What the hell has happened at DTZ?
A couple of weeks ago the UK property services group was negotiating a takeover with its biggest shareholder. Those talks collapsed, the company put itself up for sale and it’s now worthless.
Monday statement from the company, which until very recently was run by former Barclays executive Paul Idzik:
On 19 October 2011, DTZ announced that it was evaluating preliminary expressions of interest from parties potentially interested in acquiring DTZ by implementing a formal sale process of the company.
That formal sale process is ongoing and has attracted considerable interest in the business which DTZ continues to evaluate.
Based on the valuation of DTZ derived from proposals received to date, however, and, given the level of debt within DTZ, there is minimal value, if any, that may be attributed to the ordinary shares of DTZ, although the exact value is uncertain.
And the subsequent price action:
Brokers reckon that shareholders should sell where there’s still some value left. And a glance at DTZ’s most recent balance sheet filing suggests they are probably right.
Yikes. Let’s hope there hasn’t been a downturn in the high performing parts of its business. Oh, wait a minute…
During the course of the year, the Group experienced varying trading conditions across its operations, resulting in an overall decline in revenues to £341.3 million, down from £356.0 million in the previous year. This, combined with a strategic decision to continue to invest in the business, resulted in a loss before tax and exceptional items of £0.6m (2010: profit £3 million).
Related link:
DTZ equity worth little or nothing, shares plunge – Reuters