As value investors, we are always on the lookout for a bargain but there are occasions when the market puts such a low valuation on a business, that you are essentially paying nothing for one part of it. By buying at a discount, this strategy builds in a ‘margin of safety’ and whilst in the short term an undervalued company’s share price might fall further, in the long run the built-in value should ultimately be recognised by other investors, prompting the share price to rise to reflect the stock’s intrinsic value. We first wrote about this phenomenon in May 2020 in a blog entitled ‘In for Free’ and some of the companies we highlighted at that time such as IDS, BT and Marks and Spencer’s ended up being amongst our most successful investments in the following years.
‘Some of our most successful investments have been ones in which sentiment towards a company becomes so negative, that the valuation ends up making no sense versus the worth of its various parts. Sometimes this is so extreme that you can buy a business where one part of it is worth more than the valuation of the entire group and so in effect, you are getting the other parts ‘for free’.
‘In yet another example of how irrational the valuations of companies suffering temporary earnings declines have become, we believe the market today is offering a number of opportunities to buy companies where you are getting part of it for nothing.’
In this blog we look at two more companies that we believe are ‘in for free’.
Aberdeen1
Although Aberdeen has been historically known as an asset manager, the company has managed to successfully diversify its model and now operates three different businesses: Investments (asset management), Adviser (B2B) and “II” (D2C trading platform). Aberdeen’s B2B business is the UK’s second largest advised platform by assets under management[2]. Interactive Investor is UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform2. The group appointed a new CEO in 2024 to help reposition the business on to a more profitable trajectory. We estimate that a restructured “Investments” business within Aberdeen could be worth an additional £1.5bn and therefore see a potential restructuring as a free call option embedded in today’s valuation. There are also financial assets worth around £2.1bn on the company’s balance sheet[3]. Combining our estimated intrinsic value of the three businesses with these financial assets, we see the shares as being significantly undervalued.
Johnson Matthey1
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) is a speciality chemicals business. JMAT has historically delivered a stable level of sales and underlying operating profit. In recent years this consistency has been impeded by investments in hydrogen. Market concerns around hydrogen, fall in PGM pricing, and transition to EVs have led to a derating in the stock. Management have since recognised the risk of pursuing growth in unproven technologies and have shifted their focus toward maximising cashflows and shareholder returns. At the time of its results in May, JMAT announced the sale of its Catalyst Technologies division for £1.6bn, and an intention to return 90% of the proceeds to shareholders. This division accounts for just one quarter of the company’s profits and yet the sales proceeds accounted for two thirds of its market value at the time of the announcement[4]. The shares responded favourably on this news. Despite this strong performance, we believe that the shares are significantly undervalued.
ITV1
ITV was one of our original ‘In for free’ stocks, as we have long believed that the Studios business accounted for the market cap of the entire group and hence the Media and Entertainment (M&E) business was being valued at zero by investors. The Studios business is now nearly as large the M&E business. According to management guidance, Studios is expected to generate more than £2bn in revenue in the 2025 financial year, compared with £2bn in 2024. Based on the company’s forecast for an adjusted earnings before ‘EBITA’ margin of between 13% and 15%, this implies statutory operating profit in the region of £200m to £250m . Given the strong growth, fragmented industry, and healthy profitability, we believed that a fair price for that income stream should be anywhere between £2.5bn – £3.75bn, against an enterprise value for the entire of ITV of £3.1bn. Therefore, it seems that, at today’s prices, we are being given the M&E business for nothing – an attractive price no matter the long-term trajectory of those earnings.
As this blog was about to be released, news emerged that ITV are in talks with Sky (owned by Comcast) to sell their Media and Entertainment business for £2bn and the share price rocketed up 20% on the day . Whilst this deal may never come to fruition, it does demonstrate that a valuation of zero for this business was on the silly side.
Sources:
1These securities have been selected to highlight the strategy’s investment methodology and is not representative of the strategy’s performance. The investment strategy holds a broad range of securities. Portfolio holdings are subject to change at any time without notice. This information should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security.
[3] Aberdeen Annual report 2024
[4] Bloomberg, 22 May 2025; JMAT Annual report 2025
[5] ITV 2024 full year results
[6] Bloomberg, 6 November 2025
Key Information
No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risks in any market environment. Past performance is not a guide to the future. The prices of investments and income from them may fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Forecasts and estimates are based upon subjective assumptions about circumstances and events that may not yet have taken place and may never do so. The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author as of the date of publication, and do not necessarily represent the view of Redwheel. This article does not constitute investment advice and the information shown is for illustrative purposes only.