Gus Attridge loses $10 million in 13 days from stake in Aspen Pharmacare

South African multimillionaire executive Gus Attridge’s stake in Durban-based pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare Holdings has dropped by $10.53 million in the past 13 days as investors booked profits in the leading pharmaceutical company after its share price surged above R154 ($9) per share.

Attridge, a leading business executive who cofounded Aspen Pharmacare Holdings with South African pharma billionaire Stephen Saad 25 years ago, owns a 4.26-percent stake in the company, which equates to 19,012,270 ordinary shares in the group.

Shares in the South African pharmaceutical company were trading at R145.51 ($8.55) as of press time on Nov. 29, 35 basis points higher than their opening price this week on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The market value of Attridge’s stake in the pharmaceutical company has dropped by R179.29 million ($10.53 million) in the past 13 days.

This can be attributed to Aspen’s shares falling 6.1 percent on the local bourse from R154.94 ($9.1) on Nov. 16 to R145.51 ($8.5) in recent days, owing to profit-taking by market participants.

The company’s market capitalization is estimated at R64.9 billion ($3.81 billion) at the present price level, making it the 48th most valuable company on the local bourse.

Following the recent share price decline, which saw the market value of Attridge’s stake fall by more than $10 million, international lenders agreed to provide Aspen with a multicurrency credit facility worth a combined €1.26 billion ($1.26 billion).

The multicurrency syndicated term loan, and revolving credit facilities agreement was arranged to refinance Aspen’s 2018 syndicated loan facilities, which were secured from 28 lenders from the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia, according to the group.

The credit facilities were also described as term and revolving credit facilities in euros, rands, and Australian dollars, with tenors ranging from three to four years and additional extension options available.