Fincantieri has continued to buy shares in Vard Holdings following its failed bid to take the company private last year.

The Italian shipbuilder has just bought 420,400 shares in the Singapore-listed company, according to a regulatory filing.

The acquisition lifts Fincantieri’s stake in the Norwegian shipbuilder to 928m shares, or just over 78%, of its common listed stock.

Fincantieri’s offer for Vard closed on 24 March 2017, at which point the company owned 878.5m