Osborne-chaired Lingotto fund builds stake in Ocado amid Amazon takeover rumours

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City Editor

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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 27: Chancellor George Osborne speaks at The Treasury, where he moved to try to calm market turmoil triggered by the pro-Brexit vote on June 27, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. Mr Osborne spoke ahead of the start of financial trading and outlined how the Government will "protect the national interest" after the UK voted to leave the EU. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Gettty Images)

The investment fund chaired by former chancellor George Osborne has built a up stake in retail tech firm Ocado, new company filings revealed today.

In a London Stock Exchange filing, Lingotto Investment Management, run by the billionaire Italian Agnelli family, revealed it has now increased its stake in the FTSE 100 retail firm to five per cent.

News of Lingotto’s stake comes after shares in Ocado spiked more than 30 per cent last week after rumours of an £8-a-share takeover by Amazon began to circulate.

Ocado and Amazon declined to comment on the rumours.

Prior to last week’s surge, Ocado’s share price has slumped as its retail business racked up losses.

In February, the firm reported a pre-tax loss of £501m for the year to November 2022, worse than analysts had predicted.

Lingotto’s move on the firm comes after Osborne and veteran fund manager James Anderson were parachuted in to oversee the firm’s $3bn in assets earlier this year.

Osborne was previously a partner with investment bank Robey Warshaw and has set up investment firm 9Yards Capital and edited the Evening Standard since leaving government in 2016.