Trading Places: The fund managers, founders & families who changed substantial holder positions

Experts Nick Sundich
Trading Places: The fund managers, founders & families who changed substantial holder positions

Pic: Getty Images

In this weekly column, Stockhead overviews all substantial holder filings of ASX small caps.

Substantial shareholders are those holding 5 per cent or more. These could be company directors, individual investors or major institutions.

Companies are required to announce when new substantial holders have come on board, when they have ceased to be shareholders or when they change their holdings.

Entrances

Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) are a West Australian gold and copper miner which last November announced a merger with Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR). It has increased 75 per cent since the merger announcement from 32 cents to 55 cents.

Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) shares over the last 6 months.

Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) also welcomed a substantial holder in small cap fund manager Paradice Investment Management with a 5.25 per cent stake.

The Commonwealth Bank prefers to invest in large caps so any small cap investment is worth noting. This week it became a substantial holder with a 5 per cent stake in ERM Power (ASX: EPW) – after slowly accumulating all year.

Crocodile Capital took a 7.37 per cent stake in Bowen Coking Coal (ASX: BCB) while AustralianSuper took an 8.49 per cent stake in daycare centre operator Think Childcare (ASX: TNK).

A number of companies saw new holders as a result of capital raises including Geopacific Resources (ASX: GPR), Dateline Resources (ASX: DTR) and ApplyDirect (ASX: AD1).

Company Code Market Cap Holder Stake
ApplyDirect AD1 $6.4M Andrew Henderson/Christopher Kuperman 0.4053
Bowen Coking Coal BCB $14.9M Crocodile Capital 0.0737
Site Group SIT $16.2M EGP Capital 0.1075
Geopacific Resources GPR $22.9M Delphi Unternehmensberatung Aktiengesellschaft 0.1722
Doray Minerals DRM $244.8M Morgan Stanley 0.0769
Kingsgate Consolidated KCN $52.0M Westoz Funds Mgmt 0.0531
Property Connect Holdings PCH $1.1M Sufian Ahmad 0.055
Peako Ltd PKO $1.8M RAM Platinum 0.061
Trimantium Growthops TGO $64.0M Paul Mansfield 0.1223
Dateline Resources DTR $15.2M John Fairfax 0.1641
Silver Lake Resources SLR $419.1M Paradice Investment Management 0.0525
ERM Power EPW $480.0M CBA 0.05
Ecofibre EOF $501.2M Barry Martin Lambert 0.2233
KGL Resources KGL $80.1M Marshall Plenty Investments 0.0911
Nuenergy NGY $29.6M Saujana E&P 0.189
Santana Minerals SMI $2.4M Alpha HPA 0.118
Think Childcare TNK $99.2M AustralianSuper 0.0849
White Cliff Minerals WCN $3.3M Rookharp Investments 0.0608
Alchemy Resources ALY $5.7M Neil Watson 0.0527
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Exits

City Chic Collective (ASX: CCX) has been one of the best performers on the ASX in recent months rising from 11 cents in December 2018 to $1.63 now – an increase of nearly 1,300 per cent!

City Chic Collective (ASX: CCX) shares over the last five years

Founder Arnold Miller decided to sell $8.6 million worth of shares. Back in December 2017 such a parcel would have fetched just under $700,000 so it’s fair to say he picked the right time to sell now.

Ellerston Capital ceased to be a substantial holder in property developer Peet (ASX: PPC). It first bought shares in July 2015 when the share price was around $1.10.

Peet shares have gone as high as $1.48 in late 2017 but are now $1.00 and a $1.3m sale saw Ellerston fall under the 5 per cent threshold.

Small cap fund manager Regal sold its 5 per cent stake in financial administrator Mainstream Group (ASX: MAI) for $6.3m.

IOOF sold a 6 per cent stake in Red Bubble (ASX: RBL) and Challenger a 5 per cent stake in Think Childcare (ASX: TNK).

