Joseph Lewis, the billionaire British investor, has spent approximately $860 million (£424m) buying a 7 percent stake in struggling US investment bank Bear Stearns.
The move is seen as a major boost for Bear Stearns, which has been one of the firms most affected by the crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage sector.
Bear Stearns had to spend $1.6 billion in June to bail out two of its funds exposed to sub-prime defaults.
The firm's then co-president Warren Spector resigned at the time of the problems.
Higher rates
Mr Lewis has bought the shares over the past two months through his Florida-based investment firm Tavistock.
Lewis is now Bear Stearns' largest individual investor.
The 16th richest British person according to this year's Sunday Times Rich List, he is worth an estimated £1.2 billion.
He also holds minority stakes in Tottenham Hotspur and Glasgow Rangers football clubs.
Higher mortgage rates over the past year have meant record levels of defaults in the US sub-prime sector.
The result has not only been significant financial difficulty for banks and investment firms heavily exposed to the sub-prime market, but also the recent stock market turmoil.
September 11 2007
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