Speaking as a chemist and finance guy, I cannot praise this analysis enough. Not only informative and deep, but a thoroughly enjoyable read. I am not ready to buy yet but have been watching Croda for a couple of years. Previously, I just thought they were too expensive.
Another chemical company, operating in an interesting space, that you might like to look at, is Norwegian company, Borregaard, which I have owned for several years in my portfolio. They are listed on both Oslo and Stockholm and can be settled over a UK platform (SEDOL: B9134C0).
Borregaard is a name I knew fairly well back in 2017-18. In other words I am hopelessly out of date! Thanks for the suggestion to revisit. It's good to see they appear to have been doing well in the meantime.
(Liquidity of just below $1m/day is not great relative to the $1.8bn market cap, as with so many European midcaps.)
Verdad put out an interesting piece of research today - or at least it popped up in my email box today - which questions whether the price to be paid for the enhanced liquidity in the US market is worth it. It is not yet published on their website:
As a manager of a family SIPP and ISA's, it is rare that I am unable to deal in the volumes I wish, although I totally understand different constraints apply to fund managers managing larger pools of capital. I am minded of the approach of Rockwood Strategic to illiquid equities at the smaller end of the UK market. A lot of their exits have to be corporate in nature, given the size of stake they usually take
To some extent, the illiquidity issue and both the resulting bid-offer spread and ability to get out of a position, also depends on one's investing approach. Some of our investments have been held for more than 10 years, a good example being Investor AB.
Regards and thanks for all your hard work and willingness to share it.
Another great write-up Alex. Great to see what lies beneath the surface. This was part of a very large group of companies I used to cover over ten years ago in the materials space. Great to see the transformation and how the quality stand out from the average within that sector in a somewhat similar way as with Borregaard.
Speaking as a chemist and finance guy, I cannot praise this analysis enough. Not only informative and deep, but a thoroughly enjoyable read. I am not ready to buy yet but have been watching Croda for a couple of years. Previously, I just thought they were too expensive.
Another chemical company, operating in an interesting space, that you might like to look at, is Norwegian company, Borregaard, which I have owned for several years in my portfolio. They are listed on both Oslo and Stockholm and can be settled over a UK platform (SEDOL: B9134C0).
Thank you once again for sharing your insights.
Many thanks Alastair for your kind words.
Borregaard is a name I knew fairly well back in 2017-18. In other words I am hopelessly out of date! Thanks for the suggestion to revisit. It's good to see they appear to have been doing well in the meantime.
(Liquidity of just below $1m/day is not great relative to the $1.8bn market cap, as with so many European midcaps.)
Verdad put out an interesting piece of research today - or at least it popped up in my email box today - which questions whether the price to be paid for the enhanced liquidity in the US market is worth it. It is not yet published on their website:
https://verdadcap.com/weekly-research
As a manager of a family SIPP and ISA's, it is rare that I am unable to deal in the volumes I wish, although I totally understand different constraints apply to fund managers managing larger pools of capital. I am minded of the approach of Rockwood Strategic to illiquid equities at the smaller end of the UK market. A lot of their exits have to be corporate in nature, given the size of stake they usually take
To some extent, the illiquidity issue and both the resulting bid-offer spread and ability to get out of a position, also depends on one's investing approach. Some of our investments have been held for more than 10 years, a good example being Investor AB.
Regards and thanks for all your hard work and willingness to share it.
Alastair
Thanks for this. Great detail
Have an idea this company might be saved by the new Lysate that takes the company bio in the anti ageing segment, replacing Matrixyl.
Hitting the market in April 2025.
It could change the FACE of the world .
The IP is owned by AIM market listed SBTX ,Croda pay a royalty on worldwide sales.
I am a shareholder in SBTX
If Croda have other deals like this, in its other divisions, one could see a strong recovery here.
Good luck.
Another great write-up Alex. Great to see what lies beneath the surface. This was part of a very large group of companies I used to cover over ten years ago in the materials space. Great to see the transformation and how the quality stand out from the average within that sector in a somewhat similar way as with Borregaard.