O'Brien, who has been building up his holding since April last year, upped his stake from 18.05% to 19.35% or 152,892,133 ordinary shares.
O'Brien has long been critical of Sir Anthony O'Reilly, 's chief executive and largest shareholder, and has been calling for the company to sell off The Independent and The Independent on Sunday.
O'Reilly, who has labelled O'Brien a "dissident shareholder", holds a 26% stake in the business and has vowed to resist O'Brien's calls to offload the two loss-making Independent titles.
IN&M shares were trading at €1.94 this morning, down €0.02. The company operates in Ireland, Britain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Earlier this week, , could take over as editor of the two UK papers, replacing Simon Kelner who would become managing director.
However, the report was denied, but speculation persists.
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