikely given limited access to debt in
current markets and the lack of synergies in any management-backed deal.

Massive buy and massive premium on this buy, just come through on PLUS:-

05/01/2009 08:23:37 3.50 289,944 O 10,139.30

http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/data.shtml?ISIN=GB00B1VJF742/GBX/PLUS-exn

Someone has just bought 289K shares at 3.50p??? 1p premium!

Hmmm volume only showing 87k @8:29

On PLUS:-962K in volume

http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/data.shtml?ISIN=GB00B1VJF742/GBX/PLUS-exn

Looking v.good courtesy of the v.large buy at 3.50p earlier and strong buying volume reported on PLUS.

In Auction at 2.80p.

sounds ok to me ,so i bought in at 2.77

2.48m Volume on PLUS and 958K on LSE already. Large volume possibly because of Aberdeen Asset confirming their wish to vacuum up in the sector even after the Credit Suisse buy. There were some interesting comments from Mr Gilbert in the Times snippet on Saturday.

From The Times
January 1, 2009

Aberdeen comes out from under a cloud

'In a sector that is expected to consolidate rapidly this year, Mr Gilbert says Aberdeen stands ready to make further acquisitions'.

'Mr Gilbert may even salvage something out of the mess at New Star Asset Management, John Duffield's stricken manager'.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5426090.ece

Aberdeen still possibly interested in New Star even after Credit Suisse acquisition:-

He declined to be drawn on any specific targets, but Aberdeen is thought to remain interested in New Star, the struggling manager being sold by UBS on behalf of a five-strong bank syndicate that took control this month. New Star, which would give Aberdeen about £12billion of additional funds, including retail investments to manage, is expected to fetch a maximum of £115million. “The only thing we won't take on is debt,” Mr Gilbert said.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article5425507.ece

All buys being reported on PLUS and sizeable buys of 100K + 150K blocks of which many reported.

I said it was coming....1.75 million BUY at 2.61p just put through by DUET

Potential Bidders:-

'In such circumstances potential bidders will I think start to be attracted to the firm, leading potentially to a sale in short order. Aberdeen chief executive Martin Gilbert ruled out a wholesale purchase this week of New Star but only because of its debt, with this resolved he may well be interested again. Simliarly Hendersons could spot an opportunity. Citywire also revealed yesterday that Neptune Investment Management is actively looking at acquiring some of the funds and assets. I would personally not rule out a purchase by other protagonists in financial services M&A. Resolution boss Clive Cowdery is on the hunt for assets again and his old adversary Hugh Osmond has access to plenty of capital at Pearl to boost his presence in the retail fund management arena'.

http://www.citywire.co.uk/adviser/-/blogs/investment-solutions/content.aspx?ID=322843

Marlborough buys main stake in Apollo

Story by: Nick Rice Magazine:

InvestmentAdviser Published Monday , January 05, 2009

Marlborough revealed it has bought a controlling stake in Guernsey-based Apollo Investment Management as the asset management industry moves further towards greater consolidation.

The investment house confirmed its decision in the week GLG Partners bought SociGale Asset Management UK. Bidders are also circling New Star Asset Management.

http://ftadviser.com/InvestmentAdviser/Investments/News/article/20090105/555defc4-d04d-11dd-ad95-00144f2af8e8/Marlborough-buys-main-stake-in-Apollo.jsp

"Bidders are also circling New Star Asset Management"

Sector also seems to be heavily in focus now which will hopefully result in the highest price possible for any offer on New Star.

Wasn't aware of this but Aberdeen were prepared to pay a substantial premium back in March 2008...if as quoted there are more than 10 bidders for New Star now, Abderdeen may snuff them out by going much higher again than the quoted bid figure of 8p.

Contributed by: Martinas B.
Date: 19 Mar, 2008
It was supposed to be the AIM-traded company. Nevertheless, today our attention has New Star Asset Management, which is actually traded on FTSE. Let's see what we've got here...

Three days ago funds firm New Star Asset Management has rejected a takeover bid from money manager Aberdeen Asset Management.

According to the Mail on Sunday newspaper's report, Aberdeen offered 200p per share for New Star, valuing the fund manager at around 470 million pounds.

That's a substantial premium to the closing share price of today's trading price - 85.00p.

Other groups thought to be interested in New Star include private equity groups Candover, JC Flowers and Hellman & Friedman, which already owns rival investment group Gartmore and could achieve cost savings from merging the two, the paper said.

http://uk.hotstocked.com/article/0563/is-new-star-asset-management-nsam-l-still-shining.html

1 million Vol. on PLUS and 100K blocks buys continuing to come through on PLUS after the numerous ones yesterday.

http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/data.shtml?ISIN=GB00B1VJF742/GBX/PLUS-exn