RE: Forward Selling16 Mar 2026 08:52
Institutional investors who buy shares in a placing (secondary offering) often sell soon after near the placing price for several structural reasons. It can look strange—why buy only to sell quickly—but in practice their goal is often short-term trading or risk-managed allocation, not long-term holding. Key reasons:
1. Pre-hedging / short selling before the placing
Many institutions short the stock before the placing is announced or confirmed.
How it works:
They believe a placing may happen (or are “wall-crossed” by the broker).
They short shares in the market beforehand.
When the placing happens, they buy shares in the placing at a discount.
Those placing shares cover their short position.
Because they are covering a short, they are effectively locking in the discount spread, so they don't need the price to rise.
Example:
Market price before placing: 100p
Placing price: 90p
Fund shorts at 100p
Fund buys placing shares at 90p
Profit: 10p per share, regardless of where price goes.
After covering, they may still sell extra shares near the placing price.