Senior management at McInerney Holdings has raised its stake in the company to 8.3 per cent following the purchase of 1.8 per cent of the stake sold by Bank of Scotland on Friday.

Bank of Scotland sold around eight million shares, or 24.7 per cent of the company, late last week.

The bulk of the shares were placed with financial institutions but McInerney management was understood to have also bought some stock.

The company confirmed yesterday that managing director Mr Barry O'Connor raised his stake to 4.88 per cent following the purchase of 247,559 shares, or 0.76 per cent of the company, at a cost of around €680,000.

Meanwhile, executive director Mr Dan McInerney also spent nearly €545,000 buying shares last week. He purchased 198,047 shares, or 0.61 per cent of the company, to take his stake to 1.74 per cent

Company secretary and group treasurer Mr Mark Shakespeare also purchased 148,535 shares, or 0.45 per cent of the company, to bring his stake to 1.69 per cent at a cost of around €400,000.

All of the shares were acquired at a price of €2.75, the price at which the Bank of Scotland stock was placed.

Analysts described that sale as positive, saying it would increase the free float in McInerney as well as removing an overhang and a potential obstacle to corporate action.

The company, which has strong cash flow and readily realisable assets, has been seen as a possible candidate for corporate action, including a management buyout.

Shares in the company, which are up nearly 40 per cent year to date, closed unchanged at €3 last night although volume in the stock was heavy with 3.5 million shares traded.