Huge Group rubbishes market manipulation claim
DUNCAN MCLEOD, 16 March 2021
Huge Group CEO James Herbst on Tuesday rubbished a claim that the company used its share buyback programme to manipulate its share price higher ahead of its bid to acquire fellow JSE-listed firm, software services group Adapt IT.
News24 reported late on Monday that Huge Group is being probed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) after a shareholder lodged a complaint against it at the regulatory body. According to the report, the complaint was filed by Kerem Aksoy, the managing member of a US-based investment advisory firm called Glacier Pass Management.
Huge was reportedly actively buying its own shares through December and into January – so much so, that most trades in the (often relatively illiquid) share were because of the buyback programme.
