Multimillionaire property developer Liam Carroll has brought his stake in food company Greencore to 29.51 per cent, within a whisker of the 29.9 per cent threshold for a mandatory bid for the business.

"I have no comment," Mr Carroll said last night when asked about his ultimate intentions for the investment. His latest foray into the market for Greencore shares comes ahead of a High Court ruling tomorrow on the company's challenge to the Government's allocation of a €145 million compensation fund for sugar sector participants following the rationalisation of the industry. Greencore received €98 million, but says it should have received €130.5 million.

Widely assumed to have designs on Greencore's extensive landbanks in Carlow and Co Cork, Mr Carroll's renewed share-buying drove its shares to a record high of €5.22 yesterday. The stock closed four cent stronger at €5.15.

Considerable attention centres on whether Mr Carroll will bid for the company outright or sit tight on his investment. Some observers believe he will bid to gain ownership of Greencore's properties and sell off its convenience food unit. Others believe he merely wants a blocking interest to prevent any other bidder taking control of the properties.

Further uncertainty surrounds the intentions of Deutsche Bank, which took a 5.03 per cent stake in Greencore last week. The bank has said some of its shares were held "on behalf of clients".

Greencore's stance on Mr Carroll's stakebuilding is not publicly known, although the company is believed to have made strategic preparations some time ago on the possibility of a bid from that quarter.

A spokesman for the company, which is committed to developing its landbanks at Carlow and Mallow, declined last night to respond to his latest move.

Formal confirmation that Mr Carroll had increased his stake came after the market closed for the night. Greencore said it had been informed by NCB Corporate Finance that Mr Carroll's vehicles Bloomburg and Gainsco now hold a total of 58.77 million shares in the business.

While the notification did not declare the price at which the shares were acquired, the stake was valued last night at €302.69 million. Mr Carroll first entered the frame in Greencore last summer, when he spent €170 million buying up the 21.57 per cent stake held for years by billionaire financier Dermot Desmond.