Agnelli-backed fund increases Ocado stake

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A fund chaired by former UK chancellor George Osborne and backed by Italy’s Agnelli family has increased its stake in online supermarket and robotics company Ocado to above the 5 per cent disclosure threshold. 

Lingotto Investment Management, a new $3bn firm owned by the Agnelli family’s holding company Exor, disclosed the position in regulatory filings on Monday. It comes after speculation last week that Ocado could be a bid target for technology companies such as Amazon. 

Lingotto’s Ocado position is overseen by Matteo Scolari, who runs the asset manager’s public investments. The position in the company was initiated in 2017.

Ocado did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

John Elkann, chair of Stellantis and scion of the billionaire Agnelli industrial dynasty, wrote in his most recent annual letter to shareholders that the Ocado investment had been the portfolio’s biggest detractor to performance in 2022, “as online grocery shopping normalised with consumers returning to work”. However, he said that Scolari used the drop in Ocado’s share price as an opportunity to add to his investment. 

Ocado, one of the most shorted stocks on the London market, is known as a purveyor of groceries online in the UK but it has staked its future on selling its robotic warehouses to traditional supermarkets such as Kroger in the US to help them burnish their ecommerce credentials. 

Shares are down 81 per cent since hitting a record in September 2020 as the pandemic-driven boom in online shopping evaporated. In February, it reported a £501mn pre-tax loss for the year, the biggest in its 23 years of trading, while its 50-50 joint venture with Marks and Spencer also slumped to a loss.

Ocado and Amazon both declined to comment last week on the report of potential bid interest but Ocado’s shares surged by more than a third following the rumours.

Elkann wrote in his letter: “Notwithstanding this challenging environment, the company unveiled a series of bold innovations, which together result in a notable reduction in cost, improved flexibility and increased productivity, putting Ocado’s solution far ahead of the competition.” 

Last month Lingotto appointed Osborne, who led the Treasury between 2010 to 2016, as chair.