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Trading Places: Why buy on-market when you can get a share top-up from your dad?
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This week’s recap of substantial holder transactions among ASX small caps covers everything from fund managers investing client cash to shares being handed down from one generation to the next.
Substantial shareholders are shareholders holding 5 per cent or more of a company’s shares and these can be directors, individual investors or institutional investors.
Shareholders are required to announce to the exchange when they cross above or below the 5 per cent threshold and any change in their holdings while they remain above 5 per cent.
Buyers
One of the more active fund managers this week was Sandon Capital (ASX:SNC), which is in the process of taking over Sir Ron Brierley’s Mercantile Investment (ASX:MVT). Brierley announced in June that he was retiring and with his exit Sandon would merge with Mercantile.
Among Sandon’s buys this week, it bought an 18.9 per cent stake in bauxite explorer Bauxite Resources (ASX:BAU) and a 21.4 per cent stake in mortgage broker Yellow Brick Road (ASX:YBR). Mercantile tried to take over the latter company last year but Mark Bouris firmly rejected the offer.
AustralianSuper topped up its stake in Prospa (ASX:PGL) and it now owns 11.44 per cent. IOOF became a substantial holder on Ooh! Media (ASX:OML) with a 6.03 per cent stake and increased its stake in Victory Offices (ASX:VOL) to 10.14 per cent.
Graphite explorer Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) was slammed last week after falling prices caused it to make production cuts. But Sirtex Medical founder Bruce Gray, who sold Sirtex last year, put another $11m into the company and he now owns 7.38 per cent.
British fund manager Ruffer bought into Oklo Resources (ASX:OKU), taking a 5.63 per cent stake.
Finally, miner Hylea Metals (ASX:HCO), which rose over 400 per cent in one day when it announced it was buying a uranium mine, caught the eye of an American hedge fund.
Sachem Partners, which specialises in uranium investments, made a $232,142.86 punt on the stock.
| Company | Code | Market Cap | Holder | Stake | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospa | PGL | $774.5M | AustralianSuper | 11.44% | Increasing |
| Kyckr | KYK | $19.3M | Regal Funds Management | 5.30% | Becoming |
| GetSwift | GSW | $89.6M | Charles Frischer | 6.72% | Increasing |
| Venture Minerals | VMS | $14.5M | Delphi | 7.30% | Increasing |
| Babylon Pump and Power | BPP | $10.2M | Chesapeake Capital | 5.00% | Becoming |
| Hills | HIL | $61.5M | Alisa Rosemary Hill-Ling | 11.00% | Increasing |
| Superior Lake Resources | SUP | $19.5M | Ilwella | 8.09% | Increasing |
| Victory Offices | VOL | $98.2M | IOOF | 10.14% | Increasing |
| Ooh! Media | OML | $766.8M | IOOF | 6.03% | Becoming |
| Babylon Pump and Power | BPP | $10.2M | G & N Lord Superannuation | 9.96% | Increasing |
| Todd River Resources | TRT | $5.7M | Delphi | 6.98% | Increasing |
| Opthea | OPT | $839.3M | Kifin Ltd | 6.52% | Increasing |
| Todd River Resources | TRT | $5.7M | S2 Resources | 22.99% | Increasing |
| Family Insights | FAM | $4.5M | Great Southern Flour Mills | 11.83% | Increasing |
| Oklo Resources | OKU | $47.4M | Ruffer | 5.63% | Becoming |
| Wellness & Beauty Solutions | WNB | $4.6M | Geoffrey Pearce | 11.43% | Increasing |
| Abundant Produce | ABT | $3.9M | Top Cat Consulting Services | 19.95% | Increasing |
| Syrah Resources | SYR | $212.9M | Bruce Gray | 7.38% | Increasing |
| Qantm IP | QTM | $23.1M | Fidelity | 8.25% | Increasing |
| Hylea Metals | HCO | $4.0M | Sachem Cove Special Opportunities Fund | 5.15% | Becoming |
| Domacom | DCL | $14.6M | Halo Investments | 9.09% | Becoming |
| Celsius Resources | CLA | $12.9M | Andrew Palleson | 12.93% | Increasing |
