In rides the cavalry. In a bid to shore up a flagging share price and restore investor confidence, the board of controversial insurance-services specialist Quindell (QPP) purchased just over one million shares (in aggregate) at the end of April.
The shares – half of which were acquired by Quindell founder and chairman Robert Terry – changed hands at 19-20p apiece. That’s about half the going rate prior to the publication of a potentially damning report by an obscure short-selling outfit called Gotham City Research. The market reaction to allegations contained within the report was both dramatic and swift, wiping about £900m off the company’s market value.
Quindell initially countered by way of a 21-page rebuttal that derided the contents of the report as "deliberately misrepresentative". The company claimed Gotham was engaged in a "coordinated shorting attack", and Quindell has reportedly started legal action, though this remains unspecified. In an increasingly fractious spat, Gotham then defended its report as an exercise in free speech.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Abcam | M Redmond (ch) ♥ | 17 Apr 14 | 3,575 | 379 | 13,549 | 88,725 | 0.044 |
| Abcam | Alan Hirzel | 23 Apr 14 | 8,000 | 387.89 | 31,031 | 8,306 | 0.004 |
| Abcam | M Redmond (ch) | 17 Apr 14 | 10,150 | 379 | 38,469 | 85,150 | 0.042 |
| Abcam | Murray Hennessy | 23 Apr 14 | 12,800 | 389.25 | 49,824 | 12,800 | 0.006 |
| Advanced Oncotherapy | Sanjeev Pandya (coo) * | 23 Apr 14 | 370,400 | 2.7 | 10,001 | 370,400 | 0.043 |
| Advanced Oncotherapy | Lord Evans of Watford (ch) * | 23 Apr 14 | 740,750 | 2.7 | 20,000 | 4,807,417 | 0.556 |
| Advanced Oncotherapy | Dr. Michael Sinclair (ce) * | 23 Apr 14 | 2,963,000 | 2.7 | 80,001 | 72,318,121 | 8.359 |
| Advanced Oncotherapy | Professor Christopher Nutting * | 23 Apr 14 | 370,400 | 2.7 | 10,001 | 370,400 | 0.043 |
| Advanced Oncotherapy | Michael Bradfield ♥ | 23 Apr 14 | 18,518,510 | 2.7 | 500,000 | 118,518,510 | 13.699 |
| Afren | Iain McLaren | 17 Apr 14 | 30,000 | 142.8 | 42,840 | 30,000 | 0.003 |
| Charles Taylor | Joe Roach III | 17 Apr 14 | 5,549 | 252.63 | 14,018 | 51,593 | 0.123 |
| Cineworld | Israel Greidinger (coo) | 23 Apr 14 | 1,364 | 304.75 | 4,157 | 66,382,694 | 25.196 |
| Cineworld | Moshe Greidinger (ce) | 23 Apr 14 | 1,364 | 304.75 | 4,157 | 66,382,694 | 25.196 |
| Equatorial Palm Oil ♥ | Michael Frayne (ch) | 22 Apr 14 | 100,000 | 10.25 | 10,250 | 2,165,000 | 0.611 |
| Frontier Developments | David Gammon (ch) | 17 Apr 14 | 17,000 | 250 | 42,500 | 271,720 | 0.867 |
| Hansa Trust | L Oxford | 22 Apr 14 | 1,850 | 928 | 17,168 | 1,850 | 0.023 |
| Haydale Graphene Industries | Roger Humm | 23 Apr 14 | 5,988 | 166.99 | 9,999 | 5,988 | 0.053 |
| Intu Properties * | Matthew Roberts (fd) | 22 Apr 14 | 19,691 | 180 | 35,444 | 154,506 | 0.012 |
