Oglesby & Butler management team given more time

The management team considering making a bid for manufacturing company Oglesby & Butler plc has been given more time to prepare its proposal.

An independent committee of the board of directors was established in October of last year following an approach from Mr AP Oglesby and Mr JP Oglesby, both directors of the company.

The independent committee comprises Mr Nevin Dowling and Mr Tom Byrne.

In a statement yesterday the committee also said that it had been notified that one shareholder has increased his stake in Oglesby & Butler to 16.77 per cent of the issued share capital. This was a reference to Mr Kevin Anderson, a well-known investor and a partner in film distributor Ward Anderson.

"In the light of this development, management has requested a further period to finalise its proposal," the committee said. "In view of the further concentration of shareholding and following discussions with management, the independent committee has formed the view that it is in the best interests of the group and its shareholders, to allow a further period of time to facilitate management in finalising a proposal.

"A further announcement will be made in September and it is expected that management should be in a position to confirm whether or not it is in a position to make a proposal."

The Carlow-based tool manufacturer has a market capitalisation of €3.7 million. In July the two executives preparing the bid said they were likely to cut their indicative offer by 20 per cent to 32 cent per share after the group posted a poor set of results for the year to end-March. The shares are currently trading at 30 to 32 cent.

The company made a pre-tax loss of €115,000 in the period compared to a profit of €238,000 in 2003. Turnover was down 24 per cent to €4.9 million from €5.55 million.