The disposal of Turkish business Headlong by GVC Holdings (GVC) earlier this month put the rumour mill into overdrive. The thinking goes that the government’s decision to slash the maximum amount that can be played on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) could prompt further consolidation in the gambling industry. GVC has made two recent attempts to buy Ladbrokes Coral (LCL), and since Ladbrokes is set to be the hardest hit by a change in regulation, GVC could get itself a better price.
While tightening legislation naturally has investors concerned, don't read too much into the recent share disposal by non-executive director Norbert Teufelberger – previously head of rival group bwin.party before it was taken over by GVC last year. Mr Teufelberger sold 400,000 shares at 952p each, thus reducing his stake to 755,276 shares. A spokesperson for the company said the sale was "consistent" with previous share disposals made by Mr Teufelberger, as he pursues entrepreneurial interests outside of the company.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Augean♥ | Christopher Mills | 07 Nov 17 | 200,000 | 29 | 58,000 | 18,600,000 | 18.086 |
| BT♥ | Jan du Plessis (ch) | 07 Nov 17 | 200,000 | 252 | 504,000 | 200,000 | 0.002 |
| BT | Nick Rose | 06 Nov 17 | 100,000 | 251 | 251,000 | 300,000 | 0.003 |
| Footasylum | Brendan Hynes | 06 Nov 17 | 15,000 | 205 | 30,750 | 15,000 | 0.014 |
| Footasylum | Stephen Robertson | 02 Nov 17 | 11,933 | 209.5 | 25,000 | 11,933 | 0.011 |
| Grafenia | Conrad Bona | 06 Nov 17 | 25,000 | 10.2 | 2,550 | 565,000 | 1.244 |
| Grafenia | Conrad Bona | 06 Nov 17 | 25,000 | 10.388 | 2,597 | 590,000 | 1.299 |
| Grafenia | Peter Gunning (ceo) | 08 Nov 17 | 131,906 | 11.75 | 15,499 | 1,381,906 | 3.043 |
| Lancashire Holdings | Peter Clarke (ch) | 02 Nov 17 | 30,000 | 746 | 223,800 | 44,000 | 0.022 |
| Northern 2 VCT | Alastair Conn | 03 Nov 17 | 14,364 | 69.6 | 9,997 | 460,719 | 0.365 |
| Northern 2 VCT | David Gravells (ch) | 03 Nov 17 | 8,596 | 69.8 | 6,000 | 35,288 | 0.028 |
| Northern 2 VCT | Frank Neale | 03 Nov 17 | 35,818 | 69.8 | 25,001 | 140,848 | 0.112 |
| Northern 2 VCT | Cecilia McAnulty | 03 Nov 17 | 14,327 | 69.8 | 10,000 | 66,284 | 0.053 |
| Northern 3 VCT | Christopher Fleetwood | 03 Nov 17 | 20,000 | 100 | 20,000 | 75,305 | 0.087 |
| Northern 3 VCT | John Waddell | 03 Nov 17 | 7,500 | 100 | 7,500 | 21,840 | 0.025 |
| Northern 3 VCT | James Ferguson (ch) | 03 Nov 17 | 100,000 | 100 | 100,000 | 656,374 | 0.762 |
| Northern 3 VCT | Timothy Levett | 03 Nov 17 | 60,153 | 99.7 | 59,973 | 298,301 | 0.346 |
| Northern Venture Trust | David Mayes | 03 Nov 17 | 270,661 | 73.9 | 200,018 | 361,795 | 0.274 |
| Northern Venture Trust | Hugh Younger | 03 Nov 17 | 67,493 | 74.1 | 50,012 | 119,746 | 0.091 |
| Northern Venture Trust | Richard Green | 03 Nov 17 | 67,493 | 74.1 | 50,012 | 77,493 | 0.059 |
| Northern Venture Trust | Simon Constantine (ch) | 03 Nov 17 | 53,994 | 74.1 | 40,010 | 297,197 | 0.225 |
| Old Mutual | Jonathan Hemphill (ceo) | 08 Nov 17 | 46,300 | 195.9102 | 90,706 | 46,300 | 0.001 |
| Ortac Resources* | Brian McMaster | 02 Nov 17 | 2,000,000 | 2 | 40,000 | 2,000,000 | 0.855 |
