XTB founder Jakub Zabłocki has sold 8% of the company in a deal worth approximately $194.2m, the brokerage group announced on Tuesday morning.
Zabłocki holds shares in XTB via a holding company called XX ZW.
XTB said that XX ZW previously owned 43.78% of the company’s equity. Post-sale it will still hold 35.78%, making the company the largest single shareholder in the Warsaw-listed brokerage group.
The sale was undertaken with UBS and Santander actings as bookrunners.
XX ZW sold 9,405,540 shares in XTB, with a sale price of PLN 78.00. This would imply a total sale value of approximately $194.2m.
Zabłocki has made other large size sales in the last 18 months. Last year, the XTB founder sold two large tranches of shares in the group in February and then again in September.
The company owner previously owned more just over half of the business.
Why is Zabłocki selling XTB shares?
It’s hard to know why Zabłocki continues to sell off holdings in the group. It is worth noting that he now has a lock in period of 6 months, so he cannot sell any more shares until the end of this year.
It’s plausible that the brokerage founder just wants to cash out some of his holdings in the firm, which he founded over two decades ago.
XTB has seen a huge surge in its share price, which has risen almost 900% in the last five years, after delivering huge revenue growth in that time. This may also explain why he is keen to sell now – he is getting a lot more ‘bang for his buck’.
However, and as noted, it’s worth keeping in mind that he is still the largest single shareholder in the business.
Ultimately we’ll have to wait and see if his share sales continue but it’s plausible this is just a case of cashing some holdings but still retaining a decent level of ownership in the company.
