Investment accounts
Adult accounts
Child accounts
Choosing Fidelity
Choosing Fidelity
Why invest with us Current offers Fees and charges Open an account Transfer investments
Financial advice & support
Fidelity’s Services
Fidelity’s Services
Financial advice Retirement Wealth Management Investor Centre (London) Bereavement
Guides
Guidance and tools
Shares
Share dealing
Choose your shares
Tools and information
Tools and information
Share prices and markets Chart and compare shares Stock market news Shareholder perks Stock plan guidance
Pensions & retirement
Pensions, tax & tools
Saving for retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Speak to a specialist Creating a retirement plan Taking tax-free cash Pension drawdown Annuities Investing in retirement Investment Pathways
Smith & Nephew at four-month high as activist investor Cevian buys stake
(Sharecast News) - Swedish activist investor Cevian Capital has purchased a 5% stake in Smith & Nephew, causing shares in the medical equipment manufacturer to surge to a four-month high on Thursday. In a 'notification of major holdings' regulatory filing on Thursday, Smith & Nephew revealed that Cevian now holds 43.9m shares in the company.
The purchase of the 5.021% stake is Cevian's first investment in the FTSE 100 company and makes the Swedish firm its third-largest shareholder. At Wednesday's closing price of 986.2p, the stake would have been worth around £433m.
The purchase by Cevian, whose stated strategy is to acquire large minority stakes in European listed companies "and work as an owner to advance long-term and sustainable value creation", follows an 8% drop in the share price since the start of 2024.
Smith & Nephew's business has been impacted severely by the pandemic over recent years, as demand for its orthopaedic products reduced on the back of a huge number of cancelled elective procedures. Prior to Thursday, the stock had dropped 18% over the past year and 43% over the past five years.
"Activist investors often circle a struggling company so the news Sweden's Cevian has taken a stake in medical devices firm Smith & Nephew shouldn't come as a huge surprise," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"Cevian has previously taken positions in UBS, Vodafone and Aviva in an attempt to force change and the case for doing so at Smith & Nephew is presented by a near-40% decline in the share price over the last five years. The positive share price reaction to Cevian taking a position in Smith & Nephew demonstrates the market thinks an outside catalyst for a shake-up of the business would be no bad thing," Mould said.
He added that Smith & Nephew's improvement plan announced in 2022 has "not yet resulted in a material improvement in earnings and profitability", made worse by a "weak showing" in the US market.
The stock was up 7.3% at 1,058.62p by 1051 BST, a level not seen since 15 March.
Share this article
Related Sharecast Articles
Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Award-winning online share dealing
Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.
Expert insights into investing your money
Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.
Policies and important information
Accessibility | Conflicts of interest statement | Consumer Duty Target Market | Consumer Duty Value Assessment Statement | Cookie policy | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Reports | Doing Business with Fidelity | Investing in Fidelity funds | Legal information | Modern slavery | Mutual respect policy | Privacy statement | Remuneration policy | Staying secure | Statutory and Regulatory disclosures | Whistleblowing programme
Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.