One investment fund has sunk another $2.5m into Stanmore Coal, upping its stake in the cashed-up coal miner just one day before a hostile takeover bid came to an end.

Regal Funds Management picked up an extra 2.6 million shares, taking its interest to 8.4 per cent.

The Sydney-based investment fund started building its stake in Stanmore in August last year.

Regal’s latest buy was done on Tuesday this week, the day after Stanmore revealed it would return $7.6m to shareholders by way of a dividend and undertake a share buyback.

Meanwhile, Golden Investments’ hostile takeover bid came to an end on Wednesday, with the suitor only reaching 25.47 per cent.

Just before the deadline, Golden Investments said “the prospect of a competing offer or proposal emerging at this time is remote”.

Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) shares over the past 12 months.
Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) shares over the past 12 months.

But Stanmore boss Dan Clifford told Stockhead the company had received interest from other potential suitors.

“This is the rough and tumble world of the capital markets and we’ve had a spotlight put on us from interest from one company that has elicited, as you can imagine, by default a lot of other interest in the business as well,” he said.

Stanmore appears to be doing well, having “materially” upgraded its FY19 targets to 2.15 million tonnes per annum of coal production and earnings to between $140m and $155m.