Universe Group - Payment & Loyalty Solutions

Next up is the Universe Group.

Wexboy has written about this company in his own inimitable style and I have nothing to add to his analysis, which I think is spot on.

Now that the extraneous businesses have been shed, and the core petrol forecourt/retail payments business is all that remains, we can have a look at its historical, pro-forma profile:

A valuation of ~6.4p is not unreasonable:

Half-price is fine, but there are currently (still) many decent UK stocks selling at half price. 

I have included it in my UK picks for 2013 because I think that there’s a more than reasonable chance that it will be acquired by Vianet after all: Vianet still owns a substantial share of UNG, and UNG’s business would represent a common sense tuck-in acquisition for Vianet.

Disclosure: No position