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(Bloomberg) -- The Agnelli family’s disposal of a €3 billion ($3.14 billion) stake in Ferrari NV has propelled European block sales to the strongest start to the year in two decades.
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From billionaire clans to private equity firms and governments, investors have raised about $15.3 billion since the beginning of January via stake sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This rush to dispose of often long-held investments comes as Europe’s stock benchmark has its best start to the year since 2019, outperforming US counterparts.
Among notable deals, the Sandoz family sold a 2.6 billion Swiss francs ($2.9 billion) stake in Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis AG earlier this week. Pfizer Inc. raised £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) last month as it pared its shareholding in Haleon Plc. In Ireland, the government has generated about €652 million through the sale of a 5% stake in lender AIB Group Plc.
“Now that valuations are no longer so depressed in Europe, but still with a rather dull M&A market, many big shareholders are using block trades for reducing or exiting their stakes,” said Roberto Scholtes, head of strategy at wealth manager Singular Bank.
Deal momentum is likely to continue as stock prices keep pushing higher, said Jerome Renard, head of equity capital markets for the European Union at Bank of America in Paris. The Stoxx 600 hit a new high on Wednesday, with the gauge posting almost 10% in gains since the beginning of the year.
--With assistance from Julien Ponthus.
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