Myer Still In The Dark After Share Raid

We will probably find out today if Melbourne businessman, Solomon Lew was behind the raid on Myer (MYR) on Monday that netted someone a 10% stake in the faltering retailer.

Seemingly well-briefed market commentary articles yesterday and this morning suggested very strongly that Mr Lew is responsible for the raid.

Some reports suggested that Mr Lew bought the stake to prevent Woolworths of South Africa from bidding for Myer to add to its David Jones and Country Road chains.

The buying pressure disappeared yesterday and Myer shares fell more than 5% to end at $1.20.

More than 14% of Myer’s shares changed hands on Monday, as hedge fund leapt into the stock on hopes of some sort of takeover play.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Myer said it had not received any "communication in relation to yesterday’s trading or any corporate activity".

"Myer will continue to keep the market informed in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations," it said.

The involvement of Pershing Securities, which has previously bought shares in other companies on behalf of Mr Lew, raised the prospect he was linked to the transaction.

About Glenn Dyer

Glenn Dyer has been a finance journalist and TV producer for more than 40 years. He has worked at Maxwell Newton Publications, Queensland Newspapers, AAP, The Australian Financial Review, The Nine Network and Crikey.

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