William von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital reaches a 5% position in IG Group

New York hedge fund manager Cantillon Capital Management has taken a 5% interest in British CFD and spread betting company IG Group Holdings plc (LON:IGG).

The transaction, which took place on January 30, 2015, has been reported via a public filing with the London Stock Exchange, upon which IG Group is listed. Cantillon’s stake in IG is worth about ÂŁ130 million (USD $198 million).

We believe that prior to January 30 Cantillon held 18,123,278 shares / voting rights which gave them 4.95% of the total voting rights in IG. They recently purchased an additional 210,641 voting rights, or 0.058%, which raised them above the 5% bar to a 5.01% holding, requiring the disclosure filing.

Cantillon Capital Management is owned by sole shareholder William von Mueffling, who founded the company in 2003 after heading Lazard Asset Management’s hedge fund operations, where he averaged returns in excess of 30% between 1998 and 2003, by shorting technology stocks.

Cantillon’s strategies were adapted significantly in June 2009, when the firm announced that it was shutting down its long/short strategies, which included the Cantillon World, Cantillon Europe, Cantillon U.S. Low Volatility, and Cantillon Pacific funds.

At that time. Mr. Von Mueffling returned $3.5 billion to investors, with Cantillon managing $1 billion in long-only assets.

To view the official filing from the London Stock Exchange, click here.

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