Billionaire investor Denis O'Brien has increased his stake in Independent News & Media Plc, the publisher of the Irish Independent newspaper, to 21.2 per cent.
The move follows an announcement earlier this month that the telecoms billionaire had raised his stake to 20.16 percent from the 19 per cent he previously held.
Mr O'Brien now controls 167.3 million shares in the company.
It emerged last week that the company will leave the Dow Jones STOXX Global Select Dividend 100 Index with effect from March 25th resulting in the release of some six million shares on the open market.
The latest purchase brings Mr O'Brien closer to the 25 per cent threshold at which he can block certain resolutions put to shareholders.
It remains unclear whether he will breach the threshold by the IN&M's agm this summer or deploy such a stake to block management resolutions.
While Mr O'Brien has never declared his ultimate intentions for his investment in IN&M, he has attacked Sir Anthony O'Reilly's stewardship of the company and its overall strategy. IN&M has rejected Mr O'Brien's attacks.