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MANY, many moons ago - it may have been 1990 - I was a gangly cadet reporter working the Christmas week shift for Business Day.
I was fully prepared for the prospect of doing bugger all for a week, and had already planned daily routes around the old Diagonal Street precinct. These would include stops at the Kohinoor Record Shop to listen to jazz, taking in a Kung Fu movie at the old cinema (I think it was in President Street), and perhaps even a beverage (or three) at the Hollard Arms.
But any ideas of lounging around during the holiday lull were quickly shattered when one of the old hands - it must have been the late great Mervyn Harris - spotted some unusual trading in Perskor, then one of the big four media companies listed on the JSE.
Before I could slip behind one of those great wallpapered pillars that held up the old glass building in Diagonal Street, the news editor assigned me the story.
As a novice reporter, I learnt very quickly about trading volumes, issued shares and controlling shareholders before moving on to more enticing topics like "hostile takeover", "corporate raider" and "green-mailing".
What had transpired was that well-known businessman Manny Simchowitz (who sold control of W&A Holdings to Jeff Liebesmann in the late 1980s) had quietly accumulated a sizeable stake in Perskor.
Simchowitz was able to strike (almost undetected) while most of the market was away on holiday, not only accumulating shares at well below Perskor's true value but also constructing a deal that looked set to challenge the media company's all-important control structure.
The deal - remember this was a pre-democracy SA where media assets held (let us say) a certain strategic value - caused a stir. It was one of the rare occasions when I had executives calling me for information.
To cut a long story short, the investment giant Rembrandt rode to Perskor's "rescue", but not before Simchowitz walked away with a chunky profit.
Simchowitz's inspired trading in Perskor shares during the holiday lull ingrained in me a belief that the quiet seasons on the market are exactly the time that financial journalists should be paying particular attention to trading volumes and sudden price spikes on the JSE.
When the market's not looking (or simply not there) then the raiders will strike...
The truth, though, is that there really has not been a Christmas raid quite as brazen as Simchowitz's tilt at Perskor.
And I'm starting to believe that, perhaps, there never will be. All I have seen in the last few years are companies issuing bad news or contentious statements during the Christmas period - obviously in the hope that no one notices.
Hell, I've even seen a company - clearly not wanting to be pestered by shareholder enquiries - host an annual general meeting on Christmas Eve.
But I am determined not to lose hope for a cavalier Christmas raid - much the same way I try to convince myself that my "natural draw" (read: "snap-hook") will one day not afflict my golf game.
'Value situations'
Still, I can't recall market conditions quite as receptive to corporate raiding as we have on the JSE at the moment.
There is a multitude of small caps - with decent free floats as regards their issued shares - trading at levels that surely don't reflect underlying value.
I'm not talking about the loss-making, debt-laden or strategically unsound contenders.
I'm talking about small companies where the market seems oblivious to an ability to generate cash flow, pay dividends, retain a reinforced balance sheet and hold decent trading margins.
Hey, they are out there - believe me! Frankly, I can't believe the more aggressive professional investment outfits have not identified at least a handful of "value situations" or opportunities that might offer valuable strategic leverage.
As I said before, we are long overdue a big Christmas raid. Come all ye raiders, joyful and triumphant...
- Fin24.com
