US hedge fund circles Countryside

A US hedge fund has stepped up its campaign to take over British housebuilder Countryside Partnerships.

Inclusive Capital Partners is attempting a hostile £1.5bn takeover after being rejected twice by the board.

It owns 9.2pc of Countryside, and has taken its 295p-per-share offer directly to investors. It believes Countryside would be better off in private hands, which would facilitate a turnaround. The biggest shareholder, Browning West, which owns 15.3pc, has now written to the board asking it to kick off a sale process.

Yesterday, In-Cap, which manages billions of dollars worth of assets, said it supported such a move. Its founders say their passion is the ‘pursuit of a healthy planet and the health of its inhabitants’.

Countryside stock is up since In-Cap’s interest began, and rose 2.3pc, or 6.6p, to 289.4p but is down 42pc in the past year.