Dunelm stock plunges as ex-chief sells 7.5m shares
JUST OVER a year after stepping down as chief executive of Dunelm, Will Adderley, along with his wife Nadine, got rid of a 3.7 per cent stake in the soft furnishings family business.
But Will, the son of the company’s founder, insists he “remains fully committed to Dunelm”, is staying on as executive deputy chairman of the firm and will still hold 31.2 per cent of the issued shares.
Will and Nadine Adderley have put the disposal down to a wish to “achieve greater portfolio diversification”, and have promised not to sell any more Dunelm shares for at least six months.
The announcement cut the company’s share price by five per cent to 482.5p. The Adderleys placed 7.5m shares with institutional investors at 480p each, with UBS acting as bookrunner and Oriel as co-lead manager.
Will Adderley was gifted 20m ordinary shares from his father, Dunelm founder Bill Adderley, in December 2010.
Panmure Gordon analyst Jean Roche notes that out of a total 70.5m shares in issue this is “a small proportion”, and expects to see further sales.
Despite the additional free float, the Adderley family will still own a 56.2 per cent stake in the bedding and curtains retailer.
ADVISERS: DUNELM
UBS
CRAIG CALVERT
Craig Calvert, managing director at UBS, advised on the placement of 7.5m shares, which were put up for sale by Dunelm’s executive deputy chairman Will Adderley and his wife Nadine.
Educated in the law faculty at Cambridge University, Calvert worked at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for two years before joining UBS’s broking and advisory team in 2000.
He has worked on a variety of mid-cap UK deals across multiple sectors, including Dunelm’s IPO in 2006 and the sale of Northern Foods to Boparan last year.
Oriel Securities is acting as co-lead manager on the deal, fronted by Nicholas How.
How counts PwC, Hoare Govett and Dresdner Kleinwort among his former employers, and was head of UK corporate finance at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander before moving to Singer Capital Markets as a partner in 2009.
He has been at Oriel for almost two years.