Ocado’s second largest shareholder has said the retail technology firm should remain listed in the UK, after its shares soared 40% on a speculated takeover from Amazon.
Edinburgh-based fund manager, Baillie Gifford, which has a 12% stake, said Ocado should remain independent after market speculation that the giant US tech company could be considering making a bid.
Ocado shares briefly reached 631p from 430p on Wednesday, representing a rise of almost 43%.
The online grocer’s shares closed just under 568p, after a rise of 32% on the day, taking them to their highest level since the end of February, and giving it a market value of £4.7 billion.
It comes after Ocado narrowly survived being demoted from the FTSE 100 index after a ranking reshuffle, caused by a sharp fall in its share price since the pandemic.
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Tom Slater of Baillie Gifford told The Guardian: “We believe that Ocado is very early in addressing a very big market opportunity and it would be a dreadful shame if the UK were to lose one of its leading listed technology companies when there is so much potential remaining.”
Head of financial analysis at City broker AJ Bell, Danni Hewson said that Ocado’s shares have been “about as flat as an open bottle of lemonade” since the pandemic.
“But third parties, including reportedly Amazon, may still see value in the brand, technology and infrastructure.”
She added: “Ocado’s hopes of becoming an online groceries partner to businesses across the globe has only had limited success, and shareholders may be open to a bidder putting them out of their misery.”
