DS Smith non-exec tops up his stake

Chairman of the Audit Committee at DS Smith, Jonathan Nicholls, has bought £74,366-worth of shares in the recycled packaging firm.The purchase, which saw the non-executive buy 32,309 shares at 230.17p each, comes less than two weeks after the firm launched an agreed bid for the second largest packaging business in Europe. The firm will pay €1.6bn (£1.3bn) for SCA Packaging, a Swedish company. The purchase will be funded from new and existing debt as well as an underwritten £466m rights issue.Earlier in the month the company announced it is set to receive a tidy sum as a result of its 49.6% interest in Rubezhansk, the leading paper and packaging business in the Ukraine.Rubezhansk has completed the signing of a revised five-year loan agreement with its existing lender group and as a result DS Smith will now be recognising its share of the profits and investment in this associate business, in the second half of this financial year.The stock has gained close to 10% over the year, although has dipped over 1% in the past week. Top Director BuysImmunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDH) Director name: Dr Burkhard Wittek Amount purchased: 43,867 @ 304.66p Value: £133,645PureCircle Ltd. (DI) (PURE) Director name: Mr Olivier MaesAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 90.00p Value: £90,000DS Smith (SMDS) Director name: Mr Jonathan C NichollsAmount purchased: 32,309 @ 230.17p Value: £74,366Graphite Enterprise Trust (GPE) Director name: Mr Jeremy TigueAmount purchased: 14,186 @ 350.00p Value: £49,651Assura Group Ltd. (AGR) Director name: Mr David H RichardsonAmount purchased: 167,805 @ 29.50p Value: £49,502Telecom Plus (TEP) Director name: Mr Julian SchildAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 656.00p Value: £32,800Sierra Rutile Ltd (SRX) Director name: Mr Jan Alex CastroAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 64.75p Value: £32,375Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDH) Director name: Mr Paul HailesAmount purchased: 6,500 @ 309.00p Value: £20,085Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDH) Director name: Mr Roger DugganAmount purchased: 6,300 @ 308.57p Value: £19,440NR Smith (DS) Telecom Plus GPE