On Thursday, Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust showed up with a 5 per cent stake it acquired for around $49 million.
CBD is told that it is Nikko Asset Management – a Sumitomo subsidiary, which describes itself as a "value investor" – that picked up the stake.
Sun Hung Kai offered CBD a similar explanation for its investment in Ardent.
"The position in Ardent Leisure sits within our Global Equities Opportunity Fund, which has a focus on undervalued and growth equities," explained a spokesman for Sun Hung Kai.
Given the strong value theme from the two new investors, CBD wonders what they think of Ardent's rebel investors – Gary Weiss and Queensland developer Kevin Seymour – as they attempt to get four board seats with just a 3.9 per cent stake. That's what we call a bargain.
AAD Price at posting:
$2.08 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
