so many ways to view this one.typing this to assist my own...

so many ways to view this one.
typing this to assist my own analysis.
data re 2011

AEC has been very bullish about 2011 prospects for 2011 and forward, so aec eps est say 36c and dps est say 30

CPB eps est say 207c and div ps say 132c

selling AEC would be giving-up
earnings of 10.3% (9.7PEratio) and a gross div yield 12.2%

buying into CPB would be acquiring
earnings of 6.9% (14.6 PEratio) and a gross div y of 5.3%

questions remain re estimated earnings for both companies
CPB franking is 50% AEC 100%
CPB retains profits rather than distributes
historic sp for CPB past 3 years has been ~30 with highs of 35+
historic sp for AEC past 3 years has been >3.5 with highs of 4.5

If the board of AEC is not just protecting its bums on seats and its announcements genuinely reflect the prospects for growth then the AEC sp has further to go.

The PEratio for AEC has not matched the highs of CPB but maybe this prominence via the CPB offer might make AEC more visible to portfolio investors and so reach a higher PEratio, so a higher sp.

More thoughts another time.