The Mirella and Lino Saputo Foundation has bought nearly $30 million worth of Saputo stock over the past few days, taking advantage of the stock market decline.
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The transaction is not intended to support “Saputo’s share price,” Francesco Miele, executive vice president of the foundation, assured the Journal on Thursday.
“We saw a buying opportunity and like so many others, we took it,” he said.
Saputo’s stock has fallen more than 15% since the company reported a drop in demand for its products three weeks ago.
“We are pleased to continue to have the support of our company’s founder from an organization he cares about,” the dairy giant said in a statement.
Big purchases in 2021
Recall that in 2021, the foundation acquired more than $100 million worth of Saputo stock after the stock price fell again.
The Institute on Governance’s CEO, François Dauphin, then pointed out that it was unusual for a foundation to buy a large block of shares in an affiliated company.
The foundation now owns 0.9% of Saputo stock, up from 0.7% in 2021. Add to that the nearly 32% stake — valued at more than $3.9 billion — owned personally by Lino Saputo is held in the company.
At the end of 2021, the foundation had over $885 million in assets. In 2021, she received more than $11 million in donations and donated more than $14 million to other organizations.