Close Brothers sells stake in non-core business for $40m

16th Sep 2011 07:04

Close Brothers, the FTSE 250 banking , securities and asset management firm, has disposed of its 49.9% stake in Mako Global Derivatives Executive, a market maker in exchange traded derivatives, for $40m (£25.3m) in cash."The sale of our investment in Mako represents a further streamlining of the Close Brothers Group and reflects our continued focus on developing our core businesses within Banking, Securities and Asset Management," said Close Brothers' chief executive Preben Prebensen.The firm said that due to the nature of the Mako business, earnings tend to be more volatile, "which is not consistent with Close Brothers' strategy."Close Brothers will sell its stake to Mako's executive directors and staff in a series of sales over several years, with the first 16.6% being disposed of in the next few months. Close Brothers reassured that it will still receive a dividend from Mako until its whole shareholding has been sold.The proceeds of the sale will be reinvested into the group's core businesses.BC