LONDON (Alliance News) - Over the past week, fund manager Neil Woodford's Woodford Investment Management has conducted a fire sale of its stakes in 20 London-listed companies - raising in excess of GBP500 million - after taking the decision to suspend withdrawals from his equity income fund.
Woodford Investment manages three funds: LF Woodford Income Focus Fund, LF Woodford Equity Income Fund and London-listed Woodford Patient Capital Trust.
LF Woodford Equity Income Fund on Monday last week said the suspension was due to "an increased level of redemptions", with the fund now needing time to "reposition" its portfolio invested in unquoted and less liquid stocks into more liquid investments.
Neil Woodford appeared in a video suggesting his firm faced having to hold a fire sale in order to meet the demand for redemptions from his flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund, which was reported to have hit GBP10 million a day. The stock market guru insisted that his firm, Woodford Investment Management, has a strategy in place to stabilise the fund so holders would eventually be able to access their investments.
According to stock market filings, since Monday last week, Woodford Investment Management has reduced its holdings in the following London listings, in order of the minimum approximate gross value of each disposal:
- vehicle marketplace BCA Marketplace PLC, to 7.14% from 12.59%, GBP78.7 million;
- subprime lender Provident Financial PLC, to 18.43% from 23.44%, GBP65.7 million;
- housebuilder Countryside Properties PLC, to 10.20% from 15.00%, GBP65.1 million;
- guarantor loan company Amigo Holdings PLC, to 5.57% from 10.03%, GBP57.3 million;
- housebuilder Crest Nicholson Holdings PLC, to 10.01% from 15.08%, GBP48.0 million;
- property investor NewRiver REIT PLC, to 14.9% from 22.3% across three days, GBP46.3 million;
- intellectual property commercialisation company IP Group PLC to 14.08% from 19.00%, GBP40.7 million;
- online estate agent Purplebricks Group PLC, to 19.25% from 28.88% across three days, GBP31 million;
- retailer Card Factory PLC to below 5% from 8.94%, GBP26.1 million; at the end of May, this stake already had been lowered from 10.06%;
- construction firm Watkin Jones PLC, to below 5% from 9.19%, GBP22.2 million;
- construction materials firm Breedon Group PLC to below 5% from 6.83%, GBP21.4 million;
- media firm Time Out Group PLC to below 5% from 16.06%, GBP13.2 million;
- outsourcer and construction firm Kier Group PLC, to 15.87% from 20.01%, GBP10.3 million;
- intellectual property commercialisation company Allied Minds, to 23.22% from 28.21%, GBP9.4 million;
- ten-pin bowling site operator Ten Entertainment Group PLC to 5.54% from 10.08%, GBP6.5 million;
- housebuilder Barratt Developments PLC, to below 5% from 5.07%, GBP4.0 million;
- housebuilder Taylor Wimpey PLC, to below 5% from 5.07%, GBP3.9 million;
- respiratory disease-focused pharma firm Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC to 24.47% from 28.03%, GBP2.5 million;
- housebuilder Redrow PLC, to below 5% from 5.07%, GBP1.4 million;
- defence firm Babcock International PLC, to below 5% from 5.03%, GBP721,809; and
- drug discovery company e-Therapeutics PLC to 14.11% from 17.89%, GBP193,196.
In total, these sales will have raised proceeds of around GBP550 million for Woodford Investment Management.