Prior to selling, Invesco had been the fourth-largest shareholder in FBD Group, behind M&G and the two farmers’ investment vehicles, Farmers Business Development plc and FBD Trust. FBD shares surged as much as 13pc on Thursday after Protector revealed it had become one of the largest shareholders in the company. But the Norwegian insurance group said it was not preparing a bid for FBD and took a 6.3pc stake purely for investment, rather than strategic, purposes. Protector Forsikring’s chief investment officer Dag Marius Nereng told the Irish Independent that Protector paid about €7.20 a share for its FBD stake and was happy to have been able to acquire a substantial holding in the business. He said he had spoken to FBD management before taking the stake and was confident of the company’s longer term prospects.

Source: Irish Independent April 16, 2021 21:45 UTC