Engineer turned entrepreneur Pasan Madanayake yesterday bought a strategic 20% stake in ASCOT Holdings for Rs. 368 million.
The purchase was via his newly-floated firm St. Louis Capital Ltd. Yesterday 1.85 million shares of ASCOT amounting to a 23% stake traded for Rs. 411 million.
Pasan had picked up the biggest block of 1.6 million shares (20.1% stake) that traded at Rs. 225 each in addition to a few more in a deal worth Rs. 368 million.
ASCOT figured in the top 10 gainers percentagewise as its share price closed up 16% or Rs. 28.60 to close at Rs. 206.40 whilst it hit an intra-day high of Rs. 225. The 1.85 million share volume saw 413 trades.
Pasan owns Amtrad, the leader in cement pavings and blocks, as well as Lanka Quarries, also a leader in its field.
Analysts viewed the investment as strategic as there were speculation that Pasan could be looking for synergies between ASCOT and his two companies.
The seller of the block was Rohan Iriyagolle, who previously controlled a 42% stake via Axis Financial Services. Following the sale, his stake has come down to 21%. The other major shareholder of ASCOT Holdings is Nimal Perera with a stake of 20%.
Nimal crossed the 20% threshold in January when he bought a 3.3% stake or 0.26 million shares at Rs. 150 level.
source - www.ft.lk
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