CSR founders cash in with £4m share sale

Shares in Cambridge Silicon Radio, the wireless technology group, fell 24p, or 6.1 per cent, yesterday after it announced that its original institutional backers were planning to sell shares worth about £45m, equal to about 10 per cent of the company's share capital.

Shares in Cambridge Silicon Radio, the wireless technology group, fell 24p, or 6.1 per cent, yesterday after it announced that its original institutional backers were planning to sell shares worth about £45m, equal to about 10 per cent of the company's share capital.

CSR's employees, management and founders, totalling about 280 people, will also sell shares worth £4m, although the biggest individual sale, by its founder Glen Collinson, amounts to just £275,000. The institutions selling include 3i and Scottish Equity Partners, who will sell the shares in a placing being arranged by Credit Suisse First Boston. CSR revealed that John Hodgson, the chief executive, and the company's three founders would be selling shares equal to 5 per cent of their total holdings.

Mr Hodgson owns 450,000 shares while Mr Collinson owns 1.5 million. His co-founders of the business, Phil Donovan and James Collier, own 1.25 million and 1.2 million. CSR's share price ended at 366p yesterday, implying Mr Hodgson could sell shares worth £82,000 in the current placing, while Mr Collinson could raise £275,000, with Mr Donovan and Mr Collier raising about £228,000.

CSR floated in March at 250p and rose to a high of 441p this summer. Mr Hodgson said: "Given the strong performance of the company since our IPO, we welcome the increase in both the free float and the expected increase in liquidity in trading of CSR's shares."

Mr Hodgson also unveiled positive results for the group. Pre-tax profits in the first half of 2004 were $21.8m compared with a loss of $6.1m in the first six months of 2003.