£80m London punt by Redrow chief

Wolverhampton Wanderers' owner, Steve Morgan, who also controls the housebuilder Redrow, took an £80m punt on the London property market yesterday.

Redrow is raising the funds through a placing and open offer which will see Mr Morgan pump a minimum of £38m into the business.

Mr Morgan, who saw his club relegated from the Premiership at the weekend, was worth £400m at the last count. He owns 29.9 per cent of Redrow's shares. He is putting up £20m for the placing and will take up his rights under the £60m open offer.

This could see his stake potentially rise above 40 per cent, so he is seeking a waiver from other investors to avoid having to make a mandatory offer for the company.

The Redrow chairman will use the funds to quicken the growth of its new London division.

So far the firm has bought six London sites with a gross development value of about £300m.

Last month it launched its first major central London development – One Commercial Street, near Aldgate East Tube station – to buyers in Asia, selling more than 50 apartments.