LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Activist investor EdwardBramson's Sherborne Investors no longer has anyexposure to British private equity group 3i, having soldsome of its stake and hedged the rest after seeing betteropportunities elsewhere.
Sherborne, which built a 5 percent stake earlier in theyear, said on Wednesday it had disposed of some of its holdingand offset the rest through the use of derivatives.
Sherborne said it had bought the stake at an average netcost of 266p per share and had sold or hedged the shares for367p each, which would represent a 38 percent return.
Last year Sherborne raised 207 million pounds ($329.7million) with the aim of investing in an unspecified listedcompany it considered undervalued.
"The investment manager has indicated that it believes thatthe risk of and rewards from new investments that it hasidentified offer better returns to the company's shareholdersthan a continuing investment in 3i," Sherborne said in astatement.
3i has been on a drive to boost its performance sinceappointing a new chief executive in May last year, cutting jobsand retrenching to its northern European roots in an effort towin over shareholders frustrated at its poor share priceperformance and weak results from its buyout business.
Shares in the group, which have gained almost 67 percentthis year, were down 3.4 percent by 1024 GMT at 369.7 pence.
The investment firm said it would pay out the net profit ithad made on its 31 investment as a dividend, expected to bearound 20p per share.
Media-shy Bramson has a history of taking on the managementsof companies he considers to be underperforming.
In 2011 he led a boardroom coup at British fund firm F&CAsset Management, ousting the chairman and pursuing aroot-and-branch shake-up of the 144-year old company after yearsof share price underperformance.