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Ok, so the WPCT RNS today confirms that it has completed the disposal of its Arix stake. I guess that still leaves the residual holding in the Equity Income Fund....At least there’s now only one moving part to the Woodford overhang story. It’s going to be a relief to all of us when that clears.....
Hi cadburyhill. Thank you for the information about the Woodford Patient Capital Trust. Do you know what percentage of Arix's share capital it owned at the date of its previous Accounts? I mentioned in August that Woodford owned almost 20% of Arix, but I am not sure whether that was held just by the Equity Income Fund or by both Funds in total. If Patient Capital owned only say 5% there could still be a long way to go before Arix is completely free of Woodford.
I think the WPCT sell-down was in July - that was when it was recorded in the financial press. That would imply that the Woodford overhang is still somewhere near 20%.....I guess we should assume that this is the case until we know otherwise. I'm not sure what the catalyst will be to clear it... Good news at Autolus is perhaps the most obvious. A deal in IPF by Pharmaxis in Australia?
In theory, we should all just relax. They've got a decent amount of cash to invest and they've invested in a decent range of interesting assets. They're doing all we asked of them.
At some point, the Woodford stake will provide someone with a neat way to take a decent sized position in Arix, which is pretty illiquid. I just wish for all our sakes it was sooner rather than later.
Well, I have taken a risk and doubled my investment this morning, reducing my average cost to 136p.
I noticed last night that Woodford had reduced its holding to less than 5%, but I have no idea whether the shares that have been transferred have gone to one, two, three or more holders, and whether the new holders are going to be long term investors in Arix, but I thought enough is enough, if the new holder(s) are looking to sell the shares as quickly as possible I am no worse off than I was yesterday morning, but if it (they) are long term holders then the share price ought to improve. I shall eagerly await one or more RNS to see who has bought the shares.
Hi Backwoodsman.
If you look at the RNS issued yesterday re Holding in Company you will see that Woodford told Arix yesterday that it had reduced its holding of 19.78% of Arix to less than 5%. It may well also hold (or have held) a stake in Autolus, whose shares have not bounced today. We would like Autolus's share price to return to earlier levels so that Arix's net asset value can increase.
I have only just seen today's RNS, and it has taught me to look carefully at all future RNS re changes in holdings.
On Tuesday Link Fund Solutions sacked Neil Woodford as the manager of his Equity Income Fund and it will continue to oversee the management of his funds. The RNS merely stated that control of the voting rights had passed from Woodford - it did not say that any shares had been sold.
Today's RNS says that Link Fund Solutions has since Tuesday had the voting rights over those shares.
However Tuesday's RNS says that Woodford's interest had fallen from 19.78% to less than 5%, but today's RNS says that Link Fund Solutions has acquired voting rights to 19.79% of Arix's capital compared with nil before Tuesday. Assuming that 19.78% and 19.79% are only slightly different due to rounding differences, why does the Woodford RNS say that it still has an interest in less than 5% of the voting rights when Link Fund Solutions infer that Woodford's interest in the voting rights is nil.
If my memory serves me correctly changes in holdings need not be declared when the remaining interest is already less than 3%, but any transaction that results in an interest increasing or reducing to the next whole number must be declared. So if Woodford has an interest in less than 5% it means that it has an interest of between 4% and 5%.
If anyone from Link Fund Solutions, or anybody else, reads this chat board and can explain how Woodford continues to have an interest of at least 4% in the voting rights of Arix I should appreciate their explanation.
In the meantime it should have been obvious to me, if I had read Tuesday's RNS carefully, that the 19.78% holding of Arix's shares has not been sold by Woodford to another shareholder. I said that I had taken a risk!
Sounds like Woodford will be out by Christmas...
Hi ChippyHackee.
What have you heard?
I refer to my post on 17th October.
I have heard from Arix that because Woodford is (was?) an Investment Manager its requirement to advise re changes in its shareholdings in companies is regulated by the EU, and Investment Managers need only report when holdings cross 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% etc, so when its voting rights in Arix fell to nil it was correct in reporting that its rights are now less than 5%.
F###### woodford, has completely screwed a lot of companies where he was a shareholder. Am a holder of mercia and draper, together arix appear well run by professional not like a complete amateur woodford in this space.
This must now be at a massive discount to nav, assuming nav is calculated on a conservative basis.
I see that there is a delayed report of a trade at 10.44am today involving 6,940,878 shares. This represents just over 5% of Arix's share capital, so we can expect to see one or more RNSs in the next few days which will show who was involved in the trade. For every one or more buyers there must be one or more sellers. We may find that the Woodford holding has been reduced, and we may discover who has bought some or all of those shares.
I refer to my post on 9th January.
I am told that Arix has not been notified of any purchase or sale of those 6,940,878 shares. This implies that the transaction was merely the switching of that number of shares from one nominee account to another, without any change of ownership. This means that Link, on behalf of Woodford, still holds just under 20% of Arix. A very disappointing state of affairs. The sooner that holding is sold the sooner the shares can be valued in relation to, for example, the possibility that one or more of its investments might pay off in a big way. In the meantime the share price will probably continue to drift down.
Picked up by SamJSung on the SNG board, and relevant here :
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wg-partners-races-to-save-neil-woodford-science-start-ups-mmhrmvq0q
"
The proposed buyer of stakes in 20 start-ups held by fallen fund manager Neil Woodford is rushing to secure money before a crunch deadline.
WG Partners, a boutique bank, has been trying to raise about £550m before a period of exclusive talks to acquire the portfolio runs out at the end of this month — although it could seek an extension.
The holdings — which include stakes in Oxford Nanopore, Arix Bioscience and Immunocore — formed a large part of Woodford’s life sciences interests.
...
"
I can't find any follow-up to the WG story, so I suppose we just have to assume it's fizzled out.
Thanks tuscany1. Also here, for those without a Times subscription :
https://www.cityam.com/fresh-blow-for-woodford-investors-as-biotech-sell-off-fails/