Polaris Capital Management, Greencore’s largest shareholder, boosted its sales in the company after it offered significantly fewer shares than it was entitled to.
According to the Irish Independent, Polaris was left with an increased stake in the company without having to buy additional shares as it held its cards while other shareholders availed of their full entitlement to sell.
Share Buy Back
It happened during a share buy-back scheme, which it had encouraged the sandwich maker to launch, and now holds a 13.8% stake in the company, up from 9.45% before the offer.
Greencore bought back almost 37%, 261 million, of its own shares under the €580 buyback scheme it launched as a measure to return capital to investors after the sale of its US business.
None of the group’s board members, including CEO Patrick Coveney, sold shares to show their commitment to the company.
Greencore initially planned to pay a special dividend, split among shareholders, but this was received poorly by investors, including Polaris.
The offer closed on the 29 January this year, with Greencore quickly announcing the tender offer was oversubscribed.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
