Packer offloads SEEK, Magellan - now seeking new grounds
Some may be scrambling to move on the information that James Packer has sold his stakes in employment website SEEK and the Magellan Financial Group.
Packer bagged a $150 million profit and raised a total $261 million in the UBS-arranged trade. It saw private company Cavalane Holdings sell an 8.3 per cent stake in global equity manager Magellan at $10.68 per share and ditch a 4 per cent stake in jobs portal SEEK for $9.28 a share. The sales were a bargain at 8.6 per cent and 4.9 per cent discounts on the previous day’s closing price, respectively.
There is still a following attached to the Packer name in the market arena, cemented after the family sold the Nine Network for considerable profits two separate times. It has led to speculation that others may rapidly offload their stock, though in the day since the announcements that does not appear to have happened.
Investment researchers say the falling dollar could be the ideal entry point to Magellan for investors, with its funds surging to $US14.3 billion from only $US4.06 billion in June 2012.