Forrest buys $15m FMG stake

Andrew Forrest has upped his stake in Fortescue Metals Group after buying $15 million worth of shares in the iron ore miner last week.

Fortescue released a notice to the ASX showing its founder had purchased about 4 million shares for a total consideration of $15 million.

The equity acquisition takes Mr Forrest’s stake in the company to 33.87 per cent, or 1.05 billion shares.

He received about $126 million in dividend payments for the past financial year from his shareholding.

It was Mr Forrest’s largest share purchase in the company since August 2012, when he bought a $20 million stake through Minderoo Group.

Mr Forrest’s last significant investment was a $6.9 million purchase in November 2016.

Shares in Fortescue were 2.87 per cent higher at $4.12 each at 3pm AEDT.