Going Private Transactions

I don’t think that you are quoting the correct Community Banks of Georgia. Their proxy indicates that they are not traded.

Thank you for pointing out that error. I have updated the list of going private transactions to note that shares of Community Banks of Georgia are not publicly traded.

I recommend you to check out a website that tracks what the “Gurus” of investing are actually investing in, and how they think of the stock market. This website is GuruFocus.com (http://www.GuruFocus.com). Here is a list of some of the Gurus tracked by GuruFocus.com:

Warren Buffett (Oracle of Omaha)
George Soros (The Money Man)
David Dreman (The Contrarian)
Bill Ruane
Bill Miller
Wallace Weitz
Bill Nygren
Ron Muhlenkamp
etc
The complete list is at: http://www.gurufocus.com/guru_list.htm

Most of these guru investors have achieved an average annual total return of 15% or more in at least last 15 years. GuruFocus.com tells you what these famous investors are doing with their portfolios right now.

These going private transactions are interesting. Could you provide readers what your average returns have been? Also, a win/loss ratio would be interesting as obviously not all going privates and splits work out. Do you think it would be possible to generate >50% annulized returns?

Thanks for those great questions/suggestions. I think I’ll work up a concise history of my experience with “going private” transactions. I’ll also make a post summarizing the activity in my son’s Coverdell ESA account, which focuses on these going private transactions.

I’m not sure if I can produce a reliable win/loss ratio yet, but I’ll see what I can do.

As to you’re final point, I’m not sure if it is realistic to get 50%returns annualized over a year long period. I would be pretty happy with 25 percent annualized returns overall. Even Warren Buffett doesn’t average 50 percent annualized returns.

Have you looked at BFEN?
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050331/315211.html

Thank you for pointing out BFEN. I looked into it this past weekend. The details of that deal are posted above under “Updates” occurring on May 27. Just look for BF Enterprises.

Have you looked at FRGN lately. The acquisition price for going private is 0.97, however the stock has traded down to 0.49. I haven’t seen any reason for why it has traded down, but thats almost 100% upside. Thoughts? In your experience how often do stocks continue to trade further down. Any ideas about the volatility prior to be cashed out? Or do you think it could just be selling pressure from bigger holders?

The Heartland Bancshares that the conversion of common to preferred is the one in Florida, not the one in Indiana. You have shown the ticker symbol for Hearland Bancshares/IN (HRTB). The Florida one does not trade on the exchanges.

I predict many of these going private transactions won’t be completed due to high costs from people buying shares just below the threshold. Most of these transactions have an “out” just for this situation even after stockholders approve it if the board calculates the cost to be too high. Some have already failed. And look for the prices to fall dramatically after such transaction is cancelled.

Thank you for correcting me regarding Heartland Bancshares (FL). I will be removing my entry for that company since the shares are not traded.