The former director of the Kingspan Group, Mr Brendan Murtagh, has increased his holding in the Anglo-Irish property group Howard Holdings to 24.8 per cent after buying 2.27 million shares in the market.

Mr Murtagh paid 46p sterling a share or just more than £1 million sterling (€1.68 million) for the additional shares. His decision to buy so many shares at a 31 per cent premium to the market price has led to speculation that he may attempt to take Howard private.

The 46p a share Mr Murtagh paid values Howard at £12.8 million sterling although yesterday's closing price of 35p values the company at £9.8 million sterling.

In June Mr Murtagh bought 425,000 Howard shares to take his stake to 16.4 per cent.

There has been speculation Howard Holdings would be taken private given the attitude in the market towards property shares, including far bigger companies like Dunloe Ewart and Green Property. At last month's results announcement, Howard chairman Mr Frank Gormley warned about the lack of interest in the property sector.

"The only situation where property companies have been able to stimulate interest is where there have been proposed mergers, takeovers or management buyouts. Our shares have a very limited market but we will continue to look at all the options," Mr Gormley said.

Earlier this year, Howard cancelled plans for a secondary listing on the Irish market citing lack of interest in property firms.

Mr Murtagh's share purchase means he and two fellow-directors, Mr Greg Coughlan and Mr Gormley, control almost 50 per cent of the company's shares. Other directors include the former chairman of Cork Chamber of Commerce, Mr Frank Boland. In the year to the end of April, Howard reported profits of £1.3 million sterling. But the shares which peaked at 70p sterling then are currently trading at just 35p sterling.

Mr Murtagh was a director of building materials group, Kingspan, in December 1998 after members of his family were discovered to have bought shares in Hewetson, a company which Kingspan had targeted for a takeover bid.

During 1999, he sold more than £30 million worth of Kingspan shares to institutional investors. Mr Murtagh was a client of the failed stockbroking company MMI which went into liquidation in February 1999 with debts of £14 million.