Trades of Note for the week ending July 27, 2025
While others take lunch, predators are buying with conviction. This week, we track an industrialist’s patient accumulation, a US hedge fund’s sharp biotech wager, and the simmering siege of a cake maker.
| Notable Shareholder Disclosures |
| *Not disclosed |
| Notable Insider (PDMR) Disclosures |
A rather brief dispatch this week. It seems the City's dealmakers have either retreated to their country estates or decided that the summer sun is more compelling than the flickering green of a trading screen. Nonetheless, a few notable movements have caught the eye, driven by players who clearly see value where others are perhaps distracted by the prospect of a late lunch.
The relentless accumulation of stock in specialist filtration firm Porvair plc by G.G.G. S.p.A. continues, with the Italian firm now commanding a 25.17% stake. G.G.G. is the private vehicle of Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of global filtration giant UFI Filters. When a seasoned industrialist with such deep domain expertise consistently buys into a peer, eventually becoming its largest shareholder, it suggests a conviction that extends far beyond a simple view on valuation. This is a strategic move, played out in plain sight, with a clear long-term objective that one can only speculate upon.
In the more speculative corners of the market, Pentwater Capital Management, a $9 billion US event-driven hedge fund, has emerged with an 8.30% stake in Verici Dx Plc, a tiny biotech focused on kidney transplant diagnostics. Pentwater does not make passive bets; its entire strategy is predicated on identifying and profiting from specific corporate events. For them to surface in a small UK life sciences company, likely via a capital raise, implies a belief that the business is now funded to reach a significant, value-creating milestone. It is a sophisticated wager on a future catalyst.
Finally, the saga at Cake Box Holdings PLC continues to simmer. Australian investment firm River Capital, which also owns The Cheesecake Shop, has increased its holding to 10.51%. Buying more shares at a premium to your own rejected 2023 takeover bid is a rather emphatic statement of intent. It suggests their belief in the strategic value remains undeterred. This conviction is seemingly shared by Trigo Capital, which has also been building its own substantial position. When two informed investors are circling with such persistence, it rarely ends quietly.
N.B. This publication is a work of commentary and journalism, not a financial advisory service. I am a narrator of capital flows, not your personal portfolio manager. No fiduciary relationship is implied or intended, and this is not investment advice.
The information presented here is a starting point for your own research, not a substitute for it. Due diligence is your burden, and yours alone. As an active participant in these markets, my interests and positions may well intersect with the topics discussed. Prudence dictates you assume I am talking my own book.
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