(Reuters) – Pension fund AustralianSuper has raised its stake in lithium miner Pilbara Minerals and alcohol retailer Endeavour Group, two separate exchange filings showed on Tuesday.
The stake increase makes AustralianSuper the largest stakeholder in Pilbara with a 6.1% interest, overtaking a Ganfeng Lithium Group subsidiary, which owns 5.74%, according to LSEG data.
It maintained its position as the third largest shareholder in Endeavour, building its stake up to 8.8% from 7.65%.
The country’s largest pension fund, which manages over A$300 billion ($201.27 billion) of retirement savings, did not respond to Reuters request for comments on the stake increase.
The move comes as AustralianSuper has shifted its attitude towards investing in some of the country’s largest companies, and is now actively scooping up stakes in blue-chip firms to give itself more leverage and control on strategy.
It bought Pilbara shares worth A$558 million in November last year, at a time when domestic lithium miners were being closely watched by global players as acquisition targets.
Endeavour, the country’s biggest pub owner, is also going through a board shake-up where Chair Peter Hearl resigned after a period of disagreement with top shareholder and billionaire publican Bruce Mathieson.
Pilbara and Endeavour also did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.
($1 = 1.4905 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Poonam Behura; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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