25th May 2016 16:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of director dealings reported in London on Wednesday.
----------
Nick Robertson, a co-founder and non-executive director of ASOS PLC, plans to sell a 1.6% stake in the online fashion retailer, Numis Securities said late Wednesday, to help pay for a recent divorce settlement.
Robertson intends to sell about 1.3 million shares to institutional investors through a placing handled by Numis, which said it has now begun the accelerated bookbuild process. The books for the placing were open with immediate effect, Numis said.
Following the disposal, Robertson will continue to have an interest in about 5.5 million ASOS shares, equivalent to roughly 6.6% of the company. The sale is subject to demand, price and market conditions, Numis said.
Any shares held by Robertson not sold in the placing will be subject to a 90-day lock-up, restricting him from further disposals.
Robertson stood down as chief executive of ASOS in September 2015, when he was replaced by former chief operating officer Nick Beighton.
Shares in ASOS closed down 1.1% at 3,582.57 pence on Wednesday, giving the planned sale a value of GBP46.6 million.
----------
Coca Cola HBC AG Wednesday said two of its non-executive directors sold around GBP15.4 million worth of stock on Tuesday.
Christo Leventis sold 735,968 shares at 1,315 pence each in a deal worth about GBP9.7 million before expenses. The sale decreased his shareholding to 498,545 shares, equal to a 0.14% stake.
Anastasios Leventis sold 436,129 shares at the same price, with the deal valued at around GBP5.7 million gross. The sale leaves him with 386,879 shares, or a 0.11% stake. He served as vice-chairman of the company from October 2000 to April 2013.
Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) on Tuesday said it placed 5.4 million shares in London-listed bottler Coca-Cola HBC AG on behalf of New Argen Holdings at GBP13.15 each, raising GBP71 million in total for New Argen Holdings, a private investment vehicle established for the benefit of certain members the Leventis family, according to a London Stock Exchange filing.
Following completion, New Argen continues to hold 4.5 million shares in Coca-Cola HBC, representing 1.2% of its issued share capital.
The company's founder AG Leventis established the group as the Nigerian Bottling Company in 1951 which later became the Hellenic Bottling Company SA after being incorporated in Greece in 1969.
Then in 2000, the Hellenic Bottling Company acquired Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd giving birth to what the company is today.
Shares in the FTSE 100 drinks bottling company closed down 0.1% at 1,322.92p Wednesday.
----------
FastForward Innovations said Chief Executive Officer Lorne Abony sold shares to his ex-wife and to Non-Executive Director Bryan Smith on Wednesday.
Abony stressed the disposals should not be perceived by shareholders as him reducing his interest in the company.
Smith bought 467,836 shares from Chief Executive Officer Lorne Abony at 15 pence per share on Wednesday, valuing them at GBP70,175.40. After the purchase Smith holds 1.2 million shares, equal to a 0.86% stake.
The company also said Abony sold an additional 1.5 million shares to his ex-wife Wendy Polland at the same price, for GBP221,052.75. The sales leave Abony with 24.5 million shares, or an 18.27% stake.
In February FastForward Innovations said it raised around GBP5.6 million after conducting a placing which the company said was "significantly oversubscribed" for.
"Mr Smith has been looking to purchase a USD100,000 block of shares for some time and was unable to participate in the February 2016 placing as he was one of the independent directors for the purposes of the transaction. Now that the company is out of the recent close period, I am happy to assist him with his purchase," Abony said.
Abony also said that Polland, who now holds a 3.55% stake in the group, was also unable to participate in the February share placing because of circumstances beyond her control.
"I am honouring a personal commitment to her by transferring these shares and I am delighted she continues to support the company," Abony added.
Shares in the investment company closed down 9.4% at 16.09p Wednesday.
----------
FTSE 250-listed Homeserve said five board members bought a total of 117,757 shares on Wednesday, after the company reported an increase in profit on Tuesday.
