Insider: more big deals part of director stakebuilding

In an otherwise quiet week for boardroom dealings, bosses at these two companies have spent heavily betting on share price recoveries. Graeme Evans names the buyers.

2nd February 2026 09:08

by Graeme Evans from interactive investor

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The WH Smith (LSE:SMWH) director in charge of an overhaul of North American operations has bought shares in the FTSE 250-listed retailer for a second time ahead of the AGM on Monday 2 February.

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Finance chief Max Izzard, who joined the group in September 2024, spent £168,750 on Thursday at a price of 675p having also bought £128,000 at 640p on 23 December.

The shares were 1,100p prior to August’s year-end disclosure of a £30 million profit overstatement in North America, which was largely due to accelerated recognition of supplier income.

A target-driven performance culture and decentralised structure were later highlighted in a review by Deloitte before the company published delayed annual results in December.

These showed a divisional profit of £15 million - down £40 million on previous market expectations - as the board also declared its intention to claw back bonuses from former chief executive Carl Cowling and ex-finance boss Robert Moorhead.

Izzard has been handed the task of overseeing a remediation plan for the North American division, including a focus on governance and controls and aligning group processes.

The company also intends to focus on core travel essentials as it is the fastest growing and largest part of the North American business.

The US challenges offset a strong performance in the UK division, which grew trading profit by £8 million to £130 million and completed a significant strategic shift with the sale of high street stores and Funkypigeon.com.

Writing in his first annual report for the company, Izzard said that the changes enabled WH Smith to capitalise on the significant potential of the global travel sector.

Broker Peel Hunt recently reiterated its Buy recommendation, with a price target of 800p.

It said: “The UK business is extremely valuable and placed on a sensible multiple, it covers almost all of the market cap, with the US and Rest of World pretty much in for nothing.

“There is clearly a lot to prove here, but the new chief executive inherits a great deal of potential for strong future growth.”

The comments were made prior to the disclosure that Leo Quinn, the highly-regarded former Balfour Beatty and Qinetiq boss, is to take on the role of executive chair from 7 April.

Quinn stands to net £24.5 million from share awards if he is successful in doubling the company’s current market valuation of about £800 million over the next five years.

Shareholders gathered this morning for the AGM and will do so again in the coming weeks to approve Quinn’s appointment and the incentive share award.

Izzard’s dealings over the past month were his first direct purchases under a requirement to build up a stake equivalent to 250% of his £500,000 a year salary.

Another £1m buy

The long-serving boss of 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) has increased his stake by another £1 million after he joined buyers in Thursday’s rebound of the private equity group’s shares.

Simon Borrows made his move at 3,489.8p, which was more than 10% higher than the opening price after the FTSE 100-listed company delivered a reassuring update on discount chain Action.

The top performing asset was the source of market jitters in November when 3i disclosed that Action may miss its full-year sales target due to tough conditions in France.

Action’s success since 3i’s initial 130 million euros investment in 2011 means the Amsterdam-based business now represents more than 70% of the total portfolio by value.

Action has grown from 250 stores to more than 3,300 across 14 countries over that period.

Borrows also spent £1 million on shares in November at a year-low price of 3,367p after £7 billion was wiped from 3i’s value due to the guidance in interim results.

Thursday’s third-quarter update by 3i showed that Action grew like-for-like sales by 4.9% in 2025, which was weaker than 2024’s rate of 10.3% but better than City forecasts. It follows 56% compound growth in like-for-like sales over the previous four years.

More significantly, the new year has started well after the growth rate accelerated to 6.1% in the four weeks of January amid a return to positive sales figures in France.

On Friday, Deutsche Bank highlighted the reassuring trajectory of Action sales as it lifted its price target by 100p to 4,300p in response to the update.

Borrows, who has run Britain’s oldest buyout firm since 2012, said Action had continued to trade well despite a more cautious consumer backdrop.

He also referenced strong contributions from other parts of the portfolio, including personal care products firm Royal Sanders and Audley Travel. Net asset value per share rose to 3,017p, up 5.6% since the end of September.

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