Large parcels of Winstone shares sold

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 26

Large parcels of Winstone shares sold

PA Auckland A mystery buyer or buyers on Friday scooped up about 1.3 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of Winstone, Ltd. . In off-market transactions worth about $650,000, two substantial holdings changed hands. Late in the morning a sale of 410,800 shares was reported sold at -95 c each, 12c above the closing price on Thursday. Later, a further sale of 272,000, also at 95c, was reported. The immediate reaction in market circles was that the Christchurch investor. H. W. Smith, Ltd, had seized an opportunity to move its holding in Winstone closer to the 24.9 per cent target it set its sights on in December. But when questioned, a Smith executive, Mr P. Collins, issued the obligatory “no comment.” The sales at 95c today were precisely at the figure which Smith offered for Winstone ordinaries in December. At that time, the bid fell

short of the 24.9 per cent target as the share price escalated as high as 99c before steadying at 96c, and Smith pulled out with a holding of about 20 per cent. The price moved to 100 c in January, remained there through most of February and March, slipped, as did the market in general, during April, and reached its . low point for the year at 83c on Wednesday. Some analysts held the view that it was the sharp drop in share price on Wednesday, with little immediate prospect of early recovery, which prompted one willing seller to explore the possibility that Smith would still be interested. The unidentified seller is thought to have accumulated s sizeable holding in December in anticipation that Smith s activity at the time would provoke a much higher bid from an alternative source. If Smith was the buyer of both offerings on Friday, the company’s total stake in Winstone would now be as high as 22 per cent. Investors reacted by rais-

, • • ■’ ing the price in succession ■ from 83c to last sales at 88c : on a total of 45.300. Of that i total, 21.300 were sold at 83c and 19.500 at 84c. ‘ The managing director of Winstone. Ltd (Mr J. D. Ede). said he did not know the identity of the buyer but it was not unreasonable to expect that it was H. W. Smith. He said the flow of shares to Smith last December began as a torrent but turned to a trickle as there had been steady buying pressure from more than one quarter and not much scrip about. The motivation which had inspired the original purchase was still there, and Smith ’ could well have taken this ■ latest opportunity to increase ' its holding closer to its stated target.