Housebuilders are in the takeover spotlight after activist hedge fund Tosca raised its stake in Redrow.
Tosca, run by former banking analyst Martin Hughes, snapped up a 9.68% stake in Redrow last week and today revealed it has since raised that to 16.56%. Redrow has been tipped as a target for Bovis or Bellway and if that is the case, Tosca will now have a big say in what happens.
The interest spilled over into Bellway, up 11%, Persimmon, 7% higher, and Barratt Development, 9% better.
There was vague takeover talk surrounding Prudential, up 8.5p to 661.5p, with the Chinese again mentioned.
Leading shares are still higher - the FTSE 100 is up 52.3 points at 5712.7 - despite a dip on Wall Street. Lehman Brothers shares are around 6% lower, with the company saying it was the victim of a spate of unfounded rumours which it blamed on short sellers. Shades of HBOS.
