The Age reported that Fortescue shares jumped amid speculation Noble Group may have secured a strategic stake in Mr Andrew Forrest’s independent iron ore group.

RBS has bought around 90 million Fortescue shares in recent months and its RBS Nominee Company has filed a notice saying it owns 89 million Fortescue.

Speculation before Christmas had it that RBS was buying for a trading company. Sources earlier today were speculating the buyer was either Glencore, Noble or Trafigura.

One source close to RBS told BusinessDay the buyer is Noble. Strategically, this would make sense as the iron ore market is the last commodity that remains dominated by a handful of major producers - BHP, Rio and Vale - while the trading companies have little presence.

However, a spokesman representing Noble this afternoon denied the group was behind the buying.

(Sourced from theage.com.au)