It seems M&A is the acronym du jour for large media groups. US giant Comcast (US:CMSCA) bought Sky for £30bn, while Walt Disney (US:DIS) recently won the battle for 21st Century Fox’s (US:FOXA) media assets.
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This heady climate for acquisitions, and an attractive content library, are two of the reasons we remain optimistic about a potential bid for Entertainment One (ETO). To the latter point, the company’s library was valued at $2bn (£1.5bn) on 31 March 2018, up from $1.7bn a year earlier.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. The way that consumers view content is changing, contributing to the decline of the home entertainment market. As a result, the company is focusing increasingly on its production activities.
In any case, it can prove unnerving to see a director offload shares – as per chief executive Darren Throop’s recent £5.8m disposal. A spokesperson for eOne confirmed the sale related to a personal project.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Aberdeen Diversified Income and Growth Trust | James Grover | 18 Jan 19 | 100,000 | 115 | 115,000 | 127,500 | 0.039 |
| Aberdeen Standard Equity Income Trust | Josephine Dixon | 23 Jan 19 | 15,950 | 408.75 | 65,196 | 20,000 | 0.041 |
| Aberdeen Standard Equity Income Trust | Richard Burns (ch) | 23 Jan 19 | 5,000 | 409.88 | 20,494 | 296,000 | 0.602 |
| Aberdeen Standard Equity Income Trust | Richard Burns (ch) | 22 Jan 19 | 45,000 | 411 | 184,950 | 291,000 | 0.592 |
| Accrol | Daniel Wright (ch) | 22 Jan 19 | 400,000 | 15.86 | 63,440 | 2,220,308 | 1.137 |
| Alliance Pharma | Richard Jones | 22 Jan 19 | 15,000 | 65.28 | 9,792 | 15,000 | 0.003 |
| Ariana Resources | Ahmet Sener | 22 Jan 19 | 860,000 | 1.75 | 15,050 | 19,564,252 | 1.860 |
| Ariana Resources | Michael de Villiers (ch) | 22 Jan 19 | 1,120,000 | 1.75 | 19,600 | 54,845,000 | 5.215 |
| Ariana Resources | William Payne (cfo) | 22 Jan 19 | 1,450,000 | 1.75 | 25,375 | 9,359,314 | 0.890 |
| B&M European Value Retail | Peter Bamford (ch) | 21 Jan 19 | 5,000 | 315.35 | 15,768 | 5,000 | 0.000 |
| Boot (Henry) | Gerald Jennings | 18 Jan 19 | 2,000 | 259 | 5,180 | 11,650 | 0.009 |
| Chemring | Carl-Peter Forster (ch) | 17 Jan 19 | 10,000 | 164.6 | 16,460 | 30,000 | 0.011 |
| Gear4music | Eric Ford (ch) | 18 Jan 19 | 10,000 | 183.5 | 18,350 | 40,000 | 0.191 |
| IG Group | June Felix (ceo) | 23 Jan 19 | 17,000 | 585.8 | 99,586 | 34,000 | 0.009 |
| Johnson Matthey | Patrick Thomas (ch) | 21 Jan 19 | 4,257 | 3038.21 | 129,337 | 4,257 | 0.002 |
| Manchester & London Investment Trust | David Harris (ch) | 17 Jan 19 | 3,000 | 457.14 | 13,714 | 10,000 | 0.036 |
| Martin Currie Asia Unconstrained Trust | Craig Cleland | 18 Jan 19 | 7,500 | 372.66 | 27,950 | 7,500 | 0.021 |
| Oxford BioMedica | Stuart Paynter (cfo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,622 | 613 | 9,943 | 3,375 | 0.005 |
| Oxford BioMedica | Andrew Heath | 17 Jan 19 | 2,000 | 616 | 12,320 | 38,000 | 0.057 |
| Oxford BioMedica♥ | Andrew Heath | 17 Jan 19 | 2,000 | 616 | 12,320 | 40,000 | 0.061 |
| Pantheon Resources* | Jeremy Brest | 17 Jan 19 | 327,869 | 15.25 | 50,000 | 327,869 | 0.072 |
| Pantheon Resources* | John Walmsley | 17 Jan 19 | 81,148 | 15.25 | 12,375 | 1,941,086 | 0.427 |
