London-stock market listed CFDs provider Plus500 on Thursday said it has been notified by its founders that they intend to sell up to 7.27 million shares in the company, equivalent to a 6 percent chunk of the spread better. They agreed to a 6-month lock-in period in respect of the remaining balance of their ordinary shares in the company.
Discover credible partners and premium clients at China’s leading finance event!
Shares in Plus500 closed down 2.6 percent at 1,166.00 pence per share in London Thursday.
Five of Plus500’s Israeli founders - Alon Gonen, Gal Haber, Elad Ben-Izhak, Omer Elazari and Shlomi Weizmann – plan to offload their holdings at a price of 1,100 pence each, raising aggregate gross proceeds of £80 million for the sellers.
Plus500 itself will not be compensated in any way from this offering, according to the LSE filing
Assuming all 7.27 million shares are sold, the founders will continue to hold a 16% stake in Plus500 when the placing completes.
Liberum Capital Limited, the company's broker, is acting as global co-ordinator for the placing. The Israeli-based broker said the founders have agreed with Liberum, as part of the deal, not to sell any further shares for a period of 180 days after the completion of the current offering.
"The founders intention to sell reflects their desire to diversify their investments whilst raising funds for personal reasons," Plus500 said.
Plus500 was formed in 2008 and is currently one of the biggest CFD, FX and spread betting providers in the United Kingdom, trailing behind IG. According to the firm’s annual financial statement for 2017, Plus500 posted a 33 percent increase in revenue to $437.2 million, with a net profit of $199.7 million, up 70 percent year-over-year.
