F&C Investment Trust dips into the market, scooping up a significant number of its own shares.

Spare a thought for the F&C Investment Trust PLC, which today pushed through a savvy transaction of its own shares. In an announcement via the London Stock Exchange, the formidable financial titan stated that it had acquired 16,968 of its ordinary 25 pence shares from J.P. Morgan Securities plc, stuffing them tidily into its treasury. As a result of this move, the company can now boast a heap of 81,289,120 ordinary shares in treasury and 480,529,896 ordinary shares in circulation (not counting those in the treasury).

This carefully calculated transaction has seen F&C Investment Trust PLC secure a considerable number of voting rights in the company, ranking at a hefty 480,529,896. This significant figure serves as the denominator for shareholders wanting to determine if they need to disclose any change in their interest in the company in compliance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Whilst these transactions may seem perplexing to the untrained eye, for finance heavyweights like F&C Investment Trust, acquiring its own shares is par for the course. It’s a strategic move, pure and simple. Hats off to F&C for its latest market manoeuvre.