Invesco sells stake in NewRiver

Invesco has sold an 18.8% stake in NewRiver REIT, having acquired £42m in shares from Woodford last year. JPMorgan has taken a 6.2% stake in NewRiver this week, while M&G has bought 5.8% in the REIT. Based on a share price of roughly 70p at the time of the Invesco sale, the stake would have sold for around £40m. This compares with its £42m purchase last year, which was for a 5.8% stake in the REIT. The Invesco sale took place just weeks after Neil Woodford’s former protégé, Mark Barnett, left Invesco in May. Barnett had bought a £42m stake in the REIT from Neil Woodford’s flagship equity income fund in April last year, at a time when investors were pulling cash from the fund.  Barnett subsequently sought to distance his role in the NewRiver deal from his former mentor, telling the Financial Times last year that he had “no idea” about the vendor’s identity. After a wave of redemptions, Woodford’s fund was suspended in June last year.  To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette