Conran sells off one million Fitch shares

Sir Terence Conran has sold a million shares in Fitch – though not, it is believed, because of a lack of faith in the design company he helped save from liquidation in 1992.

Last week’s sale to The Flemming Mercantile Investment Trust, which netted Conran about 400 000, is aimed at broadening the small number of shareholders in Fitch.

Fitch managing director Jean François Bentz and director Bernard Roux, through their company Brand Trust, sold shares amounting to 3.6 per cent of the consultancy to the same trust last week. The investment trust now holds 7.8 per cent of Fitch’s shares and sees potential for growth, says a Fitch spokesman.

Conran’s disposal still leaves him with a 20.9 per cent holding. He bought a quarter of Fitch’s shares in 1992 at a cost of 1m.

Bentz and Roux still retain 27.7 per cent of Fitch’s shares.