EDSN moving! a short squeeze started...
FUNDING news imminent (source: investor relations)
NEW FUNDING in CASH (up to $50 M) no DILUTION
+7 million shares SHORT, expect a SHORT SQUEEZE
From $12 to $1 in a month. Pullback to +$2 very short term (easy double). Back to $5 mid term
chart:
bigcharts.marketwatch.com
Book Value (mrq) $5.49
Sales (ttm) $8.24
Cash (mrq) $0.84
biz.yahoo.com
Recent NEWS:
Edison Schools says close to getting new funding
THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2002 6:46 PM
- Reuters U.S. Company News
By Steve James
NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Private education company Edison Schools Inc. (EDSN) , whose stock has slumped after winning a smaller-than-expected contract to run schools in Philadelphia, said on Thursday it was close to arranging new financing in hopes of restoring investor confidence.
"We are engaged with five different investors in a serious way," said Chief Executive Officer Chris Whittle. "Another four institutions have signaled initial interest."
Whittle, briefing reporters at Edison's Fifth Avenue headquarters, declined to identify the sources of financing, but said in one case, Edison was close to finalizing a deal for $30 million to $50 million "within weeks, not months."
He was asked about the company's stock slide, which has seen the share price drop some 60 percent since April 29 and closed on the Nasdaq on Thursday at $1.39 -- down from its dizzying heights of around $40 two years ago. Whittle attributed it to last month's decision by Philadelphia to award Edison contracts to run 20 of the city's lowest performing schools.
"Clearly it is a disappointing stock performance," he said. "We expected 45 schools in Philadelphia and we did not get that outcome. That was disappointing.
"A second factor is that in the past two or three weeks, some out there have questioned our ability to finance schools in Philadelphia," he said. "The best solution is to do the financing."
EDISON 'HIGHLY CONFIDENT' ON FINANCING
But he stressed that Edison's ability to open the Philadelphia schools in the fall was not entirely dependent on the new financing, saying the company had already spent $4 million on book orders, set up training courses for teachers and paid for other preparation for the back-to-school in September.
Whittle stressed that Edison, which already operates 136 public schools with 75,000 students, had little difficulty raising some $500 million in equity in the past 10 years. "You don't do that by the seat of your pants," he said, when asked if there was a perception among investors that the company was having trouble getting funding.
"We are highly confident we can get this done in weeks," he said, adding that refinancing was similar to asking a fighter pilot if refueling was necessary.
Asked if the low stock price was an obstacle to getting funding, Chief Operating Officer John Cerf said: "It's the opposite."
But he acknowledged that the low stock price makes a public offering more difficult. "We are looking at both public and private arrangements," he said.
Whittle said the company, which went public in 1999 and has still to make a profit, was on track to become profitable in the 2005 school year.
"People are not afraid of Edison's failure, they are afraid of Edison's success," he said.
Edison announced on Thursday that school expansions are underway at 12 of its schools around the country, including schools in Albany, Rochester and Buffalo, N.Y; Phoenixville, Pa., Washington, DC; Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Dayton, Ohio.
In addition, it announced the opening of two new schools this fall -- the first Edison school in Indiana and a new charter school in Kansas City, Mo. |
