Capacity

[UncleEbenezer]

Fools have been watching offers come and go much earlier than usual this season, and in some cases jumping in instantly where there was an expectation that demand might exceed capacity. And indeed, sizeable offers from popular stables are already closed: generalists Northern (£60m) and Baronsmead(£44m); AIM Unicorn(£34m) and Octopus(£40m).

On the other hand, none of them was the mad rush to instant closure we've seen in recent years with small offers from popular stables. All the above offers were open something from several weeks up to a timescale of months. Offers from reputable stables that are still open - like Mobeus, Albion and Maven - seem to be progressing much more slowly than back in the autumn.

I have to conclude that, despite Foolish speculation about a wave of money seeking new tax shelters, there is still more than ample capacity for 'enthusiastic' money. And it'll be a second wave end-of-tax-year rush that determines whether overall capacity is sufficient for the tax-planning-financial-advisor market.

Bottom line: no need to rush in for a big offer, even from the top-rated stables. The competition will flood a sufficiently-popular small offer but not a big (let alone titanic) one. But beware offers closing less-than-filled earlier than you expect: the ProVens took commendably modest sums on non-prospectus offers.

[Retiringat51]

http://www.cityam.com/278487/octopuss-t ... est-amount