Plus500 Stock Price Down 8% After Founder Sold 1.5 Million Shares

CFD and FX broker, Plus500 stock price went down about 8% in trading yesterday, closing at £2.72. Today we learned the probable reason for the drop, after it was announced to investors by the London Stock Exchange AIM, that a matter of major interest to the share has occurred – disposal of voting rights.

According to the announcement, a company called BQ Soft Ltd. has sold 1.5 million of its shares in Plus500 yesterday, 27 January, 2014. Before the sale BQ Soft Ltd. had 10,084,361 shares out of the total 114.89 million Plus500 shares. After yesterday’s sale BQ Soft Ltd. was left with only 7.47% of the total shares, just 8,584,361 in number.

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BQ Soft Ltd. is registered in Israel as a private company of Shimon Sofer, one of the founders of Plus500, according to the national business registry. Before the IPO last year, Mr. Sofer reportedly had a stake of 14.1% in the online brokerage, and now his company BQ Soft Ltd. is left with just 7.47% of the voting rights according to the announcement.

There are many possible reasons for a company insider, such as Mr. Sofer, to sell off some of his stocks holdings as if trying to diversify his portfolio, a need for more liquidity or simply wanting to cash in after a very successful IPO. Looking at Plus500 share price however, might make some people think that there is more to the move than that.

The firm’s stock price has increased dramatically since the IPO reaching considerable valuations for the industry, as Forex Magnates reported. Plus500 share price rise has halted this month and has even started to go down from its high of almost £3.5 to about £2.7 yesterday. Mr. Sofer’s sell-off, some might suggest, indicates that he thinks the price peaked.

Speaking with Forex Magnates, Elad Even-Chen, the Head of Investors Relations for the company said: “Plus500 is a publically traded company and we cannot comment on individual share transactions. Mr Sofer is no longer an employee of Plus500 and is simply exercising his rights as a shareholder.”

Plus500 share price, IPO to date, in G.B.Pence:

Plus500 share price seems to be recovering right now, the stock is over 3% higher since trading resumed this morning.