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NICKY OPPENHEIMER has something big coming up. He of the Oppenheimer dynasty pledged 27,3m Anglo American shares as security for a loan in the Isle of Man early in March. The shares - worth a cool R8,1bn last week at the R298,50 per share mark - are beneficially owned by E Oppenheimer & Son International Limited (EOSIL) and a company called Gartland Ltd. With a total 33,5m shares as at January 2010, Nicky Oppenheimer sits on the Anglo board as its most powerful non-executive director.
Other than to say the shares were pledged "as part of a package of security comprising other assets", no other information was made available about the possible deal Oppenheimer was contemplating in the Isle of Man.
While Oppenheimer hasn't sold his shares in the resources giant, six of his director colleagues took delivery of incentive shares and immediately sold portions of those to "settle tax liabilities arising" out of the incentives. Granted under the company's bonus share plan in 2007, finance director René Medori and colleagues sold Anglo shares worth R5,3m last week.
Directors at British American Tobacco (BAT) also took delivery of vested share options before selling R66m worth of stock in London. Led by CE Paul Adams, BAT's directors were awarded the shares under the company's long-term incentive plan back in 2007. At the same time, more shares were allocated to them under the same scheme, vesting in 2013.
Says BAT: "Under claw-back arrangements entered into by each director, the entire number of shares remains subject to a risk of forfeiture until such time as it is determined that the associated forfeiture provisions imposed at the date of grant, in particular in leaver circumstances, no longer apply."
Together with another R13m sale in Liberty International shares, these made the bulk of the share sales out of London. Liberty's directors also sold to settle the tax liabilities arising after exercising deferred bonus shares awarded in 2007. The sale price was £4,86 per share.
At financial services house Barnard Jacobs Mellet, CE Andile Mazwai led 11 of his colleagues in taking delivery of their options awarded back in April 2008. Granted at 400c per share, Mazwai took the lion's share of the awards, with stock worth R1,3m delivered to him. The shares were trading at 300c at the time they vested.
Apart from Christo Wiese's R10m investment in the single stock futures of both Shoprite and engineering company Invicta, the rest were directors taking delivery of vesting options with no spectacular trades over the week.
Perhaps the most significant trade was that of technology company Blue Label's Sean Kaplan sold shares worth R9,6m in the open market at the 480c per share mark. Blue Label has come off highs of 929c since January 2008.
