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Barnes sells as Signet sparkles

Signet chief executive Michael Barnes has taken advantage of post-merger clamour for the company's shares by offloading around £4m-worth of stock.
April 24, 2014

Michael Barnes, chief executive of Signet Jewelers , unloaded a total of 66,193 shares in the Bermuda-based jewellery retailer earlier this month. Two separate sales generated just over £4m for Mr Barnes, and were made following the expiration of a waiting period for antitrust legislation that satisfied one of the key conditions of Signet's $1.4bn (£833m) acquisition of US rival jeweller Zale Corp.

IC TIP: Hold at 5941p

The sales seem well timed, given that Signet had just reported sales of $1.56bn for the all-important holiday season, up 3 per cent from the same period last year. Unlike many other US retailers, Signet also delivered bullish first-quarter guidance. Mr Barnes's deals were struck at a point when the share price had risen by 40 per cent over the previous 12 months.

However, it's arguable that the deal to acquire Zale Corp wasn't quite as timely: a year prior to the announcement, shares in Zale were changing hands for around $4 apiece - $17 shy of the agreed merger price.

Buys
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Abcam ♥Dr Jonathan Milner (ce)10 Apr 14259,000381.95989,25127,362,37513.654
Abcam Mike Redmond17 Apr 1410,15037938,469102,2740.040
Abcam ♥Mike Redmond17 Apr 143,57537913,54988,7250.040
Baobab Resources Jeremy Dowler (ch)11 Apr 14100,00010.9810,9838,840,1692.582
China Growth Opportunities Nicholas Brooke 14 Apr 1413,251,9200.566,26013,251,92018.931
Elementis Andrew Duff15 Apr 1450,000279.53139,76550,0000.011
FastJet *Ed Winter (ce & ch)15 Apr 1431,250,0001.6500,00031,300,0002.242
FastJet *Ed Winter (ce & ch)15 Apr 1431,250,0001.6500,00031,300,0005.093
FastJet *Angus Saunders (fd)15 Apr 146,250,0001.6100,0006,250,0000.448
Frontier Developments David Gammon (ch)16 Apr 1425,00026065,000254,7200.813
Global Energy Development David Quint15 Apr 1415,00068.510,275135,0000.374
Greenko  John Rennocks14 Apr 147,396167.512,38844,5210.030
Haydale Graphene Industries John Knowles (ch)16 Apr 1413,00018524,05072,4540.644
Henderson Global Trust RJ Hills10 Apr 1410,00035235,20025,0000.063
HSBC Holdings Rachel Lomax10 Apr 148,000621.549,7208,000<0.001
JPMorgan Mid Cap Investment Trust RNL Huntingford15 Apr 141,50080012,0001,5000.006
Lookers Nigel McMinn11 Apr 1475,000149111,750110,0000.028
Micro Focus International Kevin Loosemore (ch)16 Apr 147,549804.3460,720736,2890.531
Micro Focus International ♥Kevin Loosemore (ch)16 Apr 143,630805.7329,248739,9190.533
Monitise Peter Ayliffe (ch)11 Apr 14250,00057.13142,825250,0000.014
Namibian Resources *Brian Moritz (ch)15 Apr 145,760,0001.2572,00018,040,33024.571
Nasstar Nigel Redwood (ce)15 Apr 14309,7356.7520,90710,475,4302.962
Nasstar David Redwood15 Apr 14309,7356.7520,90710,112,1932.859
New Europe Property Investments JN Zidel14 Apr 146,615519.9534,3952,220,8170.996
New Europe Property Investments ♥A Morar14 Apr 144,66150523,5381,271,2920.570
Polar Capital Technology Trust P Hames15 Apr 144,000436.9317,47710,0000.008
Real Estate Investors *WP Wyatt14 Apr 1450,00049.524,75098,5000.088
Real Estate Investors *Paul Bassi (ce)14 Apr 14150,00049.574,2509,200,0008.257
Real Estate Investors *John Crabtree (ch)14 Apr 1450,00049.524,750138,0000.124
Real Estate Investors *MHP Daly (fd & cs)14 Apr 14150,00049.574,250885,0000.794
RM2 International SAJan Dekker14 Apr 14176,00070123,2002,300,0000.720
Science in Sport *Dawson Buck15 Apr 14111,1124550,000418,6771.700
Science in Sport *Stephen Moon (ce)15 Apr 14222,22345100,000421,3301.711
Sinclair IS Pharma Stuart Swanson16 Apr 1435,00030.510,6754,232,8540.973
St Modwen Properties Lesley James15 Apr 1410,000366.436,64020,0000.009
Stock Spirits  Andrew Cripps10 Apr 1420,00028657,20020,0000.010
Tungsten Corporation Edmund Truell (ce)14 Apr 145,000218.2510,91314,824,73914.825
Tungsten Corporation ♥Edmund Truell (ce)11 Apr 1457,055217123,80914,819,73914.820
Xchanging David Bauernfeind (cfo)11 Apr 1450,000162.681,300400,0000.164

Sells
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Craneware Neil Heywood10 Apr 149,000541.548,73596,3560.357
Frontier Developments David Braben (ce)16 Apr 141,600,0002504,000,00015,894,38050.731
Good Energy  Garry Peagam (fd)14 Apr 1442,500287.85122,335158,5001.081
Marechale Capital Jon Pither10 Apr 14681,818213,6364,050,5027.022
Mattioli Woods Mark Smith15 Apr 145,43444624,23613,4250.067
Robert Walters Robert Walters (ce)11 Apr 14215,187330710,1172,235,6182.904
Robert Walters Giles Daubeney (coo)11 Apr 14215,186330710,1141,582,3332.055
Signet Jewelers Michael Barnes (ce)12 Apr 1416,9986,0641,030,824223,9840.279
Signet Jewelers Michael Barnes (ce)16 Apr 1449,1956,0552,978,894174,7890.218
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party