It certainly was a wild day of trade for the Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd (ASX: BLA) share price.
The embattled investment company's shares finished the day just under 1% higher at $5.75 on Monday, having been as much as 8.5% lower and then 8.5% higher during the day.
What happened?
This morning Blue Sky released a letter to its shareholders which appears to have settled their nerves somewhat.
That letter from CEO Robert Shand went as follows:
"To our Blue Sky supporters, I wanted to share with you our perspective of this week's events and what you may expect in the future. Over the last ten days, our company has been attacked by a foreign activist short seller. Regrettably, this is relatively new in the Australian market. The only long term solution to this attack is to continue to demonstrate the performance of our business through continuing to grow our fee-earning AUM and delivering returns for our investors. In parallel, we must better communicate to the market what we do and how we do it.
Whilst this occurs, you may rest assured that our business is in very good shape. Our balance sheet is exceptionally strong. The funds we manage are mostly closed-ended, which means we are not at risk of redemption requests in the same way traditional fund managers may be. And while the last week has been a distraction, it has strengthened the team's resolve to deliver for you.
Our Chair – John Kain – and I have spent this week meeting with shareholders and investors and listening to their feedback. While we do not intend to engage in an ongoing public dialogue, we are resolved to better explain our business to, and share more information about our business with, our stakeholders.
Thank you again for your ongoing support."
Thus far there has been no response to this letter to shareholders from short seller Glaucus Research.
