Autonomy boss Dr Mike Lynch has sold shares in AIM-quoted video search engine operator Blinkx, which was spun out of Autonomy in 2007.
Dr Lynch, who is a non-executive director of Blinkx, raised £487,500 from selling 750,000 shares at 65p each. He still owns more than 23.2m shares in Blinkx, equivalent to 7.5% of the company. The share price has fallen since the share sale but, at 58.75p each, the stake is valued at more than £13.6m.
Chief executive Suranga Chandratillake exercised options over 383,257 shares at 1p each and sold them for 65p each. The gain was £245,000. Chandratillake does not own any shares but he has more share options.
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Blinkx was founded in 2004 and demerged from Autonomy in May 2007. At that time Blinkx raised £25m at 45p a share. The shares started trading at a large premium to the placing price but fell back from that level over the following three years. In the past couple of months the share price has taken off again.
The main software is licensed from Autonomy although Blinkx has also developed technology of its own around that software. The exclusivity to the software runs out in a couple of years. Even if rivals did licence the software after the exclusivity period they would still be a long way behind Blinkx in terms of launching a commercial service, according to Chandratillake.
Blinkx produced better than expected full year revenues in the year to March 2010. They more than doubled from $14m to $33.7m. Blinkx lost money but that was mainly down to more than $10m spent on R&D during the year. A profit is expected in 2010-11 but it is difficult to assess the level of profit at this point in the financial year.
The newest product is Cheep, which hijacks users about to buy products online and points them towards a cheaper alternative retailer of the product. This could be released in the second half of this year.
Top Director Buys
Agua Terra Limited (ATE) Director name: Mr Markos Andreas KashiourisAmount purchased: 285,647 @ € 2.10 Value: € 599,859
Gable Holdings (GAH) Director name: Mr William DewsallAmount purchased: 1,849,022 @ 15.75p Value: £291,221
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) Director name: Mr Michael Andrew CoupeAmount purchased: 18,517 @ 348.34p Value: £64,502
MS International (MSI) Director name: Mr Michael J BellAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 120.00p Value: £60,000
Max Property Group (Reg S) (MAX) Director name: Mr Freddie Cohen Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 107.00p Value: £21,400
Top Director Sells
Blinkx (BLNX) Director name: Dr Michael LynchAmount sold: 750,000 @ 65.00p Value: £487,500
Blinkx (BLNX) Director name: Mr Suranga ChandratillakeAmount sold: 383,257 @ 65.00p Value: £249,117
Northern Foods (NFDS) Director name: Mr Stefan BardenAmount sold: 124,641 @ 47.00p Value: £58,581
