3i Infrastructure is the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 following talk of a share placing by Hermes, which manages the BT pension scheme.
The investment group has fallen 3.4p to 118.8p, a near 3% decline, on suggestions of a sale of between £75m and £100m worth of shares at 115p each. Analysts at Killik & Co said:
We understand that 3i Infrastructure is the largest position within the Hermes [portfolio] and that the motive for selling is a combination of raising liquidity and reducing its largest position.
The offer price represents a 2% discount to the net asset value of the company, whose investments include Anglian Water and rail rolling stock business Eversholt. Killik said:
The diversity of assets and stages of maturity combined with a covered dividend make [3i Infrastructure] our preferred play in the listed infrastructure space compared with the more PFI-focused peers which are currently trading on significant premiums, and we see today's placing as an attractive entry point.
