O'Reilly continues £20m IN&M share spending spree

by Paul McNally, Brand Republic 03-Apr-08, 10:55

LONDON - Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the chief executive of Independent News & Media, has once again increased his stake in the company, at a cost of £3.4m, in a bid to shake off the advances of 'dissident shareholder' Denis O'Brien.

The Independent parent company last night confirmed that O'Reilly had bought a further 2m company shares, priced at €2.15 -- bringing the total amount he has spent on shares in the past week to €25m, or almost £20m.

The move comes after the group issued a statement last week publicly responding for the first time to calls from Irish billionaire and IN&M shareholder O'Brien to sell its two loss-making Independent titles in London.

O'Brien has himself been steadily building up his stake in the company since late 2006, and now holds 21.07%.

His frequent comments about the company's strategy have prompted IN&M to label him a "dissident shareholder".

In a statement last week, IN&M said: "Mr O'Brien has made a series of personalised, misleading and inaccurate attacks on the company, its board, management, strategy and governance."

IN&M shares dropped marginally in early trading this morning, down 1.9% to €2.12.