Stellar £63m sell-off for Jupiter team

By Simon Duke for MailOnline
Updated: 19:51 EDT, 21 June 2011

Edward Bonham Carter and a cohort of senior staff at Jupiter Fund Management were last night celebrating a £63million bonanza after selling a 6 per cent stake in the group.

Bonanza: Edward Bonham Carter

The stock-pickers offloaded more than 26million shares in the asset manager, with UK equities chief Anthony Nutt selling stock worth £18millioni, and fund manager Philip Gibbs nearly £13million after yesterday’s bumper share placing.

Chief executive Bonham Carter, who is the older brother of actress Helena, trimmed his holding by a more modest amount after a £1.3mllion disposal.

Their fortunes were made on the first anniversary of Jupiter’s stock market debut, when restrictions on share sales elapsed.

Their desire to cash in so swiftly could revive painful memories of New Star – the fund manager founded by former Jupiter boss John Duffield.

New Star collapsed under a debt pile in 2008 not long after Duffield and colleagues pocketed a stock and dividend bonanza of around £200million.

But Bonham Carter’s supporters say that, unlike New Star, Jupiter (down 5.3p to 250p) has negligible borrowings and staff are only cashing a quarter of their stakes.

Bonham Carter, Nutt and Gibbs will retain shares worth £34million, £31million and £22million respectively.