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Stanley Gibbons puts itself up for sale amid takeover confusion

Published: 09:29 12 Jun 2017 BST

strip of four 1948 Gandhi 10 rupees ‘SERVICE’ stamps
Stanley Gibbons sold the four stamps above for £500,000 back in April this year

Shares in Stanley Gibbons Group PLC (LON:SGI) fell in early trade on Monday after the rare stamp and collectables group put itself up for sale.

The AIM-listed firm has undergone a ‘comprehensive’ restructuring over the past year or so, during which time it has overhauled the board and executive leadership.

Stanley Gibbons said the restructuring has seen it slash costs by more than £10mln and raise £6.3mln from the sales of non-core assets, leaving it a “much more stable outfit”.

The 161-year-old company has identified as new markets for potential growth, but said that any investment would likely require a fresh injection of cash.

“Unlocking this incremental long term value is likely to require further investment and the directors believe that it is likely therefore that such value is best delivered either within a larger group or alongside a strategic investment,” the company said in a stock exchange announcement this morning.

Disruptive denies making takeover approach

On Friday, a short statement from SGI claimed that it had received a “possible offer” from Disruptive Capital Finance, led by City financier and Boris Johnson’s former pensions adviser Edi Truell.

That news sent shares soaring by more than 11% on Friday afternoon.

However, Disruptive has today clarified its position and it is “not making an offer” for Stanley Gibbons. It said an email sent to the company at the end of last month had been misinterpreted as a takeover approach.

Disruptive did add that it had been in discussions with the Stanley Gibbons’ hierarchy “for some time” but that it hadn’t decided on whether or not to make a formal offer.

With an offer seemingly not as forthcoming as initially thought, Stanley Gibbons shares shed most of the gains they made on Friday afternoon.

The stock was down 12% to 11.5p on Monday morning.

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