LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Burberry is attemptingto identity a mystery investor who has built up a stake ofnearly 5 percent in the company, pushing its shares to afive-month high on Tuesday on speculation of a potentialtakeover bid.
The company is reported to have asked HSBC, which is listedas the custodian of the stake, to reveal the identity of itsclient, according to a report in the Financial Times.
An investor building up a stake could put pressure on theBritish firm, whose market capitalisation has fallen in the pastyear amid concerns about falling demand from its key markets inAsia, particularly China and Hong Kong.
A source close to the company said Burberry was focused onthe stake and keeping a close watch on it but there had been noformal takeover bid made.
Burberry has spoken to its financial advisers Robey Warshawand Morgan Stanley about the growing stake, which broke a 5percent barrier recently but was now just below the threshold.
Shares in the company jumped by more than 5 percent in earlytrading, and were 4 percent higher at 1434 pence by 1005 GMT,making it the biggest gainer on the FTSE index.
(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang and Anjuli Davies)
Burberry (BRBY)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)