Shares in LSE group fall after major Italian banks cash out
SHARES in the London Stock Exchange sank seven per cent yesterday after two Italian banks sold their stakes at the bottom end of the price range offered.
UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, the third and fourth-largest shareholders respectively, sold a combined 11.5 per cent stake at 960p a share, just days after they were downgraded by a credit ratings agency.
The price was at the very bottom of the 960p-1,000p range provided by the offer terms sheet on Tuesday, valuing UniCredit’s 6.1 per cent stake at €197.6m (£158m) and Intesa’s 5.4 per cent holding at €172.5m.
The sale price was 5.6 per cent below the LSE’s closing share price on Tuesday of 1,017p and the banks’ holdings were placed through an accelerated book build, with Morgan Stanley acting as bookrunner.