nhall110 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fremont-michigan-insuracorp-inc-board-of-directors-rejects-unsolicited-takeover-offer-79980307.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 No surprise, this will take a while to play out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Actually, more shareholders will tender as SNS' share price continues to rise representing half collateral. Onward to $400 pps. This is how "Mr. Market's" voting machine works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 An update to where Fremont is heading... http://www.fmic.com/AgencyPortal/pressreleases/20100212.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronco Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 That should make that guy that looks like Dave Matthews happy (he posts about Fremont here and on Seeking Alpha). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAllen Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Yeah but don't the growth targets make you a bit nervous? Kind of like when Freddie specified that they were going to grow at x amount and Buffett sold. Of course, many companies set growth targets but with insurance it gets kind of scary. As long as they are disciplined and charging enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbitragr Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Good time to be buying insurance. Most insurers are trading below book. Buffett increasing his stake in Swiss and Munich Re should give you an indication. What do you guys think FMMH.OB will fetch? Surely in a buyout, a hostile buyout, you would have to pay a premium, at about 1.2x book. Which means FMMH might hit $27. I wonder how determined Mr. Biglari is on Fremont? Might take a shot at some merger arb. It's only fitting, given my nickname. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronco Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 I like some of the insurance companies as well - some trade at a real big discount to book. Ones I am following (and some I own) are AHL, EIHI and CNA. There is a catch-22 with these. If interest rates rise, BV may go down. On the flip - future investments can be invested at higher rates. The industry is always subject to the following risks: 1) soft pricing 2) market destruction - see 3/2009 and 3) mother nature and cats. That being said, I think some positions in these below BV companies makes some sense. As I mentioned in the prior post, the guy looking like Dave Matthews should be happy about Fremont because he was looking for Fremont to expand geographically. Seems like he can check that off his list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbitragr Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I like some of the insurance companies as well - some trade at a real big discount to book. Ones I am following (and some I own) are AHL, EIHI and CNA. There is a catch-22 with these. If interest rates rise, BV may go down. On the flip - future investments can be invested at higher rates. The industry is always subject to the following risks: 1) soft pricing 2) market destruction - see 3/2009 and 3) mother nature and cats. I'm not sure what you mean by market destruction. You mean just a fallout in global equity prices (as well as bond prices)? Or something insurance related? In terms of interest rates, I would be looking for insurers that have fixed income assets with lower average maturity lives. That way, should inflation ensue, and rates rise, they can rollover fixed income investments at new rates. I would think that there might be some merger activity going on too, so buying up good quality insurers with great combined ratios might lead to a takeout, especially those insurers that have more exposure to the asia-pacific region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronco Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Arbitrage - yes...I meant the equity markets crashing. Any names that you favor? All - enjoy the Olympics. I am American - but rooting for Canada in hockey vs. Russians when and if. Can't wait though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdWatchesBoxing Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I'm Canadian, but I'll be rooting for Colbert Nation speed skating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorrofan Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 As I mentioned in the prior post, the guy looking like Dave Matthews should be happy about Fremont because he was looking for Fremont to expand geographically. Seems like he can check that off his list. You are referring to Harry Long? cheers Zorro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daytripper Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I'm a little confused about the offer and the rebuff. Since Fremont rejected the offer, why hasn't Sardar modified or canceled the offer? Thanks. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragnarisapirate Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Out of question, how are appreciations in stock prices, which are held for investment (both long and short term) reflected in the earnings statement? Could the buy out offer be to draw attention to the company in order to force the company to make changes to reach it's intrinsic value and/or buffer earnings of SNS? I know that when stock prices fall, you can hold them on the books at cost, provided that management views it as temporary (look at WESTs books when ITEX and SNS tanked). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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