The apparent spate of director share purchases at Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) isn't quite what it appears. Said Darwazah (chairman and chief executive), his brother Mazen Darwazah (vice chairman) and Ali Al-Husry (non-executive director) all own most of their shares in the Jordanian generic drugs specialist through Darhold, the investment vehicle of the founding Darwazah family, whose patriarch, Samih Darwazah, passed away in May.
Contrary to what one might think by reading the notice posted to the stock exchange, it is Darhold that has bought 750,000 shares in Hikma. The latest purchases - made at the average share price for the 15 business days from 28 August - take its total holding to 57,933,028 shares or just over 29 per cent of the company. As Investors Chronicle went to press, Hikma's shares fetched 2,387p, giving a rough value of £17.9m for the latest purchases.
As is common with family businesses, Darhold has agreed to act alongside other long-term shareholders within a so-called 'concert party'. Because this party owns over 30 per cent of the company - the level at which it would normally be obliged to bid for the remaining shares under stock exchange rules - Darhold is only allowed to increase its stake if other concert party holders sell shares or equity issuance reduces its stake.
This is what has happened here: Darhold's latest share-buying spree maintains the concert party's stake at its historic level following the dilutive issuance of share options. But the decision in July to buy US generics business Roxane, in part by issuing 40m new Hikma shares to the seller, Boehringer Ingelheim, means the family will have to reach much deeper into its pockets once the deal closes this autumn - if, that is, it is to keep the concert party's stake above 30 per cent.
Hikma entered the FTSE 100 index in March, less than a decade after its equity was floated on the London stock exchange at 290p per share. Its rise over the past three years has been particularly meteoric, with the shares more than tripling. This gave the company the currency to make July's major acquisition, and this week the company announced another acquisition, albeit without financial details. It has agreed to acquire EIMC Pharmaceuticals, an oncology specialist with a strong position in Egypt, which Mazen Darwazah called "a very important market for Hikma". The company is dominant in many Middle Eastern markets, but had a market share of just 2 per cent in Egypt, according to the stock market notice.
BUYS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglo Pacific Group PLC | Mr. P Meier | 27 Aug 15 | 17,200 | 85 | 14,620 | 92,200 | 0.05 |
| Aurasian Minerals PLC♥ | Mr. P J Mullens (ce) | 02 Sep 15 | 1,000,000 | 65.06 | 650,600 | 37,123,852 | 8.92 |
| Bankers Investment Trust PLC♥ | Mr. M W J Thorne | 28 Aug 15 | 2,500 | 599 | 14,975 | 26,250 | 0.02 |
| Braveheart Investment Group PLC | Mr. T E Brown (intm ce) | 02 Sep 15 | 250,000 | 7 | 17,500 | 7,540,233 | 27.87 |
| Caledonia Mining Corp | J M Learmonth (cfo) | 02 Sep 15 | 30,000 | 40.2 | 12,060 | 224,230 | 0.43 |
| Capital Drilling Ltd | Mr. J P Boyton (ch) | 27 Aug 15 | 75,000 | 20.5 | 15,375 | 28,541,130 | 21.20 |
| Centamin PLC | M R Arnesen | 02 Sep 15 | 34,000 | 58.2 | 19,788 | 49,000 | 0.00 |
| Charles Taylor PLC | Mr. M W Keogh (gcfo) | 01 Sep 15 | 6,380 | 235 | 14,993 | 16,380 | 0.02 |
| Charles Taylor PLC | Mr. E G Creasy (ch) | 28 Aug 15 | 21,000 | 250 | 52,500 | 27,130 | 0.04 |
| Chrysalis VCT PLC | Dr. M Knight | 27 Aug 15 | 20,000 | 59 | 11,800 | 297,132 | 0.99 |
| City Merchants High Yield Trust Ltd | Mr. P Austin | 02 Sep 15 | 10,000 | 180.93 | 18,093 | 10,000 | 0.01 |
| CLS Holdings PLC | Mr. F Widlund (ceo) | 27 Aug 15 | 500 | 1835.58 | 9,178 | 16,529 | 0.04 |
| Compass Group PLC | Mr. N L Costa Silva | 28 Aug 15 | 8,200 | 1026 | 84,132 | 8,200 | 0.00 |
| Computacenter PLC♥ | G H Lock (ch) | 02 Sep 15 | 16,778 | 774.2 | 129,895 | 435,000 | 0.35 |
| Computacenter PLC | G H Lock (ch) | 02 Sep 15 | 27,300 | 774.2 | 211,357 | 418,222 | 0.34 |
