Luxembourg-listed Exor Group, controlled by Italy's powerful Agnelli family, has sold its entire 4.8 cent stake in trading company Li & Fung for $449.68 million, sources said yesterday.
Analysts said the sale was aimed at locking in profits and had nothing to do with doubts over Li & Fung's management and operations.
Exor - 24.8 per cent-owned by Agnelli family company Ifil - sold 30.8 million shares at $14.60 each, sources said. The Agnelli family owns Italy's biggest car-manufacturer Fiat.
In 1996, Exor paid the Fung family, the controlling shareholder of Li & Fung, $210 million for the interest, or $7 a share.
Speculation suggests the Fung family was uncomfortable with Exor's decision to offload the stake because Exor had pledged to hold it as a 'long-term investment' to help strengthen Li & Fung's customer base in Europe.
Fung family members such as chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king and managing director William Fung Kwok-lun were not available for comment yesterday.
Company secretary Terry Wan Mei-chow said: 'We confirm that Exor has sold its stake in the company.' She declined to comment further.