It’s been a busy few weeks for S4 Capital (SFOR) – the digital advertising and marketing company founded by Sir Martin Sorrell in May 2018, a month after his exit from WPP (WPP). On 8 October 2019, S4 announced the merger of its MediaMonks business with Firewood – a Silicon Valley-based digital marketing agency – valuing the latter at $150m. Firewood boasts major tech clients, including Google (US:GOOGL) and Facebook (US:FB). To part-fund this deal and other potential acquisitions, S4 raised £100m via a placing and open offer.
Various directors piled in at a price of 142p per share, with the transactions dated 23 and 25 October. Among them, executive chairman Sir Martin bought nearly 9m shares for £12.7m, taking his holding to 55.4m shares. Oro en Fools, the joint personal holding company of executive directors Victor Knaap and Wesley ter Haar, bought shares worth £4.1m, while SEF4 Investment SCSP – managed by Stanhope Capital, of which S4 non-executive director Daniel Pinto is chief executive – bought shares worth £19.5m.
Buys | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
1pm | Ron Russell | 18 Oct 19 | 41,018 | 28.915 | 11,860 | 10,598,242 | 12.099 |
1pm | Ron Russell | 18 Oct 19 | 69,130 | 28.915 | 19,989 | 10,667,372 | 12.178 |
1pm | Ron Russell | 18 Oct 19 | 69,049 | 28.96 | 19,997 | 10,736,421 | 12.257 |
1pm | Ron Russell | 18 Oct 19 | 103,744 | 28.915 | 29,998 | 10,840,165 | 12.375 |
Audioboom | Michael Tobin (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 10,000 | 172 | 17,200 | 178,336 | 1.273 |
Audioboom | Michael Tobin (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 7,140 | 175 | 12,495 | 185,476 | 1.324 |
Chaarat Gold † | Martin Andersson (ch) | 17 Oct 19 | 33,614 | 37.4 | 12,583 | 145,935,848 | 33.064 |
Chaarat Gold † | Martin Andersson (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 86,838 | 37.6 | 32,612 | 146,022,686 | 33.084 |
Chaarat Gold † | Martin Andersson (ch) | 22 Oct 19 | 20,010 | 37.8 | 7,564 | 146,042,696 | 33.088 |
Chaarat Gold † | Martin Andersson (ch) | 23 Oct 19 | 30,000 | 38.1 | 11,420 | 146,072,696 | 33.095 |
China New Energy | Richard Bennett | 23 Oct 19 | 300,000 | 2.72 | 8,160 | 1,137,747 | 0.260 |
CIP Merchant Capital †† | Carlo Sgarbi/Marco Fumagalli | 18 Oct 19 | 300,000 | 56 | 168,000 | 4,261,527 | 7.750 |
Devro | Malcolm Swift | 23 Oct 19 | 6,258 | 158.8 | 9,938 | 16,613 | 0.010 |
Domino's Pizza | Ian Bull | 17 Oct 19 | 10,000 | 278.9 | 27,890 | 20,000 | 0.004 |
EnQuest ♥ | Amjad Bseisu (ceo) | 18 Oct 19 | 2,154,756 | 18.5 | 398,630 | 176,165,821 | 10.389 |
ICG Enterprise Trust | Gerhard Fusenig | 18 Oct 19 | 9,500 | 904 | 85,880 | 9,500 | 0.014 |
ITV | Salman Amin | 18 Oct 19 | 8,079 | 136.33 | 11,014 | 50,674 | 0.001 |
K3 Business Technology ♥ | PJ Claesson | 22 Oct 19 | 1,500 | 165 | 2,475 | 9,810,423 | 22.843 |
K3 Business Technology ♥ | PJ Claesson | 23 Oct 19 | 1,500 | 175 | 2,625 | 9,811,923 | 22.847 |
M&G | Michael Evans (ch) | 23 Oct 19 | 32,000 | 211.35 | 67,632 | 32,000 | 0.001 |
M&G | John Foley (ceo) | 23 Oct 19 | 100,000 | 212.2736 | 212,274 | 387,536 | 0.015 |
McBride ♥ | Igor Kuzniar | 22 Oct 19 | 35,000 | 66 | 23,100 | 42,569,814 | 23.283 |
McBride ♥ | Igor Kuzniar | 23 Oct 19 | 765,943 | 69 | 528,501 | 43,335,757 | 23.701 |
Minds + Machines ♥ | Henry Turcan | 23 Oct 19 | 135,000 | 6 | 8,100 | 114,981,652 | 12.492 |
Quixant | Nicholas Jarmany | 23 Oct 19 | 25,400 | 190 | 48,260 | 11,201,163 | 16.860 |
