DELANCEY ESTATES, the property company controlled by financier George Soros and Jamie Ritblat, son of British Land's John Ritblat, yesterday raised its hostile bid for rival Greycoat by 25 per cent to pounds 263m.

Delancey to raise Greycoat offer

THE MANAGEMENT of Greycoat is in talks with Mercury Asset Management (MAM) about a possible buyout of the central London property developer.

SHARES OF property group Greycoat soared yesterday on news of a 29 per cent increase in net asset value to 283p per share, helping the company in its fight against a pounds 218m takeover attempt by rival Delancey Estates, controlled by George Soros.

LTCM beats Soros

GEORGE SOROS, the financier whose bet against sterling rocked the City in 1992, yesterday moved to buy one of its most famous landmarks, the NatWest Tower, when one of his companies launched a pounds 211m bid for the building's co-owner, Greycoat.

There are big gains waiting out there for investors who like a little bit of risk.

WHAT IS philosophy worth? George Soros has priced it at $3bn. That is what Mr Soros, the international financier who humiliated the UK in battle over the ex-change rate, would pay. It seems rather a lot, but then Mr Soros has a lot of money, is getting on, and would like to be taken seriously as a philosopher.

Poor fund manager performances could simply be a matter of investment style

Neil never did understand how I could have refused to go out with him

1 Losing My Virginity Richard Branson (Virgin) pounds 20

1 The Little Book of Calm at Work Paul Wilson (Penguin) pounds 2.50

News Analysis: Lawrence Summers reveals his reform plans

GEORGE SOROS, the international financier, yesterday gave the struggling Brazilian currency a helping hand when he argued that the recent sell-off of the real had been overdone.