| Corero Network Security PLC* | Mr. A D Miller | 28 Aug 15 | 100,000 | 10 | 10,000 | 823,255 | 0.50 |
| Corero Network Security PLC* | Mr. R Last | 28 Aug 15 | 250,000 | 10 | 25,000 | 1,316,667 | 0.79 |
| Corero Network Security PLC* | Mr. J P Montanana (ch) | 28 Aug 15 | 19,750,000 | 10 | 1,975,000 | 65,440,354 | 39.51 |
| easyHotel PLC | G Parsons (ceo) | 27 Aug 15 | 50,000 | 67 | 33,500 | 50,000 | 0.08 |
| easyHotel PLC | G Parsons (ceo) | 28 Aug 15 | 64,143 | 70 | 44,900 | 114,143 | 0.18 |
| Eco Animal Health Group PLC♥ | Mr. P A Lawrence (ch) | 01 Sep 15 | 20,000 | 280 | 56,000 | 11,393,176 | 17.85 |
| EnQuest PLC | Dr. P M G Nolan | 02 Sep 15 | 74,999 | 33.15 | 24,862 | 224,999 | 0.03 |
| EnQuest PLC | Mr. H Langanger | 01 Sep 15 | 200,000 | 33.75 | 67,500 | 200,000 | 0.02 |
| European Investment Trust (The) PLC | Dr. M Woodward | 02 Sep 15 | 1,366 | 744.5 | 10,170 | 5,000 | 0.01 |
| Glencore PLC | Mr. P Coates AO | 01 Sep 15 | 118,000 | 134.5 | 158,710 | 1,559,136 | 0.01 |
| Gresham Computing PLC♥ | Mr. M M E Royde | 28 Aug 15 | 12,500 | 98 | 12,250 | 6,219,664 | 9.84 |
| Halfords Group PLC | Mr. D H Millard (ch) | 02 Sep 15 | 5,000 | 456.83 | 22,842 | 55,000 | 0.03 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC♥ | Mohammed A K S Al-Husry | 27 Aug 15 | 750,000 | na** | na** | 5,770,446 | 2.94 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC♥ | Mr. M S T Darwazah (vch) | 27 Aug 15 | 750,000 | na** | na** | 7,671,154 | 3.91 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC♥ | Mr. S Darwazah (ch & ceo) | 27 Aug 15 | 750,000 | na** | na** | 13,118,166 | 6.00 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC | Dr. P J Pam Kirby | 27 Aug 15 | 3,317 | 2264 | 75,097 | 3,317 | 0.00 |
| IG Group Holdings PLC | Mr. A Green (ch) | 27 Aug 15 | 6,881 | 722.97 | 49,748 | 6,881 | 0.00 |
| Jupiter Fund Management PLC | Mr. J Bond | 28 Aug 15 | 5,682 | 439.97 | 24,999 | 11,910 | 0.00 |
| Marshalls PLC | Janet Ashdown | 01 Sep 15 | 5,900 | 337.3 | 19,901 | 5,900 | 0.00 |
| Marston's PLC | Ms. Catherine Glickman | 28 Aug 15 | 4,000 | 151.099 | 6,044 | 25,000 | 0.00 |
| Marston's PLC | Ms. Catherine Glickman | 27 Aug 15 | 21,000 | 152.68 | 32,064 | 21,000 | 0.00 |
| National Grid PLC† | Ms. Therese Esperdy | 01 Sep 15 | 8,000 | 850.07 | 68,005 | 8,000 | 0.00 |
| PureTech Health PLC | Dame Marjorie Scardino | 02 Sep 15 | 10,000 | 135 | 13,500 | 762,603 | 0.32 |
| PureTech Health PLC | Dame Marjorie Scardino | 01 Sep 15 | 20,000 | 135.5 | 27,100 | 752,603 | 0.32 |
| red24 PLC | Lorraine A Adlam | 27 Aug 15 | 25,000 | 26.3 | 6,575 | 75,000 | 0.15 |
| RELX PLC† | Linda S Sanford | 28 Aug 15 | 3,000 | 993.06 | 29,792 | 9,700 | 0.00 |
| Rio Tinto PLC | P M Tellier | 27 Aug 15 | 576 | 2278.81 | 13,126 | 22,935 | 0.00 |
| Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group PLC | Mr. R D Sargent (ch) | 28 Aug 15 | 1,500,000 | 4.15 | 62,250 | 8,748,421 | 2.84 |
| Severfield PLC | Mr. A H Griffiths | 02 Sep 15 | 10,000 | 67.75 | 6,775 | 30,000 | 0.01 |
| South32 Ltd | Mr. K C Rumble | 01 Sep 15 | 50,000 | 69.5 | 34,750 | 70,860 | 0.00 |
| Sutton Harbour Holdings PLC | Mr. G S Miller (ch) | 01 Sep 15 | 50,000 | 31.5 | 15,750 | 147,000 | 0.15 |
| Thomas Cook Group PLC | F L Meysman (ch) | 27 Aug 15 | 50,000 | 105.97 | 52,985 | 470,000 | 0.03 |
| UBM PLC♥ | Mr. T Cobbold (ceo) | 28 Aug 15 | 10,207 | 489.7 | 49,984 | 10,207 | 0.00 |
| WPP PLC | Mr. J Aigrain | 28 Aug 15 | 5,000 | 1346 | 67,300 | 9,000 | 0.00 |
| WPP PLC | Mr. R Quarta (ch) | 27 Aug 15 | 13,200 | 1339 | 176,748 | 13,200 | 0.00 |
| Xaar PLC | Dr D J Edwards (ceo) | 27 Aug 15 | 12,432 | 479.02 | 59,552 | 21,724 | 0.03 |
♥Spouse/connected party *Subscription/placing †ADRs **See text
SELLS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Growth Properties Ltd | D A Runciman | 31 Aug 15 | 150,000 | na | na | 802,904 | 0.09 |
| Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC | Mr. G Donoghue | 02 Sep 15 | 166,000 | 325.03 | 539,552 | 501,829 | 0.09 |
