Grisay ups F&C stake with £250,000 share purchase

F&C Asset Management chief executive Alain Grisay has upped his stake in F&C following the company’s successful acquisition of Thames River Capital.

Grisay (above) underlined his confidence in the future of F&C through the purchase of 500,000 shares at a price of 51.3p per share, increasing his existing position by £256,700. According to F&C's annual report and financial statements for the year to the end of December, Grisay had an interest in F&C's share capital worth 1.3 million, while at the end of December 2008 his interest in F&C's share capital was just under 1.4 million shares.

The show of confidence follows the approval of F&C's acquisition of Thames River Capital on 18 June at F&C's annual general meeting. The deal could be worth up to £53.6 million, comprising an initial consideration of £33.6 million, alongside a conditional consideration of up to a further £20 million payable in cash, loan notes and/or F&C shares. Thames River will remain fully autonomous within the F&C Group and will be led by chief executive officer Charlie Porter.

Porter, meanwhile, used more than £1 million of his own money to purchase F&C shares at the end of April. As part of the deal his team stands to gain as much as £35 million over the next six years if performance targets are hit.

At 10:14 on Tuesday, F&C was trading at 50.5p, up 1% or 0.5p on the day.