ASSET MANAGEMENT group Investec has taken a 5.45 per cent stake in Independent News & Media (INM), it announced to the stock exchange yesterday.

The share purchase by Investec Asset Management Ltd is understood to be for its own holdings rather than on behalf of a stake-builder in the group.

A Dublin-based dealer said the move by Investec was positive for the stock, which closed flat at 55 cent on the Iseq index of Irish shares yesterday.

The media group, which publishes the Irish Independentnewspaper, is currently in the process of paying down debt, with chief executive Gavin O'Reilly assuring investors earlier this month that the company was "committed to continued debt pay-down to create value for shareholders".

The transaction in Independent News & Media shares by Investec took place on November 9th, according to the notification on the purchase. Share transactions that result in a stake of more than 5 per cent have to be notified to the stock exchange.

Earlier this month, Independent News & Media, in which the telecoms and media investor Denis O’Brien controls a 20.83 per cent stake, raised €29.3 million through a share placing, issuing 50.5 million new ordinary shares at 58 cent per share.

In June, the group implemented a one-for-seven share consolidation, as it sought to avoid the penny stock status it had slipped into due to debt concerns.