Hedge fund manager Eric Sprott.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Eric Sprott sold a big chunk of his common share holdings in Sprott Inc. this week.
According to INK Research's CanadianInsider website, the chairman of Sprott Inc. on Wednesday sold 6 million shares at a price of $2.70. The $16.2-million transaction brought his ownership of Sprott Inc. down to 88.1 million shares, according to company spokesman Glen Williams.
Mr. Spott continues to be the largest holder of shares in the company, with a 35.55 per cent stake, according to INK Research data. The next biggest owner is Arthur Richards Rule and his related business entities, with a 10.84 per cent interest. Mr. Rule is president of Resource Capital Investment Corp and is the founder and president of Sprott Asset Management USA Inc.
Mr. Williams said that Mr. Sprott's sale this week was in response to investor interest in buying some of his shares.
The average daily trading volume in Sprott Inc. is only 209,218 shares, so a purchase of that size would be difficult to get in the public market.
"Sprott Inc. was recently approached by two separate investors looking to purchase significant positions in the company," Mr. Williams told Inside the Market in an e-mail. "At the request of management, Eric agreed to facilitate these transactions by offering some of his shares for sale."
"He intends to use the proceeds of these sales to invest in precious metals equities. He has no further plans for share sales and remains committed to both his ownership position and his duties as chairman and chief investment officer of Sprott Inc.," he added.
He did not disclose the names of the buyers.
Insider ownership of Sprott Inc. shares is actually up over the past 90 days, with Mr. Rule boosting his shares after Sprott Inc.'s takeover of Sprott Resource Lending Corp. earlier this summer, notes Ted Dixon, CEO of INK Research.
As we reported earlier at Inside the market, Marc Faber, the famed investor known for his gloomy take on the markets, bought 20,000 Sprott common shares at $2.52 on Aug. 9.
Sprott shares this morning are trading down 1.8 per cent at $2.69 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Darcy Keith