Delancey buys 6.76% stake in Tops

DELANCEY ESTATES, the property company owned by Jamie Ritblat, son of British Land's John, and the financier George Soros, yesterday announced it had acquired a 6.76 per cent stake in the pounds 118m Tops Estates. In a statement Delancey said: "The acquisition is in line with Delancey's stated policy of acquiring interests in property companies where it believes it can enhance shareholder value."

Analysts said that Delancey had decided to plough the profits it made from its bidding war with Greycoat into a new bid to acquire Tops, which owns shopping centres in Corby, Leeds and London. But Everard Goodman, the Tops chairman, owns 44.4 per cent of the company and analysts said the outcome would depend on what he decided to do with his stake. Tops shares closed at 166p.