Harry picks up Rs. 336 m more of Spence shares

Harry Jayawardena-controlled Melstacorp last week bought Rs. 336 million worth of more shares of Aitken Spence after picking up a 10.8% stake for Rs. 5 billion.

During the last three days of the market, Melstacorp picked up 2.92 million more shares of Spence with 1.32 million on Wednesday and 0.8 million on Friday.

Among sellers were companies connected to business leader Ravi Thambiayah.

On Tuesday, Melstacorp bou-ght 44.03 million Spence shares from Sri Lanka Insurance at Rs. 115 each in a deal worth Rs. 5.06 billion. The price paid was above the near Rs. 113 mandatory offer, after which a fresh offer was made. With additional buying, Melstacorp, its parent Distilleries and other related parties combined stake is 41.37%%.

Interestingly, whilst it is understandable for Spence to collect quantities, it is not the only buyer in the market.

As per brokers, several institutional investors such as pension funds were also buying though in smaller quantities, perhaps eyeing higher dividend yield or capital appreciation going forward.