STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - There is no truth to recent speculation that H&M founders the Persson family are eyeing a buyout of the retailer, Swedish online news outlet Breakit.se on Thursday quoted main owner and chairman Stefan Persson as saying.
"No, there is no bearing whatsoever to those rumours," Persson was quoted as saying at the launch in Stockholm of the group's multi-brand discount marketplace Afound.
H&M's shares, which were down 1.3 percent before the news, were down 4.9 percent at 137 crowns at 1116 GMT.
The Persson family's investment vehicle has bought shares worth several billion crowns over the past few months, triggering the speculation among some investors.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Jason Neely)