| Class | CL1 | $170.6M | Pinnacle Investment Management | 10.28% | Increasing |
| GBST Holdings | GBT | $260.1M | Pinnacle Investment Management | 8.11% | Increasing |
| Coventry Group | CYG | $92.4M | Sandon Capital | 9.50% | Increasing |
| Imdex | IMD | $530.4M | L1 Capital | 5.88% | Becoming |
| NZME | NZM | $196.0M | Spheria Asset Management | 8.83% | Increasing |
| Yellow Brick Road | YBR | $20.5M | Sandon Capital | 21.40% | Becoming |
| Genetic Technologies | GTG | $14.7M | Jimmy Thomas | 6.05% | Increasing |
| Fleetwood Corporation | FWD | $179.8M | Sandon Capital | 9.40% | Increasing |
| Bauxite Resources | BAU | $7.7M | Sandon Capital | 18.90% | Becoming |
| Dark Horse Resources | DHR | $8.1M | DGR Global | 16.93% | Increasing |
| Dark Horse Resources | DHR | $8.1M | Neil Stuart | 9.59% | Increasing |
| Dark Horse Resources | DHR | $8.1M | David Mason | 7.03% | Increasing |
| Lycopodium | LYL | $220.9M | Celeste Funds Management | 5.46% | Becoming |
| Straker Translations | STG | $93.8M | IOOF | 5.03% | Becoming |
| Veriluma | VRI | $10.2M | A22 - Robyn Grover | 5.06% | Becoming |
| Adairs | ADH | $293.6M | Yarra Funds Management | 5.41% | Becoming |
| Boyuan Holdings | BHL | $54.9M | Liping Dai | 5.94% | Becoming |
| Kip McGrath Education Centres | KME | $43.2M | Storm McGrath | 6.97% | Becoming |
| Fiji Kava | FIJ | $6.3M | Avanteos Investments | 5.74% | Becoming |
Sellers
While IOOF bought into Ooh! Media, Yarra Funds Management sold almost all of its stake in the company. The stock fell 35 per cent earlier this month after a hefty earnings downgrade and it has not recovered.
Australian Ethical Investment reduced its stake in GBST Holdings (ASX:GBT) to 11.13 per cent while Burgundy Asset Management cut its to 2.06 per cent.
Avita Medical (ASX:AVH), one of the biggest gainers in 2019 with a jump of 550 per cent, was sold down by American healthcare group Redmile, which cut its stake to 12.42 per cent.
IOOF reduced its stake in Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) to 8.02 per cent, while Fidelity cut its stake in Berkeley Energia (ASX:BKY) to 4.88 per cent.
| Company | Code | Market Cap | Holder | Current Stake | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBST Holdings | GBT | $260.8M | Australian Ethical Investment | 11.13% | Decreasing |
| Coventry Group | CYG | $95.1M | Spheria Asset Management | 4.29% | Ceasing |
| Universal Biosensors | UBI | $34.6M | Vibumum Funds | 19.01% | Increasing |
| Ooh! Media | OML | $766.8M | Yarra Funds Management | 0.03% | Ceasing |
| GBST Holdings | GBT | $260.8M | Burgundy Asset Management | 2.06% | Ceasing |
| Triangle Energy | TEG | $28.1M | Tamarind Resources | 13.91% | Decreasing |
| DroneShield | DRO | $95.3M | Bergen Global Opprtunity Fund | 13.09% | Decreasing |
| Qantm IP | QTM | $23.0M | Perpetual | 9.32% | Decreasing |
| City Chic Collective | CCX | $394.1M | Gary Perlstein | 4.97% | Ceasing |
| XRF Scientific | XRF | $32.8M | Skye Alba | 8.84% | Decreasing |
| Avita Medical | AVH | $964.5M | Redmile Group | 12.42% | Decreasing |
| Celcius Resources | CLA | $10.9M | Andrew Palleson | 10.32% | Decreasing |
| Baby Bunting | BBN | $454.6M | IOOF | 8.02% | Decreasing |
| Berkeley Energia | BKY | $69.8M | Fidelity | 4.88% | Ceasing |
| Cazaly Resources | CAZ | $16.5M | Gold Valley Iron | 4.06% | Ceasing |
| Kip McGrath Education Centres | KME | $43.2M | Kip McGrath | 30.92% | Decreasing |
Dad gives son $2m worth of shares
Kip McGrath Education (ASX:KME) lodged two substantial holder notices this week.
Recently retired co-founder Kip McGrath dropped his stake from over 35 per cent to less than 31 per cent.
And Storm McGrath, Kip’s son and a director since his dad retired, became a substantial holder with a 6.97 per cent stake.
The package of shares changed hands via an off market transfer and was worth a cool $2.04m.
