Australian financial giant stalks III

AMP, the Australian financial services giant, has tabled an offer for Interactive Investor International, the UK's biggest financial information Web site.

In a statement today, III said the bid was a small premium to the company's cash reserves. Interesting to see how much there is left - on March 31, III had £51m left in the bank. And there is no indication that III is profitable yet.

On Friday, June 29, III was worth less than £36m -i.e probably less or equivalent to its current cash reserves. This shows what the City thinks of the company's prospects under current management. The question then, is will, AMP's offer smoke out another bid? There seems little prospect, after all, of III maintaining its independence.

As we wrote on June 25 III is "vulnerable to takeover, rather than closure - the customer list is very valuable, and the company generates real business. But in comparison with traditional retail financial services companies, III is very puny indeed". ®

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