Company Code Market Cap Holder Stake
City Chic Collective CCX $298.0M LandCharm 0.0754
Peet Ltd PPC $471.3M Ellerston Capital 0.053
Weebit Nano WBT $24.8M Ariel Malik 0.057
Alcidion Group ALC $54.8M BSPE Medical Technology 0.105
CrowdMedia CM8 $3.2M Collins St Asset Mgmt 5.62
Eclipx Group ECX $214.2M Renaissance Smaller Companies 0.0737
Mainstream Group Holdings MAI $81.0M Regal Funds Mgmt 0.05
Trimantium Growthops TGO $64.0M Forci Alternative Strategies 0.1223
Red Bubble RBL $275.4M IOOF 0.0602
Think Childcare TNK $99.2M Challenger 0.05
Mod Resources MOD $106.3M Long Investment Mgmt Asia 0.0513
Metro Performance Glass MPP $74.2M BNZ 0.05
Think Childcare TNK $99.2M Nova Port Capital 0.0409
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Increasing

Among the notable increases was Spheria Asset Management’s increase in Mortgage Choice (ASX: MOC), from 15.54 per cent to 16.63 per cent.

Justice Kenneth Hayne’s recommendation to switch to a user-pays model led to fears for the industry’s viability. But the government and the opposition opposed the recommendation and the industry breathed a sigh of relief.

IOOF increased its stake in FIFO-flight provider Alliance Aviation (ASX: AQZ) from 5.4 per cent to 6.6 per cent through buying two lots of $1.9 million worth of shares last Thursday and the preceding Friday.

On February 1, Qantas bought a 20% stake in it and it made clear ‘a longer-term view of taking a majority position in Alliance Airlines’. IOOF sold $4.9 million of shares in the immediate week thereafter but now has more shares than it did before.

Samuel Terry Asset Management forked out $1.9m last Friday and $1.3 million on Tuesday to increase its stake in retail technology company Onemarket (ASX: OMN) from 10.1 per cent to 15.1 per cent.

As Stockhead reported on Friday, Mareterram (ASX: MTM) saw Sea Harvest reach 90 per cent of the company as it prepares to fully acquire the company. Its most recent disclosure put its stake at 95.4 per cent.

The Commonwealth Bank increased its stake in Apollo Tourism and Leisure (ASX: ATL) from 7.58 per cent to 8.72 per cent.

Listed Company Code Market Cap Buyer Past Stake Present Stake
ApplyDirect AD1 $6.2M Pontentate Investments 0.1151 0.4053
Altura Mining AJM $260.2M Allan Buckler 0.1031 0.1467
Apollo Tourism and Leisure ATL $157.9M CBA 0.0758 0.0872
Amaysim Australia AYS $171.9M Fidelity 0.1 0.1104
Norwood Systems NOR $4.3M Apsec Funds Mgmt 0.054 0.104
Real Energy Corporation RLE $32.5M Dang Lan Nguyen 0.0587 0.0588
Villa World VLW $280.4M Accordian Investments 0.0941 0.1045
Cokal Ltd CKA $51.8M Aahana Mineral Resources 0.1597 0.1851
Invictus Energy IVX $14.9M Scott Macmillan 0.1378 0.1825
LogiCamms Ltd LCM $14.0M CandyBlossom + Bloemhof 0.1217 0.1309
Maximus Resources MXR $2.4M Michael Ruane 0.0699 0.0822
Real Energy Corporation RLE $33.2M Dang Lan Nguyen 0.0588 0.059
Rhinomed RNO $28.4M John McBain 0.0713 0.082
Advanced Braking Technology ABV $4.2M Keith Knowles 0.0712 0.1225
Aspire Mining AKM $86.5M Tserenpuntsag Tserendamba 0.161 0.2749
Anova Metals AWV $10.2M Defender Equities 0.0701 0.0809
Meteoric Resources MEI $6.8M Tolga Kumova 0.0732 0.1065
Mareterram MTM $38.3M Sea Harvest 0.7979 0.9536
Trimantium Growthops TGO $64.0M Phillip Kingston 0.1852 0.1984
Wingara WNR $26.8M Naos Asset Mgmt 0.2186 0.2288
AIC Resources A1C $13.5M Intrepid Mines 0.387 0.557
Alliance Aviation Services AQZ $342.9M IOOF Holdings 0.0541 0.0659
BOD Australia BDA $24.0M Tribeca Investment Partners 0.0511 0.0626
Doray Minerals DRM $254.2M Morgan Stanley 0.05 0.0769
Fatfish Blockchain FFG $8.9M Arena Investors 0.0866 0.1242
Imdex IMD $388.3M IOOF Holdings 0.1065 0.1166
Memphasys MEM $12.0M Andrew Goodall 0.2452 0.246
Pacifico Minerals PMY $9.9M Villiers Qld 0.0668 0.0767
Redbubble RBU $275.4M Osmium Partners 0.071 0.082
Secos Group SES $11.3M Donald Haller 0.084 0.094
Secos Group SES $11.3M R&K Edwards Investments 0.083 0.096
Universal Biosensors UBI $35.4M Jencay Capital 0.0844 0.0947
Weststar Industrial WSI $10.9M Econ (WA) 0.1274 0.1329
Empired EPD $62.5M National Nominees 0.1414 0.1523
Marmota Ltd MEU $11.1M Colin Rose 0.1224 0.1346
Metals X MLX $165.4M Morgan Stanley 0.0792 0.0893
Mortgage Choice MOC $119.4M Spheria Asset Mgmt 0.1554 0.1663
MaxiTRANS Industries MXI $58.3M Spheria Asset Mgmt 0.0621 0.0736
Maximus Resources MXR $2.3M Michael Ruane 0.0822 0.094
Onemarket OMN $67.0M Samuel Terry Asset Mgmt 0.101 0.151
QMS Media QMS $231.5M Burgundy Asset Mgmt 0.0551 0.0653
Wellness & Beauty Solutions WNB $8.7M Thorney Investment Group 0.0979 0.1194
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Decreasing

