- Wetherspoon chair sells 1% of company
- Creightons and hVIVO executives sell up
- Assetco director adds to holding
Tim Martin, chairman of pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW), sold 1,361,000 shares at 739p each for a total value of more than £10 million on 29 July.
As a result of the deal, Martin’s voting rights now comprise of 30,382,253 shares, equivalent to 24.6% of the issued share capital of the company against 25.7% previously.
Earlier in July, the pub group reported a 5.8% increase in like-for-like sales in the 10 weeks to 7 July and announced it had sold or surrendered the lease on 26 pubs and had a further 10 trading pubs either on the market or under offer.
Year-to-date, Wetherspoon shares are down nearly 8%.
MAJOR STAKE SALES
There were also a couple of sizeable placings in smaller companies worth noting, starting with personal care and beauty products firm Creightons (CRL) where Oratorio Developments Limited, a company controlled by director William McIlroy, sold a chunk of shares.
On 24 July 2024, 10.75 million shares - representing 15.7% of the issued capital of the firm - was placed with new and existing institutional shareholders at 26p each for a total consideration of just under £2.8 million.
The sale leaves McIlroy with around 5.5 million shares representing some 8% of the issued capital.
A day earlier, Cathal Friel, chair of contract medical research group hVIVO (HVO:AIM), sold 21.1 million shares at 29p each to raise more than £6 million.
The sale was aimed at satisfying institutional demand, according to the company, and means Friel no longer has any stake in the business.
ASSETCO DIRECTOR RAISES HOLDING
Harwood Capital Limited, a firm closely connected to director Christopher Mills, bought 2.65 million shares in wealth management firm Assetco (ASTO:AIM) at 35p each for a total value of £227,500 on 25 July.
Following the purchase, Mills and the investment vehicles connected with him are interested in 26.2 million shares of AssetCo representing 18.4% of the company’s issued share capital.
