Market Notes
By CUSTOS
As a whole equities have remained quiet, irre- gular and lifeless this week. The economic indicators continue to point downwards, but the size of the decline in business activity which they indicate has now been largely discounted. Bid situations still command a good deal of attention. Quite a few of them fail to reach the rewarding positions speculators envisage. Fingers have been burned this week in Williams Hudson, the wharfinger and transport group. Last Decem- ber the price was 8s. 6d., a level sufficiently attractive to bring the attentions of one of the largest road haulage groups in the country, Transport Development Group. At about the same time, the Danziger brothers suddenly re- vealed that they believed they were the largest shareholders and sent everyone a circular criticis- ing the management and seeking a seat upon the board. Everything looked right for a lucrative ride with the shares.
Transport Development produced their bid, in private, on January 6. It was worth 13s. lid. But the bulls wanted rather more than that. By Tues- day night, when the Williams directors first admitted that there was an offer to consider, the share price had moved up to 14s. 74d. With this background the Williams directors decided to reject the Transport Development offer and the latter decided to withdraw rather than send their terms direct to shareholders. The moral is that whereas shareholders should sit tight when bids for their company are in the air, outsiders should only join in when they have a good grasp of the right timing. Take-over share prices move fast— both ways.
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