BOB MORTON(Southwind) has 29.9% of Harrier plc(HRR).
He recently bought another 2.2% to get him to his maximum allowed stake before he has to make a bid for the whole company.
Reverse takeover due soon.
Clearly a man to follow according to the article below.




Following the Clever Money

Aug 15, 2005

by Dominic Connolly
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Some of the best investing and trading results I have had in recent years have been from riding on the coat tails of investors far brighter than myself, investors who have done far more research on a company than I will ever be inclined to do myself.

It can be a tedious process following all the dealings that get reported through the RNS announcements, but I try to maintain a list of major stakes and holdings in nearly three hundred UK companies. This allows me to keep track of who is increasing or decreasing their stakes in certain key companies. (see this sample)

Companies Act disclosure requirements allow private investors to keep track of the activities of shrewd investors who have a proven track record of successful investing. Websites, such as Citywire, also dig around below the surface by accessing shareholder registers, to discover early stake building below the reportable 3% level. Proven successful investors often have a wealth of experience, and are much better placed to make successful investment decisions in less-researched smaller companies than private investors will ever be.

A couple of things are worth noting:

Small investors who follow bigger stake builders have an advantage in that they can nimbly move in and out of positions quickly. A large shareholding, however, can be hard to both establish and later exit, and so dictates a degree of commitment. Smaller investors can follow but enter and exit at will.
Because takeover rules limit stakes to 29.9% without making a mandatory takeover offer, some share price weakness can ensue after the stake builder increases their stake rapidly to that level, and then stops without bidding. Stake building in a company that starts to approach 29.9% can be both bullish and bearish for the share price in the short-term.

Shrewd investors
Listed below are some of the shrewd investors and shareholder activists who invariably seem to spot value in companies at an early stage, and whose lead it can be profitable to follow.

Jack Petchey (Trefick)
Property entrepreneur, Jack Petchey, acquires stakes in listed real estate companies trading at significant discounts to NAV through his Isle of Man investment vehicle, Trefick. He also has considerable experience in the motor distributor sector, and has had a great deal of success investing in the sector. He takes large stakes in companies, and puts pressure on management to restructure in order to maximise shareholder value.

Time and again companies that Petchey invests in become takeover targets shortly afterwards. The most recent example being property company, Estates & General, which was bid for by Winten, shortly after Petchey accumulated a 29% holding.

A common strategy he uses is to launch tender offers for his target, which can be a good barometer for gauging how loose or 'sticky' shareholders are, as well as demonstrating how undervalued the company is.

Saville Gordon eventually agreed to buy Trefick's 29% stake in December 2000, to get him off the shareholder register (in what was, effectively, greenmail), and was eventually taken off the market in an MBO in May 2002. Petchey is a classic facilitator.

Peter Gyllenhammar
Swedish activist investor, Peter Gyllenhammar, specialises in companies trading at substantial discounts to net asset value or in need of restructuring, often through his investment vehicles, Erudite, Fvaltnings AB and Silverslaggen. He often seeks board representation and works closely with management. Gyllenhammar has a background as an analyst and corporate finance advisor to several major Swedish corporations. He has interests in a number of UK public companies, and is chairman of British Mohair Holdings, and a director of Browallia International. Current significant holdings include Densitron Technologies, European Colour, The Jarvis Porter Group, Lonrho Africa and The Sherwood Group.

Bob Morton
Arthur Leonard 'Bob' Morton is well known as a serial and entrepreneurial West Midlands investor, who often utilises his investment vehicle, Southwind, to make strategic investments. He returned several times his investment when he took a 15% stake in Tenon, the accountancy and professional services firm in February 2003. He is believed to be worth more than 100m, has investments in over twenty quoted companies and is chairman of numerous companies, including Armour Group, HARRIER GROUP and Systems Union.