Results out 6/12/2007/ Promises are positive.

Projected earnings are reasonable.

But DYOH

i only bought a very few, but certainly a lot better than a poke in the eye, or even the arse with a sharp stick

LOL, some on twitter are accusing me of being in the know.

I hadnt a clue, but thier as been some weekend newspaper articles aspecially the FT.

Bit long winded that RNS though.

Just want to know when we get our 60p back.

15 Sep 2014 Micro Focus... MCRO N+1 Singer Buy 945.00 842.50 990.00 990.00 Reiterates

SP Target 990p

UPDATE 1 Micro Focus to buy The Attachmate Group in all – share deal

15 Sep 2014 - 09:59

Both companies help corporates update IT systems
Reverse takeover will see group re-listed in London
Micro Focus shares up 11 pct
(Changes slug, adds exec chairman, analyst comments, share reaction)

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – British mainframe computer specialist Micro Focus International is to buy privately-owned U.S. rival The Attachmate Group Inc in an all-share deal valuing the firms' combined capital and debt at $2.35 billion.

Micro Focus said on Monday that following the reverse takeover, its shareholders would own about 60 percent of the equity in the new group which will be re-listed in London.

The two groups serve major corporate clients such as banks, retailers and airlines that run mainframe computers, helping them modernise the technology so that applications and databases can be accessed by newer systems, such as cloud technology.

"We aim to help customers sort out some of the challenges of their older IT systems and link them to new technology, so they can get more return on their current investments," Micro Focus Executive Chairman Kevin Loosemore told Reuters.

"This gives us a broader set of products to deliver that, and it also exposes us to some faster growing markets," he said in a telephone interview.

Loosemore said Micro Focus had been talking on and off with The Attachmate Group for about three years before finally agreeing a deal.

The owners of Houston, Texas-based Attachmate include the Francisco Partners Funds, the Golden Gate Funds, the Thoma Bravo Funds and the Elliott Management Fund.

Loosemore, who retains his position in the combined group, said the deal would lift Micro Focus's revenue to about $1.4 billion from about $430 million, and its underlying core earnings to more than $500 million from $196 million.

He said Micro Focus was buying Attachmate for about 7.5 times core earnings, a significant discount on the 11.3 times earnings Micro Focus trades at.

Share in Micro Focus jumped to an all time high of 935 pence, up 11 percent, following the announcement of the deal.

Analyst George O'Connor at Panmure Gordon, who has a "buy" rating on the shares, said the deal was a big step towards Micro Focus becoming an "all applications modernisation company".

"The acquisition has the same 'DNA' – it is a large systems enterprise software company, with high profitability and is cash generative," he added.

The two companies' net debt, comprising $233 million on the part of the British company and $1.17 billion on the part of Attachment, will be refinanced as part of the deal, Loosemore said. The combined group's debt ratio would increase to about 3.3 earnings, but this would be reduced to Micro Focus's long-term debt target of 2.5 times in about two years, he said.

Micro Focus also said it would still return about 60 pence a share to investors, as announced in August.

Micro Focus was advised by Numis and Attachment was advised by Morgan Stanley.

(Editing by Karolin Schaps and Mark Potter) ((paul.sandle@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 6843; Reuters Messaging: paul.sandle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

Keywords: MICRO FOCUS INTE M&A/ATTACHMATE

Lobbed a few off the top just to be sure.

Never know in these markets with Scots etc etc.

as previously advised elsewhere, i bailed out of these yesterday with a very respectable profit for the sum invested
a good and sensible move for a change as hindsight now supports

So did I first thing this morning.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus International's H1 pretax profit in reported terms fell 19% to $57.1m, from $70.5m a year earlier. In constant currency terms it was down 15.7%. Total revenue in reported terms was $208.3m, from $207.5m.

Its dividend per share was 15.4 cents, up 10% from 14.0 cents.

Executive chairman Kevin Loosemore commented:
"This was a period in which we made further solid progress. Total revenues in the period ended 31 October 2014 were 0.6% ahead of the same period last year on a constant currency basis whilst Underlying Adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.7% and Adjusted EBITDA increased by 17.4%.

"Growth in Maintenance and Consultancy revenues was offset by a decline in Licence revenues. After a strong close to the year ended 30 April 2014, Licence revenues in International remained strong, whilst there was a decline in Asia Pacific and Japan against a strong comparative period and the sales force restructuring at the end of the year ended 30 April 2014 in North America caused a drag in the half year as the new teams were brought on.

"On 15 September 2014 we announced the acquisition of Attachmate, issued a prospectus on 8 October 2014 and completed the transaction on 20 November 2014. This is a transformational transaction for Micro Focus and has the potential to deliver significantly higher returns to our shareholders over the medium-term than our base case of 15% to 20% per annum.

