The chairman of Esprit Holdings was back in the market yesterday, attempting to sell shares worth as much as $4.38 billion on the back of a 20.2 per cent share price rally since the interim earnings report just over a month ago.
It was the fifth time Michael Ying Lee-yuen has sold Esprit shares since May 2003, and underlines his determination to secure the profits of his labour as the share price hits new highs.
Esprit rose 0.44 per cent yesterday to finish at $56.50 - 25 cents below its record closing high from two weeks ago.
According to market sources Mr Ying was offering 80 million shares at between $53.80 and $54.80, a discount of 3 per cent to 4.7 per cent against yesterday's closing price.
The placement, arranged by Citigroup, was equal to a 6.7 per cent stake in the company and would reduce Mr Ying's stake to about 16 per cent from 22.6 per cent, according to stock exchange data.
In the past 22 months Mr Ying has cut his holdings from 42 per cent at progressively higher prices - most recently in November last year when he raised $4.2 billion by selling shares at $42.10 each.
The share price has risen 32.9 per cent since then, and is up 284 per cent since he first started trimming his holdings in May 2003 at $14.70 per share.
