Tony Bramall, already the largest shareholder in car dealer Lookers, is building up his stake in the company again.
Bramall and his family acquired a further 400,000 shares on Thursday, with 250,000 of those acquired at a cost of £170,000, or 68p per share, while the remainder cost £105,000, or 70p per share.
The purchases bring the holdings of the family interests of Bramall up to 37.6m shares, representing 20.69% of the issued share capital of Lookers.
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Bramall, an industry veteran, joined Lookers' board in June 2006 after buying a 24.4% stake from GE Capital, which he used to block a bid for Lookers from Pendragon. In March 2007, he reduced that stake to 18.8% with the sale of 10m shares at 208p.
However, he has been building up his stake this year, adding about 2.35m shares even as the shares continued to slide as the market for both new and used cars became more challenging.
Bramall's latest purchase could be the cause of today's sharp rise in the share price of Lookers, which in May said it had started the financial year with a much stronger business compared to last year, though it remains cautious about growth in new car sales.
Top Director Buys
Lonmin (LMI)
Director name: Dr Sivi Gounden
Amount purchased: 6,860 @ 3,215.00p
Value: £220,549
Dolphin Capital Investors (DCI)
Director name: Mr Miltos Kambourides
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 109.00p
Value: £218,000
Lookers (LOOK)
Director name: Mr D C A Bramall
Amount purchased: 250,000 @ 68.00p
Value: £170,000
Ridge Mining (RDG)
Director name: Mr Terence A Wilkinson
Amount purchased: 108,557 @ 119.80p
Value: £130,051
Lookers (LOOK)
Director name: Mr D C A Bramall
Amount purchased: 150,000 @ 70.00p
Value: £105,000
Quintain Estates & Development (QED)
Director name: Mr Adrian Wyatt
Amount purchased: 39,000 @ 255.00p
Value: £99,450
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB)
Director name: Mr Drummond Hall
Amount purchased: 46,064 @ 215.30p
Value: £99,176
Kopane Diamond Developments (KDD)
Director name: Mr Anthony J Williams
Amount purchased: 750,000 @ 10.00p
Value: £75,000
Eastern European Trust (EST)
Director name: Mr Neil England
Amount purchased: 15,000 @ 361.20p
Value: £54,180
Ridge Mining (RDG)
Director name: Mr Donald McAlister
Amount purchased: 41,752 @ 119.80p
Value: £50,019
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Director name: Mr James Muldowney
Amount sold: 75,000 @ € 4.86
Value: € 364,125
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Director name: Mr M I Wyman
Amount sold: 25,000 @ 1,143.00p
Value: £285,750
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Director name: Mr Ben Gordon
Amount sold: 17,941 @ 385.00p
Value: £69,073