Renew | Andries Liebenberg | 18 Oct 19 | 5,450 | 367 | 20,002 | 38,821 | 0.052 |
Renew | Paul Scott (ceo) | 18 Oct 19 | 5,450 | 367 | 20,002 | 52,862 | 0.070 |
Renew | Sean Wyndham-Quin (fd) | 18 Oct 19 | 2,725 | 367 | 10,001 | 13,993 | 0.019 |
Rotala * | John Gunn (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 44,250 | 56 | 24,780 | 8,470,598 | 16.910 |
Rotala ♥ * | John Gunn (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 44,250 | 56 | 24,780 | 8,514,848 | 16.999 |
Rotala ♥ * | John Gunn (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 90,000 | 56 | 50,400 | 8,604,848 | 17.178 |
S & U | Graham Coombs | 23 Oct 19 | 10,000 | 2100 | 210,000 | 1,591,457 | 13.174 |
S4 Capital ♥ * | Daniel Pinto | 23/25 Oct 19 | 13,729,405 | 142 | 19,495,755 | 41,212,366 | 8.841 |
S4 Capital * | Peter Rademaker (cfo) | 23/25 Oct 19 | 136,600 | 142 | 193,972 | 844,732 | 0.181 |
S4 Capital * | Rupert Walker | 23/25 Oct 19 | 251,500 | 142 | 357,130 | 1,555,276 | 0.334 |
S4 Capital * | Scott Spirit | 23/25 Oct 19 | 26,097 | 142 | 37,058 | 161,389 | 0.035 |
S4 Capital * | Sue Prevezer | 23/25 Oct 19 | 34,494 | 142 | 48,981 | 261,766 | 0.056 |
S4 Capital * | Martin Sorrell (ch) | 23/25 Oct 19 | 8,951,377 | 142 | 12,710,955 | 55,355,077 | 11.875 |
S4 Capital * | Paul Roy | 25 Oct 19 | 307,266 | 142 | 436,318 | 1,900,129 | 0.408 |
S4 Capital ♥ * | Victor Knaap/Wesley ter Haar | 23 Oct 19 | 2,862,153 | 142 | 4,064,257 | 33,670,378 | 7.223 |
Schroder Japan Growth Fund | Anja Balfour (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 5,000 | 185.74 | 9,287 | 14,000 | 0.011 |
Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust (The) | Jeremy Whitley | 21 Oct 19 | 1,500 | 990 | 14,850 | 71,000 | 0.238 |
Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust (The) | Jeremy Whitley | 21 Oct 19 | 2,000 | 995 | 19,900 | 69,500 | 0.233 |
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust * | Tony Roper (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 5,000 | 103 | 5,150 | 50,000 | 0.019 |
Surgical Innovations | Paul Hardy | 22 Oct 19 | 500,000 | 2.25 | 11,250 | 6,308,744 | 0.810 |
Tremor International | Timothy Weller (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 68,965 | 145 | 99,999 | 163,595 | 0.134 |
Velocity Composites | Andy Beaden (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 25,000 | 22.9 | 5,725 | 175,000 | 0.487 |
Velocity Composites | Andy Beaden (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 25,000 | 23.5 | 5,875 | 200,000 | 0.557 |
Velocity Composites | Andy Beaden (ch) | 18 Oct 19 | 25,000 | 23.8 | 5,950 | 225,000 | 0.626 |
Sells | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
Avast | Erwin Gunst | 21 Oct 19 | 1,000,000 | 399 | 3,990,000 | 0 | 0.000 |
CLS Holdings | Bengt Mortstedt | 17 Oct 19 | 322,150 | 259 | 834,369 | 26,072,550 | 6.400 |
Cora Gold ♥ | Geoffrey McNamara (ch) | 23 Oct 19 | 100,000 | 7.1 | 7,100 | 1,504,242 | 1.160 |
Michelmersh Brick | Frank Hanna (co-ceo) | 22 Oct 19 | 500,000 | 108 | 540,000 | 550,000 | 0.595 |
Michelmersh Brick ♥ | Martin Warner (ch) | 21 Oct 19 | 500,000 | 112.5 | 562,500 | 4,138,732 | 4.475 |
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party | |||||||
† Shares purchased by Labro Investments Limited, in which Martin Andersson is indirectly beneficially interested in the majority of shares | |||||||
†† Shares purchased by Goldfinch SA, which is wholly owned in equal proportion by Carlo Sgarbi and Marco Fumagalli |