C&C's chief executive, Stephen Glancey, has transferred his entire €15.4 million stake in the cider and beer maker to a family investment company co-owned by the Scottish man's children.
The company behind Bulmers, Magners and Tennent's disclosed to the stock exchange this week that Mr Glancey (56) had moved his entire 4.17 million holding of shares in the group on Friday, when they were worth €3.685 each, into a family investment vehicle, Delldruie Limited. It is understood that the transaction relates to efficient tax planning.
“Mr Glancey received no cash payment as part of the transaction and there has been no change in his notifiable interest in C&C shares,” the company said.
Delldruie, owned by Mr Glancey and his three children, own 1.34 per cent of C&C. The chartered accountant joined C&C in November 2008 as chief operating officer before becoming chief executive in 2012. Mr Glancey had options over 1.25 million shares as of February last year, which can be exercised up to 2022.
Fall in value
Shares in C&C have fallen by more than 4 per cent so far this year, making it the third-worst performing firm on the Iseq 20 index. Sentiment towards the company has been dented most recently by a trading update last month which disappointed the market.
The group warned at the time that its operating profit for the year to the end of February would come to between €94 million and €96 million, below market consensus of €99 million.
C&C, which generates almost half of its profits in sterling and reports them in euros, has seen profit hit by the slump in the pound since the Brexit vote.
The group, which unveils full-year figures on May 17th, said last month that “given market dynamics and consumer concerns, we remain cautious in the outlook for our domestic markets and are not anticipating improved trading conditions in the short term”.
Two funds, who are known for taking “activist” or campaigning positions in companies in which they invest, have increased their stakes in the past year by buying shares. Their holdings have been boosted further as C&C bought back and cancelled tens of millions of euro of shares during the period.
The Southeastern Concentrated Value Fund, a joint venture between Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and Tennessee-based Southeastern Asset Management, has increased its stake to 17.3 per cent from 7.1 per cent in March last year. Meanwhile, Ferrari-loving US billionaire Charles Brandes' firm, Brandes Investment Partners, has almost doubled its exposure to just under 8 per cent.
C&C has returned €181 million – the equivalent of almost 16 per cent of its €1.14 billion market capitalisation – to shareholders in the past two financial years, between stock buy-backs and dividends.
