Activist investor Peter Gyllenhammar has increased his stake in natural pharmaceuticals supplier William Ransom, which recently announced its intention to leave AIM.

Gyllenhammar has bought an additional 500,000 shares, taking his stake from 3.52% to 4.5%.The stake went above 3% in the middle of November - one month before the plans were announced to cancel the quote.

Ransom plans to set up a new holding company as part of the process to cancel its AIM quotation. The share price has fallen since the announcement and that gave Gyllenhammar a buying opportunity.

Shareholders will receive one share in the new company for every share they own in the current holding company, according to the plans outlined by the board. A circular will be sent out in a few days.

This news comes after a number of significant board changes in the past few months. Fred Whitcomb, who owns nearly 14% of William Ransom, replaced Ivor Harrison as chief executive when he left to join health snacks business Snapz. Chairman David Suddens and Tim Bridge stepped down from the board. Sir Roger Jones was appointed chairman.

It is not known whether or not Gyllenhammar will back the board's plans.

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