"On 1 December 2014 we completed our 4th Return of Value to shareholders, this time for 60 pence per share, at a cost of £83.9m ($131.6m). This brings the total amount returned to shareholders since 28 March 2011 through share buy-backs, returns of value and ordinary dividends to £533.0m which represents 84.0% of the Market Capitalization at that time.

"In line with our new progressive dividend policy, we are increasing our interim dividend by 10.0% to 15.4 cents per share (2013: 14.0 cents per share).

"The acquisition of Attachmate represents a very exciting opportunity for the Enlarged Group. The initial phase of the integration has started and the medium-term objective remains the same - for low single digit revenue growth - in order to continue to deliver the financial model that we have set out."

StockMarketWire.com
Panmure Gordon cuts Micro Focus International to hold from buy, 1194p target unchanged.

one to short perhaps especially if the market in general starts to slide

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus International said its net debt at Jan. 31 was $1,510 million and that since that date the Group has used surplus cash and drawn down $75m of its $225m Revolving Facility to make a voluntary repayment of $150 million of the Term Loan B.

The Group's objective remains to reduce net debt to 2.5 times Facility EBITDA.

If this repayment had been made at 31st January 2015 it would not have impacted the Group's net debt position, however, following this voluntary repayment the gross debt of the Group (excluding $150 million undrawn under the Revolving Facility) totals $1,700 million (consisting of $1,125 million Term Loan B, $500 million Term Loan C and $75 million Revolving Facility) compared with gross debt (excluding $125 million undrawn under the Revolving Facility) of $1,875 million at completion of the transaction.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus International confirms its full year guidance on a constant currency basis and provides an update on the integration of the Attachmate Group (TAG) into the Group following completion of the Integration Review.

At the Interim results presentation in December 2014, management provided guidance of combined pro-forma full year revenues of about $1,330 million and combined pro-forma full year Underlying Adjusted EBITDA of about $500 million, based on the exchange rates then prevailing.

The Board is pleased to confirm that the Group has continued to trade in line with this guidance on a constant currency basis. Since the turn of the calendar year the US$ has strengthened significantly against key currencies to which the Enlarged Group is exposed.

When comparing the spot exchange rates at 27 February 2015 to the average exchange rate experienced in the six months to 31st October 2014, the GBP is 7.4% weaker against US$, the Euro is 15.7% weaker and the Japanese Yen is 13.0% weaker.

If this spot exchange rate was used to restate the pro-forma full year numbers on a constant currency basis then pro-forma full year revenues would reduce from c. $1,330 million to $1,240 million and Underlying Adjusted EBITDA would reduce to c. $470 million.

Integration Review:

On 20 November 2014 Micro Focus completed its merger transaction with TAG. Since that date Micro Focus has been conducting a detailed Integration Review which is now complete. The objective of the review was to build a strong plan and foundation on which to deliver the Group's potential.

Prior to the merger with TAG, Micro Focus managed its portfolio of mature infrastructure products through a global product management and development organisation and with a geographic go to market (GTM) organisation.

Fundamental to this approach was an analysis of the individual products, their markets, customers and growth potential. This approach has served us well and as part of the Integration Review we have applied this approach to the portfolio of products in the Enlarged Group.

As the Linux market and Open Source community has unique characteristics, we will have a dedicated focus on the SUSE product portfolio headed by Nils Brauckmann as President and General Manager, SUSE.

This focus is essential if we are to capitalise on the growth potential of these products and be responsive to the open source community and heritage of SUSE. We are increasing the headcount dedicated to development, customer care and sales and marketing of the SUSE portfolio.

The rest of our products will be managed as a portfolio led by Stephen Murdoch, Chief Operating Officer of Micro Focus. This portfolio will comprise products that were in Micro Focus, NetIQ, Attachmate and Novell.

Breaking out and upwards.

The debt is a tad hairy but so long as they're generating this kind of revenue then the pe isn't demanding. Fantastic company for shareholders.

Citigroup reiterates buy on Micro Focus International, target raised from 1275p to 1450p.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus International, the software product group, has reported a strong finish for the year ended 30 April 2015.

The Board says that the Group expects to report revenues and underlying adjusted EBITDA comfortably in line with guidance on a constant currency basis.

The TAG merger was completed in November and so Micro Focus's reported results will include the operating performance of TAG for the period from 20 November 2014 to 30 April 2015.

The Group expects to report revenues of around $835m and at least $345m of underlying adjusted EBITDA.

.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus is to acquire the entire share capital of Spartacus Acquisition Holdings, the holding company of Serena Software and its subsidiaries at an enterprise value of USD540m, payable in cash at completion.

"The acquisition is highly consistent with the Group's established acquisition strategy and focus on the efficient management of mature infrastructure software products," the company said in a statement.

The deal is being funded through the group's existing cash resources together with additional debt and equity finance arranged through Barclays, HSBC and Numis Securities.