| Ortac Resources* | Nick Von Schirnding (ch) | 02 Nov 17 | 2,000,000 | 2 | 40,000 | 2,593,333 | 1.109 |
| Plus500♥ | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 3,000 | 1,038.71 | 31,161 | 114,000 | 0.100 |
| Plus500 | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 5,000 | 1,039.71 | 51,986 | 111,000 | 0.097 |
| Plus500 | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 7,500 | 1,040.33 | 78,025 | 106,000 | 0.093 |
| Reckitt Benckiser | Adrian Hennah (cfo) | 08 Nov 17 | 2,285 | 6,566.90 | 150,054 | 92,166 | 0.013 |
| Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust♥ | P Maxwell | 07 Nov 17 | 4,405 | 456.5 | 20,109 | 41,150 | 0.003 |
| Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust | P Maxwell | 07 Nov 17 | 4,465 | 456.5 | 20,383 | 36,745 | 0.003 |
| Sunrise Resources* | David Swan | 07 Nov 17 | 2,117,647 | 17 | 360,000 | 14,980,510 | 0.827 |
| Sunrise Resources* | Patrick Cheetham (ch) | 07 Nov 17 | 1,764,706 | 17 | 300,000 | 81,506,032 | 4.501 |
| Sunrise Resources* | Roger Murphy | 07 Nov 17 | 2,920,000 | 17 | 496,400 | 26,411,621 | 1.459 |
| Thruvision | Tom Black (ch) | 03 Nov 17 | 516,303 | 16 | 82,608 | 9,835,735 | 5.956 |
| UP Global Sourcing | Jim McCarthy (ch) | 07 Nov 17 | 109,375 | 93.25 | 101,992 | 500,000 | 0.608 |
| Ubisense* | Peter Harverson (ch) | 06 Nov 17 | 78,125 | 32 | 25,000 | 223,286 | 0.306 |
| Ubisense* | Paul Taylor | 06 Nov 17 | 78,125 | 32 | 25,000 | 191,459 | 0.262 |
| Ubisense* | Robert Sansom | 06 Nov 17 | 1,250,000 | 32 | 400,000 | 6,235,899 | 8.533 |
| Ubisense* | Richard Petti (ceo) | 06 Nov 17 | 78,125 | 32 | 25,000 | 78,125 | 0.107 |
| Ubisense* | Tim Gingell (cfo) | 06 Nov 17 | 46,875 | 32 | 15,000 | 86,875 | 0.119 |
| Velocity Composites | Peter Turner | 02 Nov 17 | 55,555 | 90 | 50,000 | 55,555 | 0.155 |
| Wilmington | Anthony Foye (cfo) | 02 Nov 17 | 100,000 | 237.5 | 237,500 | 929,690 | 1.064 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Action Hotels | Sheikh Mubarak A. M. Al Sabah (ch) | 03 Nov 17 | 5,000 | 35.5 | 1,775 | 97,300,616 | 65.905 |
| Comptoir | Tony Kitous | 03 Nov 17 | 333,333 | 15 | 50,000 | 58,412,503 | 47.619 |
| GVC | Norbert Teufelberger | 02 Nov 17 | 400,000 | 951.88 | 3,807,520 | 755,276 | 0.255 |
| Hilton Food | Robert Watson (ceo) | 08 Nov 17 | 100,000 | 870 | 870,000 | 3,029,865 | 3.725 |
| MJ Gleeson♥ | Christopher Mills | 07 Nov 17 | 10,000 | 735 | 73,500 | 10,045,000 | 18.402 |
| MJ Gleeson♥ | Christopher Mills | 07 Nov 17 | 145,000 | 735 | 1,065,750 | 9,900,000 | 18.136 |
| MJ Gleeson♥ | Christopher Mills | 07 Nov 17 | 1,345,000 | 735 | 9,885,750 | 8,555,000 | 15.672 |
| Old Mutual | Jonathan Hemphill (ceo) | 06 Nov 17 | 182,263 | 193.4523 | 352,592 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Plus500 | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 15,000 | 1,032.83 | 154,925 | 159,000 | 0.139 |
| Plus500 | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 15,000 | 1,038.53 | 155,780 | 174,000 | 0.153 |
| Plus500 | Michael Fairbairn | 02 Nov 17 | 60,500 | 1035 | 626,175 | 98,500 | 0.086 |
| Raven Russia | Colin Smith | 06 Nov 17 | 298,449 | 50.26 | 150,000 | 970,646 | 0.147 |
| * placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party | |||||||
