Royal Mail's biggest shareholder Daniel Kretinsky ups his bet as Vesa takes a 222 million stake in the troubled business

[POSTMAN]

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/roy ... 01396.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Czech energy tycoon Daniel Kretinsky today bought another big chunk of Royal Mail, lifting his shareholding up to 12.1% as part of his gamble that the company's shares are drastically cheap.

The billionaire known as the Czech Sphinx for his secretive ways now owns a stake worth £222 million after his vehicle, Vesa Equity, upped its stake from 11% and taking its holding up to 1 million shares.

Royal Mail shares have plunged as people have stopped sending letters and union disputes have battered confidence in the firm.

Chief executive Rico Black quit, signalling a significant change is afoot at the group.

It is unclear what Kretinsky's strategy is, but City analysts have suggested he may keen on buying out its overseas arm, GLS.

Others suggest he is more probably seeing Royal Mail as undervalued. He has previously invested in US retailers Footlocker and Macy's and French supermarkets group Casino as well as numerous Eastern European logistics companies.

Fund manager Schroders has also been increasing its stake in recent weeks, taking its share up to 10.8%.

Royal Mail's hundreds of thousands of small shareholders will be hoping Schroders and the Prague-based investor are right. Most of them bought in at the time of the flotation at 330p only to see the shares soar above 630p before plunging to current levels of 183.85p. The stock has improved since lows of 124p in March with the market's rally.

While Kretinsky is betting on shares rising, plenty take the opposite view. This week saw the hedge fund WorldQuant increase its "short" bet against the company's shares, joining bigger shorts such as BlackRock, which upped its short position to nearly 4% the week before.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Ongoing shareholder engagement is a key priority for us. We are focused on delivering our strategy at pace on behalf of our stakeholders.”

[JKSmudge]

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/roy ... 01396.html

Czech energy tycoon Daniel Kretinsky today bought another big chunk of Royal Mail, lifting his shareholding up to 12.1% as part of his gamble that the company's shares are drastically cheap.

The billionaire known as the Czech Sphinx for his secretive ways now owns a stake worth £222 million after his vehicle, Vesa Equity, upped its stake from 11% and taking its holding up to 1 million shares.

Pity the author of this can't ge basic figures correct - there are aprroximately 1 Billion shares. 12.1% = 121 million shares not 1 million.

[wandle]

The author is also an Amy Winehouse fan, evidently.

He's gone and changed the former CEO's name from Back to Black

[postareale]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... oyal-mail/

Market report: ‘Czech sphinx’ increases his lion’s share in Royal Mail
By Louis Ashworth
17 July 2020 • 6:26pm

Daniel Kretinsky, the secretive billionaire investor known as the “Czech sphinx”, ramped up his stake in Royal Mail with a further stake expansion.

The stake controlled by his vehicle Vesa Equity now stands at 12.1pc – the largest of any single shareholder – and is worth £224m.

The FTSE 250 group is facing an existential challenge as people stop sending letters and it grapples with long-standing union disputes. Its chief executive Rico Back suddenly quit the firm in May.

In a public statement to The Daily Telegraph last month, Mr Kretinsky – who is the chief executive of central European energy giant EPH – had said he would “not exclude the possibility of either strengthening our presence or reducing our current shareholder ­position”.

The movements of the Czech mogul – who also owns stakes in French newspaper Le Monde and German retail giant Metro – have raised speculation that he may soon begin actively trying to influence the group’s future direction. Royal Mail shares rose 2p to 184p on Friday.

[POSTMAN]

Looks like he now owns 13.10% from yesterday...
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/new ... y/14640655" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Janet Brum]

He has a plan for sure...

[wacko74]

He has a plan for sure...

I very much doubt he's got any any long term or strategic interest in RM as a business, just looking for short/medium term profit on his holding.

I reckon if the share price gets much above 200p he'll dump the lot and take his gains... and then the share price will crash once again.

[Janet Brum]

I think he`s after GLS.

[POSTMAN]

16% Of the company now...
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/new ... y/15117098

He's also buying up other stuff...

https://www.reuters.com/article/markets ... QG0N4?il=0

Czech billionaire Kretinsky buys stake of around 5% in French TV group TF1

PARIS (Reuters) - Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has bought a stake of around 5.1% in French TV company TF1, a regulatory filing published on Tuesday showed, adding to Kretinsky’s portfolio of stakes in top companies around the world.

Shares in TF1, which is aiming to merge with French TV rival M6, were up 1.4% by 0940 GMT while M6 shares were up 0.7%.

Kretinsky, who built one of Europe’s largest energy groups through more than a decade of deals, already has stakes in Le Monde newspaper, French supermarket company Casino and UK supermarket Sainsbury, among others.

In an interview with French paper Les Echos published on Tuesday, Kretinsky said he backed the planned TF1/M6 merger, saying it would result in better content for viewers.

France’s anti-trust watchdog is due to rule on the proposed TF1/M6 merger by the summer of 2022.

Other investments owned by Luxembourg-based VESA Equity, run by Kretinsky and his partner Patrik Tkac, include a 16% stake in Britain’s Royal Mail, and stakes in German retailer Metro AG and Foot Locker.