The Group's existing revolving credit facility, which is currently undrawn, has been extended from USD225m to USD325m and Micro Focus is today raising approximately GBP150m through a placing underwritten by Numis Securities.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus International said its full-year revenue came in at $3.2bn, down 12% on the year-earlier period, but up 1% when adjusted for divestitures and forex moves.

Its FY operating profit was $749m, representing an improved operating margin of 23.4%.

Fourth-quarter revenue was $903m, down 6% on the year but flat when adjusted for divestitures and forex moves. Q4 operating profit was $290m, revealing an improved operating margin of 32.1%.

StockMarketWire.com
Micro Focus has lifted its H1 pretax profit by 14.6% to $113.2m, from $98.8m a year ago. Dividend per share was 29.73 cents, up 75.5% from 16.94 cents.

Total reported revenue was $684.7m, from $604.5m.

"The board is delighted with our progress," said executive chair Kevin Loosemore in a statement.

"Our focus on delivering to our customers by making detailed product by product decisions and investments has resulted in the business achieving modest like-for-like revenue growth.

"Our investments have resulted in strong growth in SUSE and a reduced rate of decline in the Micro Focus portfolio.

"Whilst we have had a good start to the year and completed two acquisitions, we are maintaining our revenue guidance for FY17 being in the range minus 2% to zero% on FY16 on a constant currency (CCY) basis, pro-forma for the acquisition of Serena.

"Mergers and acquisitions continue to be a key component of our strategy. The key strategic announcement in the period was the HPE Software transaction which is on target to complete in the third quarter of calendar year 2017.

"This is a complex transaction that will transform the Group in a similar way to the Attachmate transaction back in 2014 and provides the opportunity for enhanced shareholder returns over the medium-term.

"The acquisition of Serena completed at the beginning of the period together with a number of small acquisitions across the business comprising GWAVA Inc., openATTIC on 1 November and the OpenStack IaaS and Cloud Foundry Paas talent and technology assets from HPE which was announced on 30 November and is currently expected to close in the first quarter of calendar year 2017.

"We are delighted to announce that our interim dividend is increasing to 29.73 cents from 16.94 cents in line with our twice covered dividend policy."

Micro Focus International plc ("Micro Focus" or the "Company"), the global infrastructure software business, and HPE announced on 7 September 2016 that they had reached a definitive agreement on the terms of a transaction (the "Transaction") pursuant to which the Company has agreed to acquire HPE Software by way of the merger (the "Merger") with a wholly owned subsidiary of HPE incorporated to hold the business of HPE Software for the purposes of the Transaction.

European Union Competition Clearance
Micro Focus and HPE are pleased to announce that they received confirmation earlier today from the European Union ("EU") that it will not initiate proceedings under Article 6(1) of the EU Merger Regulation in relation to, or any matter arising from, the Transaction ("EU Competition Clearance"). The Transaction has already received confirmation under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and remains subject to certain conditions including Micro Focus's shareholders approving the Transaction and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals which remain outstanding. A Circular will be issued to Micro Focus shareholders in May 2017 which will include a notice convening a general meeting to seek such shareholder approval.

Completion of the acquisition by SUSE of certain assets and talent from HPE
SUSE® has completed its acquisition of technology and talent from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which SUSE announced late last year. SUSE will use the acquired assets to expand its OpenStack Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution and accelerate the company's entry into the growing Cloud Foundry Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) market.

The acquired OpenStack assets will be integrated into SUSE OpenStack Cloud, and the acquired Cloud Foundry and PaaS assets will enable SUSE to bring to market a certified, enterprise-ready SUSE Cloud Foundry PaaS solution for all customers and partners in the SUSE ecosystem. In addition, HPE has named SUSE as its preferred open source partner for Linux, OpenStack IaaS and Cloud Foundry PaaS. The two companies also have a non-exclusive agreement under which HPE will OEM SUSE's OpenStack IaaS and SUSE's Cloud Foundry PaaS technology for use inside HPE's Helion OpenStack and Helion Stackato solutions. The net impact on Underlying Adjusted EBITDA of these arrangements in the current financial year is estimated at $3m and in the following 12 months is estimated to be $8m.

Intention to align Micro Focus's accounting year end with HPE Software's year end in connection with completion of the Merger
Upon completion of the Merger with HPE Software, Micro Focus intends that, in order to align financial year ends between HPE Software and Micro Focus and conditional upon the completion of the Merger, Micro Focus will align its year end with HPE Software's year end of 31 October, with the first accounting period to be audited after the Merger has completed being for the 18 months ended 31 October 2018. During this extended accounting period and in order to comply with the UK Listing Rules, Micro Focus will also publish an unaudited interim report for the six months ended 31 October 2017 and a second unaudited interim report for the six months ended 30 April 2018.