Moneysupermarket.com has fallen nearly 5% after founder Simon Nixon sold £129.5m worth of shares in the price comparison company.
Nixon sold 70m shares at 185p each, representing 12.9% of the company. The placing was increased from 55m due to strong demand. Nixon retains 16.6% of the company and has agreed not to sell more shares for at least 180 days.
Chairman Gerald Corbett said the placing would increase liquidity and put more shares in public hands. Nixon will remain as non-executive deputy chairman.
Nixon raised £100m when the firm floated in 2007 and another £200m from a share sales last June, at the same time as the company took out a new loan to pay a special £70m dividend to shareholders.
News of the latest sale has sent the company's shares 9.6p lower to 186.4p. Analyst David Reynolds at Jefferies remained positive on the stock:
[We] welcome the additional liquidity and our fundamental view on the stock, a positive one, remains unchanged since 4 March [the preliminary results].
[There was a] blissfully brief and limited communication from the company. Someone once told me that if I didn't say anything, then I would always avoid communication gaffes. So in a curious way we welcome the very limited commentary from the company - ultimately this is a founder selling equity and very little to do with the company.
And thankfully on this occasion there appears to be no ill-conceived special dividend funded by an increased bank facility with a rather punchy arrangement fee. Much cleaner, much simpler, much better.
At the end of the day, the additional liquidity is to be welcomed.
