Real Estate Investors chief ups stake to 22%

Real Estate Investors (REI) chief executive Paul Bassi spent £270,000 adding to his stake in the company, the property investment firm said today.

Bassi took 3m shares at 9p a go and now has more than 75m shares, or around 22% of the AIM-listed company. He bought the shares from chairman Peter Lewin, who consequently now has 5.85m shares.

Bassi has been steadily building up his stake in the West Bromwich-based firm, which invests in commercial properties in the West Midlands and elsewhere in the UK. In several transactions over the past year he has paid less each time, in line with the gradual fall in REI's share price following the onset of the credit crunch.

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Back in June 2007, he paid 12p a share for 10m shares.

Bassi is a long established Midlands based property investor. He is also a director of the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre.

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