Businessman Denis O'Brien has increased his stake in Independent News & Media (IN&M) and now holds 18.05 per cent of the company's shares following recent purchases.
The stake Mr O'Brien has been building over the last two years was diluted in recent weeks when IN&M acquired a South African advertising company through the issue of new shares.
Mr O'Brien was critical of the acquisition of Clear Channel Independent and said IN&M overpaid for the asset.
Multinational Clear Channel received 39 million new shares, worth €87 million, for its 50 per cent stake. IN&M rejected the criticism.
Following the deal, Mr O'Brien's 17.04 per cent holding shrank to 16.24 per cent. The 28.5 per cent holding of Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his associates was diluted to just over 27 per cent.
Since January 11th, when Mr O'Brien last announced an increase in his stake in the media group, he has purchased eight million additional shares.
Given IN&M's recent share price, Mr O'Brien is likely to have spent in excess of €16 million acquiring the latest tranche.
He has yet to signal what his intention is regarding his stake in IN&M. He has been vocal in his criticism of Sir Anthony as chief executive and the management of the group since he became an investor.
In recent weeks Gavin O'Reilly, chief operations officer of IN&M and son of Sir Anthony, has reiterated that the group's focus is on "driving shareholder value for all shareholders" rather than on Mr O'Brien's plans.
In an interview last week with the Dow Jones newswire service, Gavin O'Reilly also said there were no plans to sell the loss-making London Independent as it provides a "cost-saving editorial resource for the rest of our 175-plus papers in the group". There was a boost for IN&M management on Tuesday when Indian newspaper publishers Jagran Prakashan, in which it has a 21 per cent stake, announced a 50 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to €7.6 million.
The publishers of India's most widely read newspaper, Dainik Jagran, had third-quarter revenues of €34.8 million, up 28.8 per cent on last year.
