a 5.5 percent stake in Sphere Drake Holdings Ltd., a company that sells insurance through subsidiaries in London and Bermuda.

The Farallon group said it bought 1.01 million shares with some of the purchases at $8 to $9 a share between July 10 and August 4, according to a filing on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The investment group, based in San Francisco, said in the Schedule 13D filing that it purchased the stock for investment.

Sphere Drake provides traditional and alternative reinsurance as well as specialty insurance protection, with an emphasis on US clients. The company's stock rose 1/4 to close at 8 15/16.