Fairfax Media claimed yesterday that Solomon Lew and unnamed private equity firms were crunching the numbers on a bid for Myer (MYR) to be ready to move in the next six months, or earlier.
The news might help explain the sudden 8.8% jump in Myer shares (more than 7c) to $1.425 yesterday as punters piled into the stock.
Fairfax’s AFR also claimed this morning that Lew says his listed investment company Premier Investments does not own shares in department stores.
But it was his private arm, Australian Retail Investments, which traded in David Jones shares last year, buying a 9.9% stake and forcing Woolworths of South Africa to buy him out of Country Road at a big profit, in return for supporting the South African company’s bid for David Jones.
The daily volume of Myer shares traded on the ASX has fallen from around 22 million in mid March, to less than 2 million a day last week, rising to more than 6 million yesterday.
MYR 1Y – Myer shares go for small run on bid rumors
Major shareholders Blackrock, Harris and Deutsche Bank have all sold enough Myer shares to fall below the 5% notification level.
As well UBS has been a steady seller, cutting its stake from 8.83% in late March to 5.8% on Tuesday – by selling more than 17 million shares in that time.
Fairfax said investors and speculators are looking to the results of the current review of Myer and the company’s full year results in August as the next catalyst for a move in the Myer share price.
But Mr Lew has long been mentioned as a possible bidder for the struggling retailer – it is in fact one of the enduring market tales on the ASX.
