American hedge fund sells USD 32 mln worth of Romanian Fondul Proprietatea stock

American hedge fund Elliott was the first to take advantage of Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Elliott, Fondul Proprietatea’s biggest shareholder, unloaded some 2.8 million GDRs (global depository receipts), which stand for 140 million common shares in the fund or 1.15% of the fund’s total number of shares. The hedge fund cashed in some USD 32 million from these transactions that took place on April 29 and April 30, according to an announcement posted on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Fondul Proprietatea’s GDRs started trading on the London Stock Exchange on April 29. A total of 2.08 million such instruments traded on the market from that moment until Tuesday, May 5. However, according to Elliott’s report, the hedge fund sold some 2.8 million GDRs, which means that some of the sales were made outside the official market or OTC (over the counter). Elliott’s report also shows that the hedge fund converted most of the shares it holds in Fondul Proprietatea into GDRs, which means that it expects to find more buyers on the London Stock Exchange than on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. One of the main reasons for the fund’s secondary listing was to draw in new investors that wouldn’t have bought FP shares otherwise, because of the low liquidity on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The Romanian market had an average daily trading value of some EUR 7.7 million in the first four months of 2015, with FP standing for more than a quarter of this. Elliott, which is controlled by American investor Paul Singer, currently holds 652.5 million of Fondul Proprietatea shares and 27.2 million GDRs, which stand for another 1.36 billion shares. These stand for 16.52% of the fund’s total share capital and 18.76% of the voting rights, according to official reports. The total value of Elliott’s remaining stake is over USD 455 million. Fondul Proprietatea has a total market capitalization of USD 2.74 billion, as of May 6. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com