NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS LITTLE RASCAL-WHATS HAPPENING-ANY NEWS ABOUT MERGER-THERE IS RUMOURS THAT IT COULD VALUED AS MUCH AS 10P A SHARE-IS IT TRUE??IF ANY ONE KNOWS ANYTHING PLEASE REPLY-I COULDN'T BELEIVE THAT PEOPLE STOPPED WRITING ABOUT THIS SINCE THE MERGER ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE-BUT PLENTY OF SUGGESTIONS AND POSITIVE NOTES BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT-IS IT GOING BUST???????

I agree with skyhigh not much activity with trades this morning looks like everyone is waiting

WHATS HAPPENING TO THIS SHARE?? CAN'T BELEIVE THAT IT IS EXPECTED TO SHOOT UP TO ATLEAST 10P LEVEL AFTER THE MERGER NEWS WAS ANNOUNCED UNFORTUNATELY OPPOSITE HAPPENED.BERK BERRY REPORTED ON RNS THAT THEY HAVE POSTED DOCUMENTS CONTAINING DETAILS OF MERGER TO THEIR SHARE HOLDERS,ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT----PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP-LACK OF NEWS IS KILLING EVERY BODY-WHAT ABOUT THOSE ARTICLES BOASTING ABOUT THIS SHARE APPEARED ON MAGAZINES SUCH AS SHARE & INVESTORS CHRONICLE-ARE THEY WASTE OF TIME???

Be patient.. Now is not the time to sell. I've only got a 100k shares but I'm hanging on to them for now. There will be a positive reaction sooner or later. May not be spectacular but I expect this to at least double in the next week or two. Then I'll look at selling some if not all. see how goes. DOYR. :)

ANYONE HEARD ANYTHING, BOTH IAL AND BBB NOT BEEN DOING SO WELL OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS?

Not heard anything at all. It's all gone quiete.. Aim/Sm caps mkt is down overall over past few days and has knocked alot shares back and IAL has been no exception. I have to say it's anyones guess as to what will happen with IAL. I went in on this one as a good recovery play (sooner or later) last Sept. (shares mag)

patients is a virtue everyone, merger is most likely to happen, broker recommendation is strong. the next 4 month u will see the price near double. we wont get the 10p target as some people said because thats a very laughable value.

thanks nav, i`ve been in these since september and natrually these are shwoing a loss. i think that the tide should change in the next couple of months on the back of a possible merger with BBB. If memory serves me correct IAL are set to announce their results in April, so it`s worth hanging on `till then. I think the price would not rise much more than double it`s current value simply due to how much the stock has become diluted.

RBOS have disposed of over 6 million ordinary shares this morning, can someone let me know what impact this will have, if anything on the IAL share price, or why RBOS have done this.

Hi Thom, I`m still fairly new to share dealing but i can only think that this sort of thing cannot be a good thing, if a big institution is no longer interested then do they know something we don`t and wanna turn their shares into cash?????? Whatever their reasons I wouldn`t take this as a positive sign unfortunatly.

I am thinking of buying here.Do you think I should and if so,why ?
rgds aj

I have to say it's anyones guess as to what will happen with IAL. I went in on this one as a good recovery play (sooner or later) last Sept. (shares mag). I'm continuing to hold.
Good luck with whatever you do. If you do go in you'll need a great deal of patience with this one ! DYOR. Hope we'll get other views / comments also..:)

I too bought on recovery spec last septemeber, I had my sights on IAL before it`s recommendation in Shares mag, I bought in at 3p. The longer I leave this share in my portfolio the more anxiuos I`m becoming. I have recently sold half my stock and put my money into other stocks which should grow more. I do think the stock should recover given time but there`s always the risk it could go under, the recently announced possible merger with BBB did little to raise the price. I`m optimistic but at the same time becoming increasingly more cautious.

I bought these shares about 3 months ago on broker recommendation. I phoned my broker today and mentioned that RBS had recently sold 6 million shares in IAL.
My broker still recommends holding the shares.

Geoffrey,
Would be interested to know who the broker was and what are his reasons to recommend holding the shares.
I bought 100k shares @3p some 6 months ago from Hoodless. However, I bought these on the back of Shares mag buy rec. on recovery play. Hoodless also say hold on to shares.
Sometimes it's better if mergers don't come off as then company's can focus on getting things back on track, more quickly with more motivation... we'll see...In the meantime. it's like watching paint dry waiting to find out how it's going to turn out.-- painful!

It was Hoodless who advised to hold. They said, "it doesn't always mean there is something wrong when banks sell shares in the company".

I think we may see the shares rise if the next set of results show an improvement.

yo`ure right skyhigh, holding this stock is very painful, i think they are announcing some results in april if i recall so we should know a little more then about where the company is heading......

The below communication just released by BBB may be relevant ?

It looks like a re-org just before they merge with IAL. did he walk or was he pushed ? perhaps they are already rationalising and making room for the snr IAL guys. either way, we should get some news in the next week or two !



Berkeley Berry Birch PLC
03 March 2004



For Immediate Release

Berkeley Berry Birch plc Announces Board Changes

London, 3 March 2004: Berkeley Berry Birch plc, the financial services
distribution group, announces the appointment of Clifford P. Lockyer as Group
Chief Executive. This will be in addition to his current responsibilities as
Group Executive Chairman.

Craig Butcher will now remain as Finance Director with broader commercial
responsibilities.

Stephen Ingledew, the Company's current Group Chief Executive, has left the
Company by mutual consent to pursue alternative business opportunities.

I agree skyhigh, the CEO probably left as he was surplus to requirements in the new structure, or because he was against the merger proceeding.

Not looking good today though,,, down a 1/4p.. I always wonder why peeps sell just before somethings going to happen. Perhaps they know something...
Anyway, I'm still hanging in there.. hoping for the best ! :)

does anyone know why this share has lost 1/2p in two days?