Two tranches of LME shares traded

Two significant tranches of shares in the London Metal Exchange have changed hands in the last day.

One 25,000 tranche of B-shares has traded at £60.00 per share, matching the price of the previous two trades made in January of this year. The LME's B-shares confer trading rights on the Exchange. They have been in strong demand for some time with several entities said to have been on the prowl with one eye on LME membership.

However, we suspect that it is the second tranche of shares that will have the rumour-mill running at full speed. A 250,000 tranche of A-shares, or ordinary shares, was traded at a price of £4.00 per share, also matching the price of the previous transaction in November last year.

These ordinary shares confer ownership rights to the holder. They were originally issued to Category 1 and 2 members of the LME before demand for trading rights forced the exchange to list the B-shares.