(Alliance News) - Oakley Capital Investments Ltd on Tuesday said Woodford Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake to 7.35% from 19.39% as under-pressure fund manager Neil Woodford continues to raise cash.
Woodford Investment Management now owns 15.0 million Oakley shares, having sold the 12% stake on Friday worth around GBP55 million. This latest deal follows Woodford's decision earlier this month to suspend withdrawals from its equity income fund after a run of redemptions.
Woodford said it needed time to reposition its portfolio and move to more liquid investments and has sold a number of holdings. Recently Woodford has raised more than GBP500 million from a fire sale of its stakes in London-listed companies.
Woodford Investment manages three funds: LF Woodford Income Focus Fund, LF Woodford Equity Income Fund and London-listed Woodford Patient Capital Trust PLC. Shares in the latter were down 3.7% at 52.95 pence on Tuesday.
Separately, Oakley announced that Non-Executive Director Peter Dubens had purchased 5.3 million shares for 220.0p each, also on Friday, worth GBP11.7 million. Dubens is now interested in 14.9 million Oakley shares, equivalent to a 7.3% stake.
Furthermore, Alternate Director David Till bought 222,222 Oakley shares at that same 220.0p price for a total of GBP488,888. Till's total interest in Oakley is now 546,502 shares or a 0.3% stake.
Shares in Oakley Capital were up 0.7% at 225.00 pence on Tuesday morning.
