Stagecoach’s founders have sold more than 11 million shares in the bus company as part of a plan to drastically reduce their stake over the next decade.
Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag sold 11.6m shares, or 2.1% of the company, to institutional investors, Stagecoach said in a statement. The company did not disclose how much the shares were sold for but based on Tuesday’s closing price the total is likely to have been about £11m.
The sale leaves the pair owning a quarter of the company they founded in 1980 using redundancy money paid to their father – down from 27% before the disposal. Souter will stay on as a non-executive director and no other family member is involved with running the company – the UK’s biggest bus and coach operator.
Souter, Gloag and their family plan to reduce their stake to 5% over the next 10 years to reflect financial planning priorities, the company said. Souter, 66, and Gloag, 78, have a combined fortune of £730m according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Souter said: “My sister, Dame Ann Gloag, and I are reducing our families’ shareholdings in Stagecoach as part of a 10-year plan to rebalance our families’ investment portfolios. We remain significant long-term shareholders in Stagecoach and remain supportive of the company’s strategy and management team.”
Stagecoach shares fell 5.6% to 94.14p at 10:38 BST. The shares are worth less than a quarter of their peak value in 2015.
