The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) share Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) has just received significant backing from one of its leadership figures and biggest shareholders.
Rob Millner is the current chair of Soul Patts and he recently made a significant on-market purchase of Soul Patts shares through entities he's involved in. Millner's family has been involved in Soul Patts since the beginning of its listed life.
Lewy Pattinson opened a pharmacy in 1886 and this became the Washington H. Soul Pattinson business, which was listed in 1903 after Pattinson bought out his friend Washington Soul from his own pharmacy business. Robert Millner is Lewy Pattinson's great-grandson and is the fourth generation of the family to chair the company.
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Millner's latest investment
Rob Millner is involved in two businesses, J S Millner Holdings Pty Limited and T G Millner Holdings Pty Limited, which invested in the ASX 200 share.
The J S Millner Holdings entity bought 200,000 Soul Patts shares between 26 September 2024 and 27 September 2024.
The T G Millner Holdings entity purchased 80,000 Soul Patts shares between 30 September 2024 and 1 October 2024.
That's a total of 280,000 shares.
Those transactions were completed for a total investment of $9,736,873.80. This means the purchase price was approximately $34.77 per share, which is only slightly below today's price.
Millner now has an even bigger exposure to the ASX 200 share, with total ownership exposure to 23,720,768 Soul Patts shares, which have a current value of approximately $837 million.
Six months ago, Millner also invested in Soul Patts shares, so this may not be the last time we see an investment.
Why does Millner like Soul Patts shares?
Aside from the historical connection, Millner likes what Soul Patts has to offer. In the annual letter, Millner and managing director Todd Barlow said:
Our strategy of long-term commitment to building value, strength of conviction when making investment decisions, and unconstrained mandate to invest where we can extract the highest quality returns, continues to deliver for our shareholders.
As a diversified investment house, our aim is to grow shareholder wealth. We are proud to have never missed a dividend payment to our shareholders since listing in 1903, and this financial year is no different. With more than 200 individual investments in private, public and real assets, we are disciplined in our approach and active when opportunities arise. This is supported by our strong balance sheet and reputation as trusted stewards of our shareholders' capital.
Our key strength is our ability to make smart, long-term investment decisions and adjust our portfolio to benefit from the changing economic landscape.
In terms of the outlook for the ASX 200 share's FY25 and foreseeable future, the Soul Patts leaders said:
Although the Australian economy has shown surprising strength, we expect monetary policy to remain restrictive with inflation above the Reserve Bank's target range of 2% to 3%.
The investing environment remains volatile and there is material risk in the outlook with public market valuations elevated in the context of a higher interest rate environment. Soul Patts continues to invest in a diverse range of assets in order to build a resilient, cash-generating portfolio.
Soul Patts share price snapshot
Over the last 12 months, the company has risen 8%, as shown on the chart below.