On Tuesday Homeserve reported an increase in full-year profit boosted by a strong performance from its US division. Pretax profit rose to GBP82.6 million in the year ended March 31, HomeServe said in a statement, from GBP76.7 million a year earlier, as revenue increased to GBP633.2 million from GBP584.2 million. HomeServe increased its total dividend for the year to 12.7 pence from 11.5p.
Chairman Barry Gibson bought 24,000 shares at 460 pence each and now holds 150,070 shares. Chief Executive Officer Richard Harpin 19,118 shares at 465p each, taking his shareholding to 38.5 million shares, or a 12.5% stake.
Non-Executive Directors Chris Havemann 11,822 shares, also at 465p each, which is his only holding, and Ben Mingay bought 20,000 shares at 461p each and now holds 57,142 shares.
Later, HomeServe said board member Stella David purchased 42,817 shares in the company on Wednesday at a price of 467.1 pence each.
Following the transaction, David holds a total of 68,945 shares in the business, equal to a 0.02% stake.
Shares in the home emergency, repair and heating installation services provider closed up 0.9% to 467.0 pence per share on Wednesday.
----------
Greka Engineering & Technology said a company tied to its chairman and chief executive has purchased shares in the company less than one week after the company confirmed it plans to delist its shares from AIM.
GRECAP Ltd, in which Randeep Grewal is beneficially interested, purchased 28.8 million shares at a price of 0.8 pence on Wednesday, helping to push Grewal's total holding in Greka Engineering to 87.05%.
Greka Engineering shares closed down 5.9% to 0.8 pence per share on Wednesday.
Greka Engineering revealed late last month it was considering cancelling its shares from AIM but then confirmed earlier this month that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on June 7 to put forward the proposal to shareholders, making Grewal's stake especially significant.
GRECAP purchased shares in Greka Engineering on Monday, buying 1.2 million shares at 0.8p, and also purchased another 14.5 million shares at 0.8p last Friday. Prior those two earlier transactions, Grewal held 76.3% of Greka Engineering.
The main reason for wanting to delist from AIM is costs, but Greka Engineering also noted the "lack of meaningful liquidity" and the "poor" performance of its shares since listing in 2013.
Grewal will still be in the London market even if Greka Engineering delists from AIM, as he also is the chairman and chief executive of both AIM-listed Greka Drilling Ltd and Main Market listing Green Dragon Gas Ltd.
----------
Keller Group said Non-Executive Director Peter Hill bought 10,000 shares at 934.04p per share on Wednesday. The purchase represents Hill's only holding in the ground engineering contractor. The stock closed up 2.4% at 952.00p Wednesday.
----------
Shanta Gold said Chief Executive Officer Toby Bradbury bought 250,000 shares at a price of 5.65p per share Wednesday. Following this transaction, Bradbury holds 400,000 shares, which represents 0.07% stake in the miner. The stock was closed unchanged at 5.62p Wednesday.
----------
Molins said Chairman Phil Moorhouse bought 20,000 shares at a price of 59.5p per share on Wednesday. The purchase is Moorhouse's only holding after being appointed last April. The stock closed up 4.2% at 62.00p Wednesday.
----------
Personal Assets Trust said its Investment Adviser Sebastian Lyon bought 1,000 shares at GBP367.90 each on Tuesday. Following this transaction, Lyon now holds 10,723 shares, which equals a 0.61% stake in the trust. The stock closed flat at GBP368.10 Wednesday.
----------
Non-Standard Finance said Danny Malone, chief executive of its Everyday Loans subsidiary, bought 30,000 shares at 71.35p each on Wednesday. The purchase is his only holding. Non-Standard Finance last December acquired Everyday Loans Holdings from Secure Trust Bank for an enterprise value of GBP235.0 million. The stock closed down 2.5% at 70.20p Wednesday.
----------
Cluff Natural Resources said Non-Executive Director Chris Matchette-Downes bought 23,592 shares at 1.23p each on Tuesday. Matchette-Downes also purchased 89,528 shares at the same price on Tuesday. He now holds 113,120 shares representing 0.04% of the company's total issued share capital. The stock closed down 3.8% at 1.27p Wednesday.
----------
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
ASOS