When a company is worth almost $500 billion, making a few millions' profit on an investment probably doesn't matter all that much. But it's still difficult to fathom the timing of Intel's sale of most of its stake in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago.
To refresh memories, Intel announced last week that it no longer held a disclosable interest in Baltimore, after selling stock on August 11th. This means that Intel - which once held over 6 per cent but whose stake fell to 4.6 per cent after the Nasdaq placing earlier this year - sold at least 1.6 per cent of Baltimore stock to take it below the 3 per cent disclosure limit.
Word has it, however, that Intel has sold most or all of its shareholding in Baltimore at around £6.50 (€8.02) a share, realising over £120 million sterling. Intel's media people in Palo Alto are being coy about how many shares were sold and the timing of the disposal - especially why Intel sold at £6.50 when Baltimore shares touched £15 earlier this year, just before the short-lived accession to the FTSE index.
Intel isn't the only notable, however, to get its timing of selling Baltimore shares a bit awry. Remember Dermot Desmond sold the pre-split equivalent of 20 million shares last November at little more than £2.50 a share, while the closed period for share dealing by directors meant that Fran Rooney and Henry Beker each got only £5.80 a share when they unloaded a million shares.
Just as Dermot Desmond sold his 20 million shares before Baltimore shares rocketed, Fran Rooney was only able to sell after Baltimore shares imploded, as the dot.com euphoria earlier this year evaporated. Isn't life tough?
In a more serious vein, Intel's decision to sell most of its shares really does raise some questions. Does the semiconductor giant believe that the prospects are so limited that it should sell its shares at less than half the price of a few months ago. So far, Baltimore shares have not reacted negatively to news of the Intel sale, but it does cause some uncertainty in the market about the prospects for Baltimore.
