Bill Gates and Carpetright

Every day the papers are litterede with talk of mergers, takeovers and other business ventures, most of which dont grab our attention, until today that is...

Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men, has taken a stake in Carpetright, the laminate flooring and carpet specialist run by Lord Harris of Peckham.

Cascade Investment LLC, the personal investment company of the Microsoft billionaire, bought a 3 per cent shareholding in the business last week.

The purchase price is thought to be little more than £15 million. Mr Gates is worth $58 billion (£29 billion) - enough to buy the whole business 50 times over.

Shares in Carpetright rose nearly 3 percent, or 19p to 781p yesterday, surprising traders worried about the effects of the consumer downturn on the company.

Does the deal demonstrate a move by the Mr Gates to go into carpet sales?