Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska has increased his stake in Strabag SE ( id="symbol_STRV.VI_0">STRV.VI), Austria's biggest construction group, to nearly 20 percent by exercising a call option struck in 2010.
_0">A list of directors' dealings on the Financial Market Authority's website showed his Rasperia Trading Ltd investment vehicle paid 19.25 euros per share to get nearly 343,000 more shares from the Haselsteiner family foundation on January 15.
The share price closed on Friday at 22.10 euros.
Strabag's website showed Rasperia has a 19.4 percent stake.
Deripaska has the right to boost his stake to 25 percent by July 2014 via purchases from other core shareholders: the Haselsteiner group, Raiffeisen NOe-Wien bank and insurer Uniqa ( id="symbol_UNIQ.VI_1">UNIQ.VI).
The company holds 10 percent of its stock in treasury shares, leaving a market free float at 13 percent.
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Greg Mahlich)