| Intu Properties * | John Whittaker | 22 Apr 14 | 56,062,815 | 180 | 100,913,067 | 252,282,673 | 20.149 |
| Intu Properties * | Patrick Burgess (ch) | 22 Apr 14 | 8,361 | 180 | 15,050 | 37,627 | 0.003 |
| Intu Properties * | David Fischel (ce) | 22 Apr 14 | 193,875 | 180 | 348,975 | 956,148 | 0.076 |
| Intu Properties * | Lady Patten of Wincanton | 22 Apr 14 | 2,857 | 180 | 5,143 | 12,857 | 0.001 |
| Intu Properties * | Adele Anderson | 22 Apr 14 | 3,917 | 180 | 7,051 | 17,629 | 0.001 |
| Intu Properties * | Andrew Huntley | 22 Apr 14 | 1,714 | 180 | 3,085 | 19,714 | 0.002 |
| Intu Properties * | Richard Gordon | 22 Apr 14 | 1,553,292 | 180 | 2,795,926 | 6,989,818 | 0.558 |
| Modern Water | Neil Dougall (ch) | 22 Apr 14 | 33,000 | 29 | 9,570 | 6,358,000 | 7.997 |
| OpSec Security * | DA Mahony (ch) | 22 Apr 14 | 15,150 | 33 | 5,000 | 65,150 | 0.064 |
| Quindell | Vice Admiral Robert Cooling | 28 Apr 14 | 25,000 | 20 | 5,000 | 7,306,000 | 0.120 |
| Quindell | Robert Bright | 28 Apr 14 | 25,000 | 20 | 5,000 | 1,875,611 | 0.030 |
| Quindell | Stephen Scott | 28 Apr 14 | 100,000 | 19 | 19,000 | 76,694,884 | 1.220 |
| Quindell | Robert Burrow | 28 Apr 14 | 150,000 | 19.9 | 29,850 | 15,925,000 | 0.250 |
| Quindell | Robert Terry (ch) | 28 Apr 14 | 500,000 | 19 | 95,000 | 684,500,000 | 10.890 |
| Quindell | Anthony Bowers | 28 Apr 14 | 131,579 | 19 | 25,000 | 1,468,994 | 0.020 |
| Quindell | Lawrence Moorse | 29 Apr 14 | 100,000 | 20 | 20,000 | 17,950,000 | 0.290 |
| Sinclair IS Pharma | Stuart Swanson | 17 Apr 14 | 50,000 | 30.5 | 15,250 | 4,282,854 | 0.985 |
| Sinclair IS Pharma | Stuart Swanson | 22 Apr 14 | 16,089 | 30.5 | 4,907 | 4,298,943 | 0.988 |
| Ted Baker | Lindsay Page (fd) | 23 Apr 14 | 420 | 1,999 | 8,396 | 120,874 | 0.277 |
| W H Ireland | Rupert Lowe (ch) | 22 Apr 14 | 10,000 | 108 | 10,800 | 1,074,856 | 4.514 |
| Xaar | Robin Williams | 23 Apr 14 | 1,500 | 899 | 13,485 | 1,500 | 0.002 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Goals Soccer Centres ♥ | Morris Payton | 17 Apr 14 | 6,540 | 230 | 15,042 | 291,910 | 0.499 |
| Good Energy | Garry Peagam (fd) | 23 Apr 14 | 11,000 | 269 | 29,590 | 120,000 | 0.818 |
| Good Energy | Garry Peagam (fd) | 22 Apr 14 | 27,500 | 266.617 | 73,320 | 131,000 | 0.893 |
| Matchtech | George Materna | 17 Apr 14 | 20,000 | 625 | 125,000 | 7,837,405 | 31.750 |
| Matchtech | Andy White | 17 Apr 14 | 482,400 | 625 | 3,015,000 | 610,632 | 2.474 |
| Prezzo | Michael Carlton (ch) | 17 Apr 14 | 145,000 | 145 | 210,250 | 800,000 | 0.343 |
| Prezzo | Adam Kaye | 17 Apr 14 | 1,379,311 | 145 | 2,000,001 | 5,382,796 | 2.309 |
| Prezzo | Sam Kaye | 17 Apr 14 | 1,379,311 | 145 | 2,000,001 | 5,498,297 | 2.359 |
| Xaar | P J Lawler (ch) | 17 Apr 14 | 1,500 | 850 | 12,750 | 99,930 | 0.131 |
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party | |||||||
