LAXEY PARTNERS, the activist investor that once tried to break up British Land, has turned its attentions to the commercial property company’s biggest rival, the FTSE 100 giant Land Securities.

The corporate raider, run by Colin Kingsnorth, has bought a 1% stake in Land Securities, which recently converted itself into a tax-efficient real estate investment trust (Reit). The company is trading at a 23% discount to its last published net asset value.

Kingsnorth told The Sunday Times that he bought the stake because the shares were cheap and he would be watching the group’s perfomance.

“It will be interesting to see how the Reits deal with trading at a discount,” he said.

The emergence of Laxey as a shareholder at Land Securities comes amid speculation that the property company could become a long-term bid target. But with a market value of £7.9 billion, any takeover deal is unlikely in the short term because of the turbulence in credit markets.

Property shares have plunged this year. Land Securities, which is chaired by Paul Myners, has had a quarter wiped off its value.

Hedge funds and other value investors have begun snapping up shares in British property stocks as global Reits and other institutions have sold out. Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate funds have built a near 11% stake in Hammerson, another FTSE 100 property stock.

If property shares remain cheap it is expected other active investors will pile in, increasing the likelihood of takeovers.

Laxey has built up a fearsome reputation. In 2005, it engineered the takeover of Wyevale Garden Centres by Sir Tom Hunter after buying 28% of Wyevale’s shares.

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