Scottish transport tycoons Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag have sold shares in Stagecoach Group worth about £11 million.
The siblings – or rather their “connected parties” – disposed of more than 11.5 million units of stock, representing a 2.1% stake in the business they founded more than 40 years ago, Perth-based Stagecoach said on Wednesday (April 28).
The stock sale is part of plans to reduce their shareholding to about 5% within 10 years.
Institutional investors snapped up the shares, which were each worth 96p, or £11.1 million in total, at the start of trading on Wednesday.
It leaves Sir Brian, a non-executive director of the company, and Dame Ann – together with “parties connected with them” – with a stake of about 25% in the firm, excluding shares held by the company “in treasury”.
Sir Brian received his knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2011 for services to transport and the voluntary sector.
Dame Ann’s damehood came in the New Year’s Honours List of 2019, in recognition of her extensive business and charitable work in the UK and overseas.
The pair were ranked 194th in the Sunday Times’ 2020 Rich List of Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest people, with a combined fortune of £730 million.
Announcing their reduced stake in the business they launched in 1980, with just two buses, Stagecoach said: “The company has benefited significantly from their energy, long-term support, entrepreneurism and extensive knowledge of the transport sector.
“Sir Brian Souter and Dame Ann Gloag are now aged 66 and 78 respectively, and their families’ financial plans are evolving.
“Sir Brian Souter has indicated to the company that he remains happy to continue as a non-executive director.
“No other members of the family are involved in the management of the company.”
Stagecoach added: “Taking account of those factors, the family shareholders now have a 10-year plan to reduce their shareholdings in the company from the approximately 27% holding immediately prior to the disposal, to approximately 5% (in each case, excluding any shares held by the company in treasury).
“The family shareholders expect to remain long-term shareholders.”
Sir Brian, the company’s former chairman and chief executive, said: “My sister, Dame Ann Gloag, and I are reducing our families’ shareholdings in Stagecoach as part of a 10-year plan to rebalance our families’ investment portfolios.
“We remain significant long-term shareholders in Stagecoach, and remain supportive of the company’s strategy and management team.
“I look forward to supporting the company as we recover from the impact of Covid-19, and play our part in helping government meet its objectives to grow bus patronage and tackle climate change in the years ahead.”