Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner said: 'There has been a dawn raid to pick up a chunk of equity at 135p a share. The suggestion is that it is on behalf of Apax but, although it would not be precluded under takeover rules, because it never made a formal offer to the market, we think that this is unlikely.'
House of Fraser declined to comment on the increase in share price.
Takeover talks between the department store chain and private equity firm Apax Partners ended last month.
It was also announced today that Blue Crest Capital Management has disposed of all its shares in the company. Previously, it held 8.76 million shares, equivalent to a 3.69 per cent stake.
On March 24 this year, House of Fraser unveiled pre-tax profits of£27.3 million, up by 4.6 per cent, for the year to January 28. However, like-for-like sales at the group's 61 stores fell by 3.9 per cent.
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