Quintain back from the brink

Quintain has to be one of the most remarkable recovery stories of the current downturn.

Earlier this year, the smart money was betting that they would go bust - that's not just my hyperbole, in March the company's shares were trading at 8p, and they failed to get a rescue rights issue away.

Now, the company is set to unveil a larger, proactive rights issue, with the share price sitting at a far more healthy 183p. Admittedly this is down from a high of 240p, but it shows what can be done by companies who engage early with lenders, renegotiate covenants to more sensible levels and mark concessions in terms of selling assets to pay back debt.

There will be more of a couple of companies in the private markets who will do well to follow that example.