Anyone have any views on this? It was a recent play of the week in Share magazine a few weeks ago. They claim it has enormous potential, possibly another Cairn

Shares Mag of 6 Jan says "buy at 2.37 as exploration potential is recognised" !! Its very bullish saying "Melrose placed for bumper 2011" !! The article in Shares is very 'persuasive' but do we believe what we read? Thats the question !! But up 4p today and at 2.54 maybe just maybe !! :)

like this one appears undervalued with plenty of news to come.dyor

Bought these @330p must be 10 years ago and still down they were tipped by shares mag as a bluesky stock to have a punt.
I'm waiting for a bid at least for 330p.

Robert Adair controls almost 51% so you may not have long to wait.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to close the firm down for breaching minimum capital requirements in what would be the first action of its kind against a European private equity house.

Advantage, which has former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie on its advisory panel, has been battling its cornerstone investor Robert Adair, the oil and gas magnate.

Mr Adair, the founder and executive chairman of oil company Melrose Resources, had personally committed 90pc of Advantage's latest fund. But despite having a fortune estimated at 210m, Mr Adair asked the private equity firm to suspend his obligation to invest last year, claiming to be in "financial difficulties".

Advantage's co-founder Martin Bodenham said that despite regular communication with the FSA the outlook looked bleak for the fund. "With no income and no chequebook to write new deals we are trading at a loss. This is fast eroding our positive net assets.

Good bloke to trust!!

The firm may yet pull through. A court ruled that Adair was in breach of his contract, and the firm will find out what compensation it will receive at a hearing in June, according to Advantage co-founder Martin Bodenham and his lawyers. Bodenham said last month that the firm had cut its costs to meet the FSAs minimum capital adequacy tests.

A spokesman for Adair did not respond to requests for comment.

Might find in june he won't be 50% holder.,.

BB Adair recently increased his shareholding and is a majority shareholder, perhaps with a view to selling up.

Oil and gas group Melrose Resources has cut its full-year production guidance by 8% after disappointments at two of its Egyptian wells.

The firm now expects to produce 40.5 thousand barrels of oil equivalents per day (Mboepd) in 2011, down from its previous guidance of 44 Mboepd.

The North East Abu Zahra-1 gas well experienced water breakthrough back in December, and the group saw the well rate decline rapidly until it ceased to flow last month.

The company now plans to drill a replacement production well in the field at the crest of the structure after completing the current West Dikirnis horizontal well. This will result in the deferral of production but has no implications with respect to the field reserves, the group said.

Meanwhile, its two Bulgarian gas fields, Kaliakra and Kavarna, have continued to show good production and are producing at a combined rate of 46 million cubic feet per day.

The ultimate proved plus probable reserves estimate at its Kavarna field in Bulgaria has been raised from 25 billion cubic feet of gas (Bcf) to 27Bcf.

..Questor share tip: Melrose purchase is a smart reason to invest

By Garry White | Telegraph – 26 minutes ago

Melrose (LSE: MRO.L - news) 236.7p Questor says: Buy

Melrose, the industrial turnaround group, saw profits fall in the first half, but this was down to costs involved in a big acquisition.

The company has a model similar to private equity it buys struggling businesses and improves them, before selling them on at a profit.

Last week, Melrose completed the purchase of German gas and water meter group Elster. It financed the purchase through a £1.2bn rights issue. The future upside from the group is through the development of "smart meters" that can measure and control the use of basic utilities such as water and gas, saving the customer money and using less energy.

Management are convinced that there are enough synergies in the business to boost profitability to meet their targets.

In the six months to June, pre-tax profits fell to £46.3m from £58.9m on revenues that were 9pc ahead at £564.6m. However, once refinancing and M&A costs are stripped out, profit rose 16pc to £81.9m. The interim dividend was maintained at 2.6p and it will be paid on October 19.

Although the general market backdrop is tough, the company was generally upbeat. "Group order intake remains higher than revenue, giving us confidence for the second half of the year," Melrose reported.

Questor last gave an update in June, when the shares were at 370.6p. The successful rights issue provided two new Melrose ordinary shares for each existing share at 142p and the theoretical ex-rights price (Terp) based on the day before the shares traded ex-rights is 210p. With a great management team and a proven business model, Questor keeps Melrose a buy after the Elster purchase.

Unfortunately its the other Melrose.

oops!!!! Sorry about that