St1’s Mika Anttonen refuels his portfolio with competitor Neste’s shares – what does he intend?

Energy company St1’s main owner and chairman of the board Mika Anttonen has recently been enthusiastically buying competitor Neste’s shares.

The information appears in Neste’s owner list.

The shares of Neste, which is struggling in difficulties, have recently been acquired exceptionally cheaply.

Anttonen has made purchases in the name of his own investment company Keele oy, and at the same time his own St1 has also increased its stake in Neste.

Although Anttonen himself is still a small owner, together Anttonen and St1 have defected to Neste’s major owners in one fell swoop.

Anttonen himself owns more than 80 percent of St1.

In December alone, Anttonen and St1 bought Neste shares for a total of around 16–19 million euros. In total, their ownership of Neste is worth approximately EUR 56.8 million at the current share price.

My own Anttonen has increased his stake in Neste almost month by month throughout the last year.

Now he owns a 0.13 percent slice of Neste. That makes him Neste’s 23rd largest owner. As recently as last May, Anttone’s ownership was 0.04 percent and he was the company’s 40th largest owner.

On the other hand, St1 has quickly become one of the largest owners in a couple of months at the end of last year.

Now St1 is Neste’s eighth largest owner with a 0.46 percent share.

As recently as November, its ownership was 0.29 percent, and before that it has not appeared at all on the list of Neste’s 70 largest owners.

This means that St1 is now among Neste’s significant owners. In addition to the state (44.22 percent), only the pension companies Ilmarinen, Varma and Elo, as well as Kela, the city of Kurika and the State pension fund, have larger owners in Neste.

Together, Anttonen and St1 own 0.59 percent of Neste, or almost as much as the city of Kurika.

What has got Anttonen to refuel competitor Neste’s shares with such frenzy?

Of course, the stock was obtained cheaply. Neste’s stock has been plowing recently in readings where it was last seen in 2017 before it went on a wild rise.

In the last year alone, Neste’s share price has fallen by more than 60 percent. It has already slipped more than 80 percent from its peak four years ago.

However, it is not worth buying a cheap one if there is no hope for something better. Do Anttonen’s share purchases thus indicate a strong belief in the future of renewable fuels and Neste’s new success?

On Thursday, Neste’s share price was on a rapid rise for a long time, like the entire European energy sector.

Or does Anttosen have in mind something similar to business arrangements or a desire to influence Neste’s plans?

HS could not reach Mika Anttos to answer these questions.

Neste itself is looking for new momentum by overhauling its management. In December, it reported on the change of the chairman of the board, when Matti Kähkönen takes its place Pasi Laine.

In October, he became the new managing director Heikki Malinen having managed the company for only a couple of years Matti Lehmus in place of.