Grafton, the building materials group which owns Woodies DIY, has increased its stake in Heiton Holdings, the Atlantic Homecare company, from 8 per cent to 8.85 per cent, adding to speculation that it may make a bid for the rival company. Grafton stated that, through its subsidiary, Rock Brook Holdings, it is the owner of 4,179,000 Heiton ordinary shares.

AIB announced that it has 5,144,761 shares in Heiton, representing 10.89 per cent of the share capital.