Desmond expands stake in Greencore to 7.8%

For the second successive day, financier Mr Dermot Desmond has gone into the market buying Greencore shares. Yesterday, Mr Desmond disclosed that he bought another 3.07 million shares at a cost of €8.6 million (£6.8 million), bringing his stake in Greencore from 6.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent.

This latest investment in the foods group follows the €4.6 million he spent earlier this week for 1.67 million shares, and is seen in the market as a determined effort by Mr Desmond to build a stake in an under-performing share which he believes is due a recovery.

Mr Desmond never comments publicly on why he invests in public companies, but apart from Unidare, where he combined with fellow-financier Mr Pierce Casey in an unsuccessful effort to block a US takeover, his investments have generally been passive.

It remains to be seen whether the €35 million he has spent on his Greencore shares is such a passive investment or whether it is a prelude to some move by Mr Desmond to restructure Greencore and boost its share price.

So far, despite speculation that his second-time around investment in Golden Vale is aimed at producing a rationalisation of the dairy processing industry in the southern half of the State, Mr Desmond has made no move to seek board representation at Golden Vale.