Xero founder and CEO Rod Drury has sold a 3 million-shares stake in the company he founded 11 years ago. Photo / file
Xero founder and CEO Rod Drury has sold a 3 million-shares stake in the company he founded 11 years ago. Photo / file
Hawke's Bay-based rich-lister and business entrepreneur Rod Drury has sold about a sixth of his shareholding in the stellar-performing accounting software company he founded for $94.5 million.
The divestment of 3 million shares in Xero, the company he founded in 2006 and which was publicly-listed a year ago, is announcedin a statement to New Zealand stock exchange the NZX, just days after an announcement of a shift to the Australian ASX.
Reports yesterday the sell-off to institutional and professional investors was at $31.50 a share, but Mr Drury, who had 45 per cent when Xero listed, remains the biggest individual shareholder with about 13 per cent, and a personal worth put by rich-list analysts at well in excess of $800m.
The stock had closed on Thursday at $33, having close to doubled in a year.
The sale was said to be part of a strategy to improve liquidity with increased demand among global investors.
Mr Drury, a 51-year-old one-time pupil of Napier Boys' High School, had said the funds would lay the foundation for philanthropic interests.
The Wellington-based company sprang a surprise on November 10 when it announced it would delist on the New Zealand exchange, with some shareholders later reported to be unhappy and seeking a meeting aimed at overturning the shift.
