Whittaker builds Intu stake

Peel chairman John Whittaker has increased his shareholding in Intu Properties, owner of the Trafford Centre, buying 15m shares for £49.9m on Thursday.

Intu is set to be demoted from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 on 18 March following a fall in share price and will be replaced by easyJet. The issue of new shares to fund the £250m purchase of Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes was partly to blame for the price dip.

Whittaker owns 19.86% of Intu following the purchase. He is deputy chairman of Intu.

Also on Thursday, in a separate announcement, Intu said it had launched an £800m bond issue as part of its plan to reduce long-term reliance on banks.