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The UK stocks which could suffer if Odey Asset Management becomes a forced seller

Investors are looking hard at the stocks held in funds managed by Odey Asset Management for fear they will be dumped on the market as the hedge fund tries to raise cash. While some positions have already been cut, there remain plenty of stocks where its position has not changed (yet?).
The firm is restructuring following a Financial Times investigation into alleged misconduct by founder Crispin Odey, who has since left the business.
Odey Asset Management has been forced to suspend dealing in its flagship hedge funds Odey European and OEI Mac after being overwhelmed by investors’ redemption requests.
Reports suggest Odey Asset Management is in talks to transfer its five global equity funds to Lancaster Investment Management and a further four funds to SW Mitchell Capital.
Odey Asset Management is known for its high conviction, concentrated approach which includes less-liquid positions where the manager owns a relatively large chunk of a company’s capital.
While it won’t be liquidating its entire portfolios, there is a risk that any stock held by the hedge fund could be seen as having a share overhang until the restructuring is completed – i.e., a fear that the stock could be sold.
Shares in Shanta Gold (SHG:AIM) had been falling for several weeks on market fears Odey Asset Management was trying to sell an 8%+ position. On 30 June, the miner revealed the investor had cut its stake to 1.1%.
Another recent sale includes car retailer Pendragon (PDG) where Odey Asset Management’s holding went from 9.8% to 3.8%. It also sold an 18.9% stake in online electronics retailer AO World (AO.) to Frasers (FRAS).
Odey Asset Management is the largest shareholder in biotechnology firm Oxford BioDynamics (OBD:AIM) with an 18.3% stake. At the end of May the biotech said it needed to boost revenue or find additional funding, sending the shares down 19%.
A 5.5% stake in flexible office provider IWG (IWG), formerly known as Regus, may be hard for Odey Asset Management to sell quickly on the market unless it finds a buyer for the whole lot. Its 56 million shares are valued at £76 million, representing over 30 days of average daily volume according to Refinitiv data.
Other stocks where the hedge fund owns more than 3% of the business includes Mirriad Advertising (MIRI:AIM) where Odey Asset Management has a 16.3% stake; package holidays-to-airline Jet2 (JET2:AIM) with a 3.9% stake; and 4.1% of brick maker Forterra (FORT).
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