Market report: Cevian sells shares in Old Mutual

Cevia Capital, Europe’s biggest activist investor, has sold down part of its stake in Old Mutual.

The Anglo-Swedish hedge fund, which is backed by Carl Icahn, has cut its stake in the FTSE 100 insurer to less than 5pc, from 7.3pc at the end of last year. The disposal came to light on Friday, when Old Mutual issued a stock exchange filing notifying the market of the change in shareholding.

Cevian has been a major investor in the insurer for five years and pushed for a shake-up to simplify Old Mutual’s structure. The fund, which is chaired in the UK by Lord Myners, was unavailable for comment. Old Mutual edged up 1 to 196p.

TUI Travel led the FTSE 100 higher, jumping 13½ to 403½p on news it planned to merge with German parent TUI AG. The index itself took on 22.65 points to 6,757.77.

There was again demand for the housebuilders, with Barratt Developments up 11.6 to 374½p and Persimmon 19p better at £12.78. HSBC analyst Jeff Davis told clients that the measures announced by the Bank of England on Thursday to cool the housing market were “less onerous than feared” and that “a fog of uncertainty should lift from the shares”.

Hopes that Rolls-Royce will secure work upgrading the engines on Airbus’s A330 sent the British company 23p higher to £10.69.

Meanwhile, deal talk helped SABMiller advance 11p to £33.66. There has been speculation of late that Anheuser-Busch InBev will bid for the brewer, but Barclays analyst Simon Hales yesterday said a merger with Diageo, 14½p dearer at £18.47½ was a “credible alternative”.

Imagination Technologies dropped 13.1 to 211.7p after Intel sold a 9.3pc stake in the microchip designer overnight, leaving the US company with a 5pc holding. The stock was offloaded at 205p apiece, raising £51.25m for Intel.

Lower down the scale, Horizon Discovery climbed 15 to 162½p following the clearance of a stock overhang. MVM Life Science Partners was said to have sold its remaining stake in the biotechnology company.

more