Trader Talk

INVESTMENT boutique Artemis Investment Management has shown its support for an acquisition by small-cap Salamander Energy by increasing its stake in the oil and gas group.

Artemis has bought an additional 908,447 shares, increasing its holding by just over 1% to 13.02%. The interest is held across Derek Stuart’s Artemis Special Situations and the Artemis UK Smaller Companies fund, co-managed by John Dodd and Mark Niznik, along with Dodd’s Artemis Alpha Trust.

On Friday, Salamander confirmed the acquisition of oil and gas exploration and development company GFI for Pounds 96 million. It has made the acquisition as part of its strategy to build a “balanced” South-east Asian portfolio from production through to exploration. GFI has interests in Indonesia and Thailand and Salamander said the purchase improves its portfolio by adding late- stage development assets.

DYLAN LOBO www.citywire.co.uk

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