# westjet



## faline (Feb 10, 2011)

any westjet owners on here? are you selling or holding?


----------



## EPS_Investor (Sep 7, 2017)

Not a westjet owner, but I have always been under the opinion that it's best to sell at a slight discount to the offer and get the money secured in your account. That extra 1-2% that a full buyout offers takes 3 months and if things don't work out, you take a big hit. Look at what happened to AECON.

I also want to mention that the current price means that almost everyone made money on Westjet who held it (except those who bought from summer 2014 to late spring 2015. Anyone else, their cost was sub $30 so it's a gain. That also means that the likelihood of this deal being approved is higher. 

Overall I like these deals because it gets people out of one stock with a profit usually and then they go and deploy that money into other stocks, thus creating a positive buying wave.


----------



## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

If I owned I would sell early and move on, the premiums on these tend to drop as people realize it will take 6-9+ months to close, and sometimes new risks are introduced. Bit if a 'U' curve in many cases. 4.7% premium to hold 9 months is not big enough of a risk premium in the equity markets.


----------



## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I would have sold within the first hour this morning. Grab the euphoria and move on.


----------



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Holy cow, congrats to the shareholders and congrats to the employees who hold shares! You gambled in the casino and you won!

Probably best to sell on the gain, especially if tomorrow is a strong day in the markets that boosts the price a bit further.


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I own some but this pop did not make me rich as I had bought most $21 + .I sold enough to break even today and left profits to let it ride.


----------



## faline (Feb 10, 2011)

I decided to sell today too. Did the full 20% of pay matched by WestJet during employment there 2006-early 2008. kept it long enough!


----------



## Island Climber (Feb 2, 2016)

I sold within an hour...I'm happy to take a little hit on share price, but have the peace of mind that I actually cashed in- one mis-step in the regulatory approval or who knows what added with the fact this deal isn't going to be finalized and done till next year tilted my reasoning to cash in now. As others have mentioned that money can be used elsewhere.


----------



## CPA Candidate (Dec 15, 2013)

james4beach said:


> Holy cow, congrats to the shareholders and congrats to the employees who hold shares! You gambled in the casino and you won!


Strange characterization considering WJA was a consistently profitable company with a good ROC. Unfortunately, it was never very well respected by the Canadian market, I think at least partially because of it being Western Canadian based. In fact, several hedge funds attacked the company and shorted the stock, which makes the deal a little sweeter. With about 2 million shares shorted, they collectively took a 20 million bath instantaneously.

I have know owned 5 Canadian companies taken private in the past 5-6 years. There are issues with Canadian stock market efficiency when shares can be mispriced so significantly, especially in the small and mid-cap market. I guess I shouldn't complain.


----------



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

CPA Candidate said:


> Strange characterization considering WJA was a consistently profitable company with a good ROC.


I'm not picking on Westjet. _All_ stocks are gambles to some degree.


----------



## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

I sold before I even heard why the stock up ticked so much. Last few years have been kinda grim holding this.


----------

