Palliser Capital said to be building stake in Autotrader, shares spark

(Sharecast News) - Autotrader shares sparked on Thursday following a report that activist investor Palliser Capital has started building a stake the classifieds company. According to Sky News, Palliser has accumulated a stake of between 1% and 2% in Autotrader in recent months.

Given Autotrader's market capitalisation of about £4bn, that equates to an investment in its stock by Palliser worth tens of millions of pounds, Sky said.

Sources told Sky that Palliser executives had held constructive discussions with Autotrader's chief executive, Nathan Coe, and other board members in recent weeks, and that the fund manager had expressed support for the company's strategy.

One insider said Palliser had been pushing for Autotrader to set out plans to return about £700m to shareholders through a tender offer, share buybacks and dividend payments at its full-year results later this month.

At 0955 BST, the shares were up 5.6% at 527.99p.

Autotrader has been contacted for comment.