Praesidium Investment Management, a vocal critic of Instructure Inc.’s plans to sell itself to private equity firm Thoma Bravo, said on Thursday that it cut its stake in the U.S. educational software company.
Praesidium said in a regulatory filing that it reduced its stake to 5.70% from 7.53% by selling 686,263 shares between Feb. 24-26.
Two weeks ago Instructure accepted Thoma Bravo’s raised offer of $49 a share after several big investors had balked at an initial price of $47.60 a share.
Praesidium sold at an average price of $48.76 a share, the filing said. The hedge fund did not say why it sold and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Instructure’s stock closed at $48.75 on Thursday, having held largely steady over the last five days even as stocks sold off amid growing fears over the impact of the coronavirus on businesses.
Praesidium had been among the first vocal backers of Instructure by presenting its case for the company at an investment conference in 2019. But it turned negative soon after Instructure in December announced plans to sell to Thoma Bravo.
Several other investors reduced their holdings at the end of 2019 amid a more uncertain future for the company.
Source: Reuters.com