ONLINE grocer Ocado saw its shares tumble after John Lewis Partnership’s pension fund confirmed the sale of its 10% stake in the group.
John Lewis offloaded the shares for about £152m or 265p each – 7% lower than the price last night. Ocado shares fell by 12% or 33.3p to 251.7p.
But Ocado said the sale did not affect its commercial relationship with John Lewis-owned supermarket Waitrose. The two agreed a new 10-year delivery deal in May last year.
John Lewis said the sale had been undertaken as part of its pension fund review process.
It had already sold half its previous stake at the time of Ocado’s stock market flotation last July, but was restricted from selling the remainder until Ocado’s recent full-year results.
