Ive had these on the watch list for a few weeks now and the company seems to be getting a lot of Institutional Interest.

Its basically an asset based lender to smaller companys and carrys out a similar business to that of the big clearing banks, but as the economy gets tighter and bank lending gets more difficult to secure customers are turning to this Northern based company as an alternative.

Description Of Business.

Davenham is a leading, independent asset based lender to the UK SME sector.

The business was founded in 1991 in Manchester from where its core operations
are run. In recent years, Davenham has begun to expand and it now also operates
from offices in Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Davenham provides lending solutions designed to meet the financing needs of UK
SMEs - typically involving loans of between 10,000 and 3 million. The
Directors believe this is a profitable and attractive market place that is not
adequately serviced by mainstream lenders, which tend to adopt a formulaic
approach to lending decisions. Davenham has a diverse loan portfolio, with its
lending activities organised into three divisions: property finance, asset
finance and trade finance.

Davenham enjoys strong client relationships reflecting high levels of customer
service and tailored financing packages. The Directors believe that Davenham's
ability to form a commercial view and reach lending decisions quickly underpins
premium rates and high levels of repeat business. New clients are typically
sourced through introductions from existing clients, direct approaches and a
network including mainstream lenders, finance brokers, accountancy firms and
other professionals.

Davenham has a strong financial record both in terms of revenue growth and
profitability and has consistently achieved a gross return on loan portfolio of
circa 20 per cent. The Directors believe this results from Davenham's position
as a leading lender in a profitable and niche market place in which the
competition is fragmented.

Davenham is funded by a group of banks led by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and
has a facility of 175 million, which the Directors believe is sufficient for
Davenham's current requirements.

The Placing:

Davenham, a leading independent asset based lender to the UK SME
sector, announces completion of its admission to AIM and that trading in its
ordinary shares commenced at 8.00am today.

Panmure Gordon, the Company's broker, has placed 10.9 million new
ordinary shares on behalf of the Company raising approximately 27.7 million
before expenses, and also placed approximately 6.7 million existing ordinary
shares for approximately 16.9 million on behalf of selling shareholders.

Approximately 17.2 million of the proceeds of the issue of new
ordinary shares will be used to redeem certain loan notes and mezzanine debt.
The balance of 10.5 million will be used to increase the capital base of
Davenham and to pay for the expenses of the flotation.

Davenham will be included in the Speciality and Other Finance sector
and will have an EPIC code of DAV.L.

Hawkpoint is the nominated adviser and financial adviser to Davenham
and Panmure Gordon is broker.

Dunedin and Indigo backed the buyout of Davenham in 2000 and have
supported the Company through to a successful flotation. They will remain
supportive shareholders.

The placing took place at 254p.

Director Speak.

David Coates, Chief Executive said:

'We are delighted by the positive response to the placing and the completion of
our admission to trading on AIM. I am pleased to welcome our new institutional
investors as shareholders of Davenham.

'We are well positioned to capitalise on the attractive growth opportunities in
our market place and we believe the flotation will raise our profile and support
future growth by strengthening our ability to lend, expand into the Midlands and
the South of the UK and fund selective acquisitions.'

I see from the Brokers forecasts that the Pospective P/E is approx 10 falling the year after. Might be rewarding to get in at this early stage.

DYOR.

Cheers GF.

DIL i hope youre right, but 500p sounds good

For starters.

A bit quiet this morning so far. Come on punters its still very cheap on a rolling P/E of just 10.

cheers GF.

Buyers coming in now. Talk of Smallcompanywatch doing a follow up article on this one this weekend.

cheers GF.

Gf ,they always keep track of their recommendations ,and update every month .

Could be good news for us then come monday. Could you please let us know Jimmy if there is a back up at the weekend.

cheers GF.

Sure GF, i'll email you ..

Have they added it to their portfolio yet GF ?

Dont know Dil, I dont get the tip sheet Jimmy does. Aghh its just dropped a penny.

cheers GF.

jimmy is your portfolio based around scsw? had it for the last few months but only brought any shares last month, davenham being 1 of them

No not at all evolution ,, it's just another tool to use ,i actually buy very few of their recommendations ,but they do come up with the odd cracker ,you just have to pick carefully..I don't like the fact that it is delivered on Saturday and have thought of cancelling my subscription becuase of that..

..

Unlike others though jimmy SCSW give all subscribers an equal chance of getting in on the Monday cos they don't leak their tips like others.

I know cos I've tried getting them .... even rang a CEO once and asked if he had spoken to SCSW in the previous few weeks :-)

busted flush this one chaps.

The last 2 tips Dil gave me were awful namely Nord Anglia and Jarvis.

DO NOT TRUST THIS TWERP.

ebboarecrap
OK

Back to business.

cheers GF.

Dil ,,i don't agree ,,, the problem with receiving scsw on Saturday is that on Monday morning the MM's have put the price up ,this happens every time ,,then in next months edition they say ,,made a nice 10% gain on XYZ ,,,well they have ,but we havn't . I know it's about buy and hold but it's nice to get in early,, i have another tip sheet that arrives mid week ,and i have used it for years ...

Talk on other boards that Small Company Watch will update on DAV this weekend re - to the positive trading statement this week.

cheers Gf.

Just gone into the blue, NICE.

cheers GF.

jimmy , SCSW do not add the share to their portfolio until AFTER tipping it ... again , unlike others.