Credit Suisse Group AG’s longtime top shareholder Harris Associates saw its stake reduced by about half as it sold some shares and the troubled Swiss lender tapped new investors to raise capital.
(Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG’s longtime top shareholder Harris Associates saw its stake reduced by about half as it sold some shares and the troubled Swiss lender tapped new investors to raise capital.
The US fund manager, which last year still had a stake of about 10%, saw its holding fall to about 5% as of the end of last year, according to a filing. David Herro, Harris’s chief investment officer for international equities, said that while the investment firm did participate in Credit Suisse’s 4 billion-franc capital increase late last year, its overall stake fell as existing shareholders were diluted and it sold stock.
“Net new capital was added which automatically shrinks our holding,” he wrote by email, adding that Harris’s stake was just under 5%. “Additionally, with withdrawals, year-end distributions etc., we had to raise liquidity.”
Harris has owned Credit Suisse stock since the early years of this century and decided to double down on its bet after the 2008 financial crisis. While Herro defended the bank when its troubles started, he grew more critical of its board of directors as the lender struggled to fix its investment bank and move past losses and scandals.
Last year’s capital increase, designed to fund job cuts and a spinout of large parts of the investment bank, saw Credit Suisse issuing 1.35 billion new shares, an increase of more than half compared with the 2.65 billion common shares it had outstanding at the end of September. Some of them were sold directly to new investors, diluting even existing shareholders who participated in the subsequent rights offering.
Credit Suisse’s own website shows Harris Associates holding a stake of under 3%. Herro said the difference is due to varying reporting requirements. The stake of another long time shareholder, Dodge & Cox, also fell below 3%, according to that website.
“This has been a problem child,” Herro said about Credit Suisse in the interview in August, adding that he should have sold the stock after the first decade of ownership, when the investment was very successful.
The Saudi National Bank, which helped backstop Credit Suisse’s capital raise, is now the largest shareholder with a 9.9% shareholding, according to Credit Suisse’s website. Existing shareholders Qatar Holding LLC and Olayan Group increased their stakes to 5% and 4.9%, respectively.
(Updates with details from capital increase in fifth paragraph.)
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