Cinema boss ups Oglesby shares

THE proposed take-private deal at Oglesby & Butler took a twist yesterday when it emerged that cinema promoter Kevin Anderson had increased his stake in the Carlow electronic tool manufacturer to almost 17%.

Mr Anderson, who is one of the owners of the Ward Anderson group of cinemas that includes Dublin’s Savoy and Cork’s Cineplex, told the stock exchange yesterday he spent €75,000 on Oglesby shares since late last week.

Mr Anderson bought a block of Oglesby shares worth almost €550,000 last month, bringing his stake up from 2% to near the 20% threshold that would allow him to prevent a takeover.

Oglesby is currently the subject of a management buyout approach headed by directors AP and JP Oglesby. The company, which is one of the smallest quoted on the Irish stock exchange with a market capitalisation of less than €4 million, announced pre-tax losses of €115,000 in the year to March 2004 after profits of €238,000 in the previous year. Turnover fell 12% to €4.9 million.

The firm said last month talks were ongoing between the Oglesbys and a committee of independent directors formed to evaluate the approach. An announcement on a formal offer is due before the end of August.

The Oglesbys made an initial approach last October that was based on an indicative offer of 40c per share, but later reviewed their position and said they would not be in a position to offer more than 32c per share.

Oglesby last traded at 30c but is considered an illiquid stock due to its small size and lack of buyers.

Mr Anderson is the third largest shareholder, after the Oglesbys.