Sale seen as opportunity to broaden shareholder base.
Helloworld ceo Andrew Burnes and executive director Cinzia Burnes have sold a total of 5,000,000 shares in the company for $5.50 each, netting the pair proceeds of just under $14 million each.
Another major shareholder, Qantas Airways Limited, has sold 2,000,000 shares for the same price.
A company statement just released said that after the recent full year results announcement there had been a number of enquiries from investors seeking liquidity opportunities.
CEO Andrew Burnes said the sales has been undertaken in a series of block trades and had reduced the stake in Helloworld held by its top three shareholders from 70% to 64.5%.
Interests associated with the Burnes’ now hold just over 31% of the company while the Qantas stake has reduced to 15.4%.
More details in tomorrow’s issue of Travel Daily.