The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI) boosted its stake in blue-chip conglomerate New World Development on the same day it bought 17.95 per cent of Link Reit, according to the stock exchange.
The British hedge fund, which made headlines earlier this year after blocking Deutsche Boerse from bidding for the London Stock Exchange, first raised its stake in New World on November 30 to 5.72 per cent from 4.69 per cent.
Buying 35.66 million shares from the open market at $10.15 per share that day, TCI had invested $362.02 million in the shares.
Then on December 1, TCI further raised its stake in New World to 7.45 per cent by buying 61.18 million shares at an average of $10.298 per share for about $630.12 million. Together, the hedge fund spent about $992.14 million in raising its stake in New World.
The conglomerate's share price rose 7.31 per cent to $11 on December 1, as trading volume swelled to the year's highest with 104.6 million shares changing hands. The biggest shareholder in New World is Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, which owns 35.26 per cent of the firm.
Kenny Tang Sing-hing, an associate director at Tung Tai Securities, said it was not surprising hedge funds bought in the open market.