ASX-listed fund manager Perpetual has used Fonterra Cooperative Group's food scare to trawl for cheap units in the dairy exporter's listed fund.
Funds managed by Perpetual bought about 1.26 million units, or 1.17 per cent, of Fonterra Shareholders' Fund for some A$7.32 million on August 5, when the price plunged in the first trading day after the dairy company said some of its product may have been tainted by bacteria that can cause botulism.
The average purchase price was just under A$5.83 per unit, and takes Perpetual's stake in the fund to almost 10 per cent, according to a substantial shareholder notice filed with the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.
The Fonterra fund's price has recovered since the dive, closing on the ASX yesterday at A$6.20, meaning Perpetual's bottom-trawling has already achieved an unrealised gain of some A$470,000, or about 6.4 percent.
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings yesterday told media all potentially contaminated whey protein product has been accounted for, and he was satisfied the food scare had stabilised.
