The journalists on the Street Talk column of the Financial Review and The Australian seem to be very interested in the world of collision repairs. Earlier this month The Australian promoted AMA Group as the logical buyer for Captital SMART.
This week the Financial Review reports that it understands that SMART founder Jimmy Vais is selling his five per cent share in the company back to Suncorp for $15million to ensure a more straightforward sale. In the meantime the newspaper quotes 'sources' who say Vais has been meeting with private equity firms with a view to buying the whole business.
'Now conflict free, Vais' carrot is the chance to have an inside running for the business and potentially be nominated as preferred buyer before any wider process gets going,' says the Financial Review.
So it seems Capital SMART may:
A) Be bought by AMA Group
B) Be bought by founder Jimmy Vais with private equity backing
C) Be bought by another entity
D) Not be sold at all
In other words we'll all just have to wait and see.