Johannesburg - Robert Diamond’s Atlas Mara Co-Nvest sold its London shares to companies including Trafigura Beheer and Morgan Stanley as it seeks to fund financial-services acquisitions in Africa.
Trafigura, which trades commodities, owns more than 6 percent of Atlas Mara’s stock, according to its most recent regulatory filing in London today, while Morgan Stanley holds 5.4 percent.
Other shareholders include US investment companies Wellington Management and Janus Capital Management and Diamond himself, with a 2.3 percent stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Atlas Mara started trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market on August 26, which prompted its biggest shareholders to disclose their stakes.
The company raised $325 million (R3.5 billion) in an initial public offering last December.
It went back to the market in May to raise $300 million to fund acquisitions, including ABC Holdings, ADC African Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Rwanda.
Atlas Mara also has an option, expiring September 7, to buy a stake in an African financial-services company that it didn’t identify in a filing.
The shares have dropped 3 percent since they resumed trading on August 26.
They rose 2.9 percent to $10.57 as of 3 p.m. in London, giving the company a market value of $759 million. - Bloomberg News