Sigma Healthcare's top backer cuts stake days after merger with Chemist Warehouse approved (updated)
11/11/2024 07:09
(Adds details from paragraph 3 onwards)
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Australia's Sigma Healthcare's
SIG.AX top shareholder HMC Capital HMC.AX has cut its stake
in the company, days after the country's competition watchdog
gave its nod to pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse's backdoor
listing via Sigma.
HMC Capital has trimmed its interest in Sigma Healthcare to
8.24% from 10.64%, according to an exchange filing on Monday.
Nearly a year in the making, the merger between Chemist
Warehouse and Sigma would create a A$8.8 billion ($5.80 billion)
entity.
Having helped in stitching up the deal, David Di Pilla's
money and asset manager HMC Capital has been cashing in on the
investor sentiment for the potential new enlarged entity.
HMC Capital has been making investments in data and
AI-driven portfolios, with the purchase of data centre operator
Global Switch Australia and the acquisition of iseek.
The firm earlier in the day said it was pressing ahead with
the listing of its DigiCo Infrastructure REIT, in a deal which
would overtake Guzman y Gomez GYG.AX as 2024's biggest float.
In January, HMC Capital had raised its Sigma stake to 19.07%
before trimming it down over the last few months.
Sigma Healthcare and Chemist Warehouse did not immediately
respond to Reuters' request for comment.
($1 = 1.5175 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank
Dhaniwala)
((Sneha.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))