Block deals

How to read block deal data

Block deals are the cleanest large-trade disclosure the exchange publishes: one buyer, one seller, one price, agreed in advance and executed in a window designed so a large position can change hands without dragging the open-market price with it. Both sides are named.

That symmetry is the thing most commentary gets wrong. Every block deal has a seller as large as the buyer, so the existence of a block deal is not directional information — somebody was convinced enough to buy and somebody was convinced enough to sell, at a price they both accepted. What is genuinely useful is who: a named institution taking a large stake in a small company changes the shareholder register in a way that shows up in the next quarterly filing, and the negotiated price is a real mark from a real buyer.

Block deals are sparse — often only a handful a session, sometimes none — which is why this page carries several weeks of tape instead of one day. For a fuller picture of large trades see bulk deals, and for what the company's own promoters and directors are doing, insider trading.

Common questions