Stake sales in French utility GDF Suez and Portuguese retailer Jeronimo Martins knock down the two stocks, which feature among the biggest laggards in Europe.
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) has sold 65 million shares of GDF Suez, or 2.7 percent of the capital, through an accelerated bookbuilding managed by Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) and BofA Merrill Lynch, raising net proceeds of "slightly over" 1 billion euros, the group said.
Traders mention a price of 16.26 euros per share for the GDF Suez placement, which would represent a 2.8 percent discount to Monday's closing price of 16.73 euros.
Shares are down 2.9 percent at 16.25 euros at 0824 GMT.
"The drop is a knee-jerk reaction following the placement. It was a relatively good timing for a stake sale after the stock's recent rally, although the market had been expecting the French state to trim its stake, not necessarily GBL," a Paris-based trader says.
Heerema Group said on Monday it was selling a stake of up to 5 percent in Jeronimo Martins via an accelerated offering, with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) as the bookrunner.
The stock is down 5.1 percent at 16.97 euros at 0824 GMT.
"What's pressuring Jeronimo is the sale of the stake by Heerema Group, the company's second largest shareholder, who are selling with a discount to price markets that varies between 3.5 percent and 7.7 percent," says Paulo Rosa, trader at GoBulling in Porto.
"The operation implies a sale at an around 5.5 percent average discount on market prices of Monday's closing, meaning it is very likely it will put some pressure on how the stock will evolve in the next few days," Caixa BI analyst Andre Rodrigues write in a note.
Reuters Messaging: blaise.robinson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
Reuters Messaging: daniel.alvarenga.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
Reuters Messaging: patricia.rua.tomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
