JP Morgan Chase has dropped its stake in Entain to below 3% within two weeks of upping it to 7%.
A Notification of Major Holdings announcement this morning shows that the global banking behemoth has reduced its holdings in the Ladbrokes and Coral owner to below the required minimum threshold which triggers an announcement, which sits at 3%.
The threshold was crossed on Monday 18 May – only 10 days after it was revealed that JP Morgan had increased its control of the company’s overall stock to 7%, consisting of 5.6% in direct voting rights and 1.4% in financial instruments.
This increase followed the closure of Ricky Sandler’s New York-based hedge fund Eminence Capital. Sandler, who was a Non-Executive Director at Entain until his firm wound down last month, disposed of his remaining 5.8% stake in Entain on 7 May.
What price could JP Morgan Chase have sold Entain shares for?
Whether a private, off-market deal between Eminence and JP Morgan Chase occurred is unknown.
JP Morgan Chase has been gradually decreasing its holdings in Entain in the immediate aftermath of taking it on though, with the exception being when it ever-so-slightly increased its stake in the company from 7.05% to 7.09% on 11 May.
Since then, Notification of Major Holdings announcements on the London Stock Exchange have revealed that JP Morgan Chase sold shares on 12, 13, 14 and 15 May, leaving it with an unknown stake in the business below 3%.
Shares in Entain remained relatively stable from 8 May to 15 May, opening on 8 May at 532.28p and closing at around 532.4p on 15 May.
During the period, shares dipped as low as 501.92p (on 12 May at around 10:25am UK time) and peaked at 550.8p (on 8 May at around 1:35pm).
As is the nature of being a PLC, Entain has been the subject of much speculation in recent months, which has included talk of a potential sale of the company, though leadership has given no signs that a deal is likely.
FY25 group-wide revenue sat at over £5.2bn for the FTSE 100 constituent, though it did report a loss of £681m – its third consecutive year in the red.
While JP Morgan did not give a reason for it either upping nor dropping its stake in the UK-headquartered gambling giant, an off-market deal may seem a likely presumption for onlookers.
And despite experiencing a sell off of a big chunk of shares, Entain’s share price seems to have been relatively unaffected by this over the past couple of weeks, now sitting at 537p as of 1:00pm today.