| Pantheon Resources* | John Cheatham (ceo) | 17 Jan 19 | 655,738 | 15.25 | 100,000 | 2,639,142 | 0.581 |
| Pantheon Resources* | Justin Hondris (fd) | 17 Jan 19 | 196,722 | 15.25 | 30,000 | 1,378,233 | 0.303 |
| Pantheon Resources* | Phillip Gobe (ch) | 17 Jan 19 | 155,881 | 15.25 | 23,772 | 230,881 | 0.051 |
| Pantheon Resources* | Robert Rosenthal | 17 Jan 19 | 262,296 | 15.25 | 40,000 | 2,062,296 | 0.454 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Dilipkumar Shah | 22 Jan 19 | 70,000 | 2.5 | 1,750 | 170,000 | 0.018 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Hemant Thanawala | 22 Jan 19 | 200,000 | 2.5 | 5,000 | 29,239,579 | 3.169 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Jason Miles | 22 Jan 19 | 400,000 | 2.5 | 10,000 | 3,580,633 | 0.388 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Laurence Mutch | 22 Jan 19 | 215,000 | 2.5 | 5,375 | 365,000 | 0.040 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Michael Kirk (ch) | 22 Jan 19 | 100,000 | 2.5 | 2,500 | 600,000 | 0.065 |
| Quadrise Fuels International* | Philip Snaith | 22 Jan 19 | 200,000 | 2.5 | 5,000 | 350,000 | 0.038 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 17 Jan 19 | 2,000,000 | 0.36 | 7,200 | 37,644,215 | 4.758 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,200,000 | 0.37 | 4,440 | 41,344,215 | 5.225 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 800,000 | 0.37 | 2,960 | 42,144,215 | 5.326 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,000,000 | 0.37 | 3,700 | 44,144,215 | 5.579 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,000,000 | 0.375 | 3,750 | 43,144,215 | 5.453 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 500,000 | 0.379 | 1,895 | 44,644,215 | 5.452 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,250,000 | 0.38 | 4,750 | 38,894,215 | 4.916 |
| Regency Mines | Andrew Bell (ch & ceo) | 18 Jan 19 | 1,250,000 | 0.3845 | 4,806 | 40,144,215 | 5.074 |
| Sutton Harbour♥ | Graham Miller | 22 Jan 19 | 19,333 | 25.8 | 4,988 | 121,301 | 0.105 |
| Sutton Harbour♥ | Graham Miller | 22 Jan 19 | 18,681 | 26.7 | 4,988 | 139,982 | 0.121 |
| Treatt | Daemmon Reeve (ceo) | 17 Jan 19 | 4,185 | 424 | 17,744 | 420,188 | 0.718 |
| U and I | Richard Upton | 18 Jan 19 | 11,720 | 205 | 24,026 | 3,293,740 | 2.626 |
| Volution | Anthony Reading | 18 Jan 19 | 5,000 | 144.96 | 7,248 | 90,000 | 0.045 |
| Volution | Ronnie George (ceo) | 17 Jan 19 | 5,000 | 145 | 7,250 | 5,642,797 | 2.846 |
| Volution | Anthony Reading | 17 Jan 19 | 5,000 | 146.75 | 7,338 | 85,000 | 0.043 |
| Zoo Digital | Phillip Blundell (cfo) | 23 Jan 19 | 25,000 | 65 | 16,250 | 25,000 | 0.034 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Bluefield Solar Income Fund♥ | Paul Le Page | 23 Jan 19 | 67,839 | 127.89 | 86,759 | 70,000 | 0.019 |
| Boot (Henry) | Jonathan Sykes | 18 Jan 19 | 125,000 | 247 | 308,750 | 20,702,155 | 15.548 |
| Entertainment One | Darren Throop (ceo) | 22 Jan 19 | 1,500,000 | 385.843 | 5,787,645 | 7,170,141 | 1.547 |
| Helical | Timothy Murphy (fd) | 23 Jan 19 | 25,000 | 325 | 81,250 | 659,594 | 0.553 |
| Sophos | Kristof Hagerman (ceo) | 22 Jan 19 | 10,264 | 320 | 32,845 | 2,650,052 | 0.552 |
| Sophos | Nick Bray (cfo) | 22 Jan 19 | 4,385 | 320 | 14,032 | 347,990 | 0.073 |
| *Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party | |||||||
