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From Benedicte Gravrand, Geneva: Laxey hedge fund, run by Swiss manager Roger Bühler, has secretly managed to acquire 22.89% of Implenia SA (largest Swiss construction company), partly thanks to cash options, Swiss paper Le Temps reported earlier. These financial instruments do not require any advance notice.

Investigation is under way The Swiss federal committee of banks (Commission féderale des banques, CFB) is investigating this case. The committee wants to know if the transactions linked to Implenia (a group created through a merger between Zschokke and Batigroup), have been stained by a violation of stock market directives. It wants to know the role of the bank in these transactions.

Credit Suisse’ involvement According to Swiss German paper, SonntagsZeitung, Credit Suisse may have played a major role in Laxey’s transaction with Implenia. Moreover, it so happens that the bank has had a business relationship with the largest construction firm for some years. Before the merger, Credit Suisse was the main bank of Batigroup.

The rise of Implenia’s capital was carried out through stock bundles placed in several banks. Laxey had the opportunity to acquire them. This would have allowed Laxey to not declare the reaching of the threshold at which a stake must be announced publicly. Through buying back stock bundles from London’s investment banking arm of Credit Suisse, Laxey could incur a......................

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