Trades of Note for the week ending Aug. 17, 2025
A Norwegian dynasty backs its fintech horse and a Spanish tycoon wades into reinsurance. Meanwhile, a Houston activist's arrival in rare earths signals that the real games are about to begin.
| Notable Shareholder Disclosures |
| *Not disclosed |
| Notable Insider (PDMR) Disclosures |
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Asa International Group Plc (MC £126.4m)
John Khabbaz
Independent Non-Executive Director
Bought £373,441
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British American Tobacco Plc (MC £92571.8m)
Javed Iqbal
Director, Digital and Information
Sold £105,557
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Zenith Energy Ltd (MC £20.4m)
Luca Benedetto
Chief Financial Officer
Bought £322,830
Andrea Cattaneo
Chief Executive Officer & President
Bought £330,590
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A notably short issue this week, with only three announcements of genuine interest crossing my desk. Perhaps the City’s grandees are still sunning themselves on the continent, or perhaps the market is simply holding its breath. Whatever the reason, a scarcity of quantity does not imply a lack of quality; the signals, for those paying attention, are as clear as ever.
The Norwegian family office of the Wilhelmsen shipping dynasty, Watrium AS, has deepened its commitment to the fintech group TruFin PLC. Already a 21% shareholder with a board seat since 2018, Watrium has now increased its holding to over 23% by participating directly in a capital raise. When an investor this deeply embedded chooses not merely to accumulate shares but to inject fresh funds into the company’s balance sheet, it communicates a conviction in the long-term strategy. Their patience and access to information make this a particularly potent signal.
A new name has surfaced at Conduit Holdings Ltd, with the prominent Spanish tycoon Víctor Urrutia Vallejo taking a 5% stake. Urrutia Vallejo’s fortune is built on long-term, family-run investments in traditional sectors like wine and energy, making his substantial foray into a specialist Bermuda-based reinsurer a curious diversification. For such a conservative industrialist to deploy significant capital into this niche suggests he perceives either a compelling undervaluation in the company or a broader strategic opportunity within the reinsurance market. His presence on the register is, at the very least, intriguing.
Finally, the well-known Houston-based activist Bradley Louis Radoff has emerged with an 8.27% stake in HARENA RESOURCES PLC, a firm focused on a rare earths project in Madagascar. Crucially, his position was not acquired quietly but as part of the company's recent equity fundraising. An activist rarely invests passively, and one might infer not only that he sees considerable value waiting to be unlocked, but that he intends to have a say in how it happens.
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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