Crystal Amber rejects Delta bid

22nd Mar 2010 17:20

Activist investor Crystal Amber Fund says that it does not intend to accept the 185p a share recommended cash bid for Delta unless the bid goes wholly unconditional. AIM-quoted Crystal Amber has asked Delta to send a copy of a letter to its shareholders. The letter outlines why it believes that the bid by Valmont Group for the engineer is not high enough. "We invested in Delta because we regarded it as a well managed, profitable, cash rich British engineering group", says Crystal Amber which owns 3.77% of the company. The investor is unhappy that there will be no final dividend - forecast at 4.8p a share - and believes that the bid premium should be adjusted for this. Crystal Amber also argues that the recent 2009 figures were better than expected. Crystal Amber would also like to be offered some of the upside by being given the opportunity to take shares instead of cash. The Valmont share price has increased by 13% since the bid was announced. Crystal Amber has taken a number of high profile stakes, including one in sports retailer JJB Sports which represents a large chunk of its portfolio.