The highly effective rise to fortune which CFd broker Plus500 (PLUS:London) managed to achieve in a relatively short space of time has attracted large international conglomerates to purchase stock in the company since it became a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange.
JP Morgan has shown a consistent interest in the company, embarking on a campaign of acquiring shares on an incremental basis which led the firm to a 15% stake holding by Monday of last week.
Today, however, JP Morgan has taken a decision contrary to its previous haste in purchasing Plus500 stock, by offloading approximately 3.5 million shares, taking its share in the company down to below 12%.
It is very difficult to speculate as to whether JP Morgan is taking a short term view, and is looking to capitalize on trading Plus500 stock at a time when the entire FX industry is focusing on Plus500 as a company which recently became publicly listed and raised such a large amount in doing so, or whether the North American corporate giant is aware of the participation of other investors in the same sector, one of which being Odey Asset Management and is taking a prudent stance.
Trading on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market (AIM) on which Plus500 is listed began on Monday with shares of the firm having taken a 17% drop, which could have resulted from the industry heavyweights which held 25% in Plus500 having an effect on value due to the paring of positions between the two firms.
Astonishingly, Plus500 rose to fortune post-IPO, with a market value of £420 million, which equates to approximately $715 million – not a mean feat for a company which began relatively modestly just a few years ago.
For the full London Stock Exchange filing, click here.