Okay, just finished playing with my spread sheet of lies and distortions (believe that was STC's reference).
Before I begin I would like to say I am happy to provide my sheet to anyone who wishes to review further and provide considerate feedback. Please just PM me and I will flick it through to you. If you have any of your own work would appreciate the insights.
First off the cab is basics thoughts on BlackPeter's (cheers) questions:
* does the TTK board have sufficient experience and skills with mergers / turning companies around?
Yes, David and his team are well qualified in this area. We are talking about a guy that successfully started a company in an industry dominated by a few big players/high costs of entry/prone to regulation measures etc. to be honest I would love to see the initial business case he presented to the VC company that backed their first endeavour. It must have been impressive because I would have rated there chances at slim to nothing. They then went on to buy Telecoms mobile radio network that they were making nothing off and probably considered would be obsolete in 10 years. Not only were they successful in making money out of that dog but they have acquired citylink and araneo which have performed well. They really do seem to take the opportunity to try and synergise were possible - definitely room for this between Farmside, Araneo and TeamTalk.
* if National wins: how well is TTK positioned to benefit from the additional broadband money promised by National?
To be honest I don't see this as a big one, they will likely win some more dicky contracts supplying to no were, the ones the big guys put a decent margin on to make it worth there while.
* what's TTK's unique selling proposition in the Internet market - and how difficult would it be for the big boys to step in?
David isn't a very smooth salesman or the most PC but has been about as clear as you can be on there unique selling proposition. They are niche. The big players won't lower themselves to TTK's playground because it would require strict controls, strong management and harder/less rewarding than developing a new product that is $2 more that they can sell to their already huge customer base. It's not worth there time.
* how are the latest "connect remote" projects (Haast and Chatham Islands) going?
Imagine they are going just fine, its same old same old business for Farmside (well maybe a little but bigger than normal) and Araneo's expertise will help. Would not say this is a big factor on whether this company is going to live up to the Altman Z statistics or not.
* any indications how the various TTK business units are growing together?
As majority ownership in Citylink (website is horrible) is 5yrs old and Araneo over 3yrs these two acquisitions are well bedded in and I would say very complimentry given a quick search of there website. David has already thrashed Farmside management and I imagine has a bit more to go but will get their I'm sure.
* how is staff morale at TTK (is the unique company culture the right thing for the people working there) and are there differences in different units?
Good question and I would love to spend a day on the floor of the company, talk to some of the employees etc but unfortunately any investment I make in TTK is only likely to be around the $5k mark so undertaking that expedition would have a decent wack on my returns. Speculation via google hasn't produced anything.