US-based investment management firm Capital Group Companies has sold shares worth A$733.9 million ($488.78 million) in Australian miner Fortescue, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.
The announcement came after the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday that an institutional investor had sold off a A$1.1 billion stake in billionaire Andrew Forrest-led Fortescue after the close of trade on Monday.
Capital Group Companies and affiliated entities pressed sell on 31.6 million shares in the miner on Friday, the filing showed.
The price at which the shares were sold is not clear. However, they are estimated to be worth about A$733.9 million based on Fortescue’s Friday close of A$23.2.
Capital Group declined to comment on the sale price and the rationale behind the sale when Reuters contacted.
Shares of the world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner have fallen nearly 25% so far this year, given weakening iron ore prices amid subdued demand in top steelmaker China.
Fortescue has also seen a high turnover of senior management amid a push to turn itself into a green energy company.
($1 = 1.5015 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; additional reporting by John Biju; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