While Morgan Stanley bought $17.6 million, IOOF sold over $9 million of Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) stock, reducing its stake from 12.24 per cent to 8.81 per cent. It also sold down a 9.32 per cent stake in Uniti Wireless (ASX: UWL) to 7.63 per cent.

Only hours after failing to topple the board at Factor Therapeutics (ASX: FTT), Pura Vida Energy (ASX: PVD) reduced its stake from 19.97 per cent to 12.39 per cent. It is still a substantial holder but it was a drastic action to take so fast after failing.

Midway (ASX: MWY) saw founder Greg McCormack and Nils Gunnerson reduce their stakes in the company from 41.4 per cent between them to 34.7 per cent.

As often happens when directors sell major stakes, the company put out a market announcement declaring they still were committed to the company.

However, they declared the purchase reflected “a desire of the Board of Directors to broaden and deepen the shareholder base in the Company and increase trading liquidity“.

They also promised they would not sell further shares at prices below the sell-down level until 1st half FY2020 results were released.

Listed Company Code Market Cap Seller Past Stake Present Stake
Altura Mining AJM $260.2M Maxwell Smith 0.0977 0.0869
Doray Minerals DRM $248.6M IOOF 0.1224 0.0881
Uniti Wireless UWL $52.4M IOOF 0.0932 0.0763
Renascor Resources RNU $19.6M Kabinige nominees - David Clarke 0.1498 0.1324
Trimantium Growthops TGO $63.3M North Ridge Partners 0.0816 0.0649
CropLogic CLI $7.7M Managed Accounts Holdings 0.0531 0.0494
Liontown Resources LTR $28.6M Timothy Goyder 0.1899 0.1797
BlackEarth Minerals BEM $2.5M Lithium Australia 0.1609 0.1333
Factor Therapeutics FTT $3.7M Pura Vide Energy 0.1997 0.1239
Midway MWY $307.2M Gunnerson Trust 0.2879 0.238
Midway MWY $307.2M Greg McCormack 0.1316 0.109
Rameulis Resources RMS $556.4M Ruffer 0.1024 0.0774
Tesserent TNT $8.7M Grand Floridian 0.133 0.12
Zenith Energy ZEN $62.2M Thorney Oppotunities 0.0883 0.0686
Memphasys MEM $12.0M Alison Coutts 0.1621 0.1458
Northern Minerals NTU $121.7M Huatai Mining 0.1237 0.1105
Sunstone Metals STM $55.9M Darren Carter 0.0876 0.0728
AIC Resources A1C $13.5M Intrepid Mines 0.557 0.5755
Energy Action EAX $8.2M Microequities Asset Mgmt 0.1998 0.1839
Mach7 Technologies M7T $27.4M Oceania Capital Partners 0.0762 0.0626
Novatti NOV $35.9M Brayter 0.2993 0.2794
Property Connect PCH $1.1M David Nolan 0.0656 0.0653
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