Sino-Forest Corp (TSE:TRE) saw its shares spike over 40% on Monday after U.S. investment firm Wellington Management announced it has bought an 11.5% stake in the beleaguered forest plantation operator.
The China-focused forestry company's shares have dropped over 80% since U.S. research firm Muddy Waters released a report in early June accusing Sino-Forest of fabricating its timber sales and overstating its tree purchases in the Yunnan province.
The report, which Sino-Forest maintains is false, led to billionaire hedge fund manager, John Paulson, once the largest stakeholder in the company, to sell all 30 million of his shares.
Today, Bloomberg reported that in a regulatory filing, Wellington had 28.3 million shares of Sino-Forest as of June 30. The investment management firm oversees more than $663 billion in assets.
News of Sino-Forest's investor sent its shares up 42.5% on the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading at $4.56 each as of 2:29 pm EDT on Monday.
Sino-Forest said it has retained Pricewaterhouse Cooper to lead an investigation into Muddy Waters' claims, and also requested the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada look into the firm's trading activities.
The Ontario Securities Commission announced on June 8 that it opened an investigation to look into the dispute.