Ashcroft buys 4 per cent stake in Tottenham

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Michael Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservative party, upped his share in the north London football club Tottenham Hotspur to nearly 4 per cent yesterday, forcing him to go public on his holding.

It is believed that Lord Ashcroft owned a small number of shares before increasing his stake to 3.96 per cent. Tottenham Hotspur shares closed yesterday at 141.5p, giving the group a market value of nearly £132m; the stock was trading at 85p a year ago.

Thought to be the Tory party's biggest donor, Lord Ashcroft also owns 42 per cent of the championship side Watford through his investment company BB Holdings. The company also has stakes in the outsourcing firms Carlisle Group and Mavinwood.

Tottenham is expected to increase the capacity of its White Hart Lane stadium to cater for increased demand for tickets, a move that Watford football club is also thought to be considering.

A spokesperson for Lord Ashcroft declined to comment last night.

ENIC, a group owned by the Bahamas-based British businessman Joe Lewis, owns 67.9 per cent of the club. Mr Lewis, a billionaire currency trader, is understood to have made losses of about $1.16bn (£584m) after the collapse of the US investment bank Bear Stearns, which was sold off to JP Morgan last month. Mr Lewis bought 7 per cent of the bank in September.

Tottenham Hotspur made a loss of £26,000 between June and December last year after a profit of £19.7m for the same period in 2006.