The Perpetual Ltd (ASX: PPT) share price is up another 2% today after continued buying action by Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL).
Fund manager Perpetual was recently on the receiving end of a takeover bid by Soul Patts. While Perpetual did initially reject the offer, Soul Pattinson doesn't seem finished with its interest yet.
Increased stake
It was announced yesterday after the market closed that Soul Patts had increased its stake of Perpetual from 6.66% to 11.66%.
The investment house bought another 5.67 million Perpetual shares for a total of $141.7 million at around $25 per share.
This means Soul Patts now has a stake of up to 13.2 million Perpetual shares, which includes 2 million potential shares from an equity swap transaction for 2 million shares that hasn't been enacted yet.
As a reminder, Soul Pattinson offered a value per share of $27 (according to Soul Patts) for Perpetual, so it's managed to buy a lot more of the business at a value which is under its offer price.
It'll be interesting to see if Soul Pattinson continues to buy Perpetual shares at a value under its offer price.
Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) investment
In an interesting development, Perpetual has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Santos following the news that Santos has engaged in "preliminary discussions" with Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) regarding a potential merger. Perpetual currently owns 162.7 million Santos shares.
Santos said it "continuously reviews opportunities to create and deliver value for shareholders."
The ASX energy share also said it's assessing a range of alternative structural options with a view to "unlocking value" which it referred to on 22 November 2023.
How much is the potential Santos merger worth? The consideration "of any merger is at an early stage and there is no agreement between the parties." Perpetual seems excited enough about the deal to buy shares.
Perpetual share price snapshot
While it's up 33% since the end of October, the business is only up by 3% since the start of 2023.
