Lastminute directors sell down £11m of shares

Lastminute.com saw two of its earliest backers cut back their ties to the former new economy star yesterday, selling shares worth more than £11m.

In total, 12 million shares were sold by Cheetah Investments and Global Retail Partners, two venture capital funds that invested in lastminute before the heady days of its stock market floatation.

Both Cheetah's Laurent Leffy, who banked £7.36m after selling 8 million shares, and Global's Linda Levinson, who made £3.68m from selling 4 million shares, sat on lastminute's board of directors.

Martha Lane Fox, lastminute's managing director, denied there was anything "dramatic" about the sales. "They had both held on to shares in a public company far longer than a venture capitalist normally would," she said. Ms Lane Fox said that institutional appetite for the shares, which were sold at 92p, had been "very good".

Mr Laffy still holds 8.55 per cent of lastminute's stock, while Ms Levinson has 4.5 per cent. While Mr Leffy is still one of the company's directors, Ms Levinson intends to stand down later this month. Ms Lane Fox said she anticipated they would both be long-term shareholders in the company.

Lastminute, which saw its shares slip 1.5p to 94p, is expected to turn its first profit next year. Last week it narrowed its losses before one-off items and tax in the three months to 30 June to £4m from £9.3m.