Brierley cashes in more GPG shares

Brierley cashes in more GPG shares, chairman Campbell builds up stake

By Paul McBeth

March 6 (BusinessDesk) - Veteran corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley cashed in more Guinness Peat Group shares as the investment firm he helped found draws closer to next incarnation, while at the same time chairman Rob Campbell, who's leading the transformation, built up his stake.

On March 4, Sir Ron sold 5 million shares at 48.5 Australian cents apiece, totalling some A$2.43 million, or $3 million in New Zealand dollar terms, according to a notice to the stock exchange. The septuagenarian investor now holds 26.9 million shares, or 1.8 percent of GPG's voting rights.

Sir Ron began selling GPG in October, and has cashed up 25 million shares for some $14.73 million.

While the GPG founder is selling down, chairman Campbell bought 150,000 shares at 60 cents on March 1, taking his stake to 245,043, or 0.02 percent of the firm's voting rights. Campbell joined the GPG board in 2011 to oversee the group's capital return to investors.

GPG expects to have liquidated its investment portfolio by the second half of the year, leaving the UK threadmaker Coats as its sole asset. Once that's done, the firm will be rebranded as Coats, and shareholders will get a cash return when the unit can operate on a standalone basis.

The stock was unchanged at 60 cents in trading today, and is rated an average 'outperform' based on six analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters with a median target price of 67 cents.

(BusinessDesk)

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