I bought into these yesterday and they are rising steadily. Main market listing with results in August and the market seems to like them. They are in the rapid growth oil and gas support area.

wow! I wish I'd stayed in this one!

JP Morgan note:
"For some time we have seen Wellstream as the most likely target amongst our pan European oilfield service stocks indeed Wellstream operates in a rather consolidated market segment with a differentiated product in a subsea market with long-term structural growth opportunities. Wellstream appears to have been losing market share to its competitors outside Brazil in our view this is primarily because oil companies are increasingly looking for a one stop shop for oil services (recent M&A supports this view) the market share appears to have gone to companies like Acergy and Technip those companies that can both manufacture flexible product and install it. In addition we believe that in tight market conditions (2006-08) there was significant inflation in the installation market oil companies may have separated the procurement of pipe (50% of the total cost) from the installation contracts (50%) in a bid to increase pricing transparency and reduce cost. This would have been a positive for Wellstream during that time. In our
view it makes a lot of sense for Wellstream to be integrated into an existing installation contractor although we believe it makes less sense for an installation contractor (vessel owner) to own manufacturing capacity (indeed oil companies often specify a preferred pipe supplier). However, with much of the Subsea Umbilicals Risers and Flowlines (SURF) growth opportunity in Brazil, ownership of Wellstream can help satisfy critical local presence requirement in that market.

Wellstream has heavy operational gearing, and declining utilisation of their facility in the UK has explained much of the downgrades 2011 consensus (I/B/E/S) EPS forecasts fells by 60% in 2009 and a further 31% YTD. Wellstreams valuation (2010-11 PER of 29x and 17x based on our forecasts and yesterdays close) imply strong positive momentum going forward in our view which could materialise, particularly with the company in the right hands."

StockMarketWire.com
"General Electric (GE) has said this morning that it is disappointed that the directors of Wellstream Holdings has not accepted its takeover terms.

GE's bid is worth 7.50 per share. It says that there is no certainty it will take any further action and may make a reduced offer. "

From the special situations desk at Olivetree
"Wellstream is weak this morning on GE's statement that it (1) made a 750p rejected bid but (2) will be disciplined when considering a next move. With the stock in the 750s as a result, for the first time we think the risk reward is finally becoming attractive.

Todays statement is interesting as much for what isnt in there as for what is. Importantly GE could have walked away today but they chose not to. There is plenty of language in UK to allow them to have come back at a later date (with a recommendation for instance). So what we know now as fact is that a large industrial buyer has bid 750p, that they are still in the game despite being told to pay more, and the press widely reports that the target is looking for 800p.

It is also interesting to us that it is GE putting the statement out rather than WSM. The panel almost always goes to the target for clarification rather than the acquirer - for some reason GE have "chosen" to make the statement in WSM's place. Remember a statement from WSM could have given us clarity on the position of other bidders too. If seems possible that WSM directed the panel in GEs direction, given that GE could have given clarity on the future intentions part of yesterdays press. GE would likely have been under no obligation to comment (the real obligation lies with WSM ultimately). However, GE did comment presumably therefore by choice sending a strong signal that they ultimately want to consummate a deal. If we believe the theory that GE chose to put this statement out (although admittedly under encouragement from the panel), given the nature of the buyer and their decision to go public, we think it relatively unlikely they dont close this deal for a 5% spread.
This would be nicely in keeping with the press we saw yesterday, where we interpreted the stories as WSM guiding down expectations by effectively saying to shareholders its not going to be much more than 800p. Todays statement effectively is GE saying its not going to be much more than 800p, and its GE youre dealing with here, not some small-time buyer. So in our model, although the chances of a deal come back a little bit, they do not come back too far in fact given we have much more factual information now than ever before, the situation is more analysable than ever. We see it as likely GE would pay 800 and likely that the board would recommend this if told to do so by shareholders. All that realistically matters now is what WSM shareholders are feeding back to management - all that matters is whether shareholders tell them to sell c800p or not."