Toscafund sells stake in Taylor Wimpey and could be mystery seller behind large transaction in Redrow shares

Hedge fund Toscafund appears to have bailed out of its two UK housebuilding investments.

According to a statement to the London stock exchange, it has sold its 10% stake in Taylor Wimpey.

Meanwhile Steve Morgan, founder of Redrow, has upped his stake in the housebuilder from 5.25% to 16.24%, sparking takeover speculation.

The investment was made on Friday through Bridgemere Securities, a property fund set up by Morgan.

The source of the stock is not yet known, but Kaupthing analyst Kevin Cammack said: “One obvious source of the stock would be from Toscafund which is last recorded as owning 27%.”

In January this year, Morgan appointed former Redrow colleague Greg Locke to head up Bridgemere.

Toscafund, which is run by Martin Hughes, is reported to have suffered £300m of losses with the collapse of US bank Washington Mutual.

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