UPDATE 1 — Activist Irenic builds stake in UK's Big Yellow and pushes for sale, FT reports

(Updates with Irenic Capital Management and Big Yellow's response, updates share move) Oct 15 (Reuters) — Activist investor Irenic Capital Management has built a stake of about 4% in UK self-storage company Big Yellow Group and is pushing it to explore a sale, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report comes days after Ancora Holdings revealed a stake of over 4% and also called on the company to explore a sale. Irenic has pressed the board to explore strategic options, including a sale, arguing the company's shares are undervalued, the FT reported Shares of the company rose 5.5% to 888 pence by 1446 GMT Big Yellow last year received takeover interest from Blackstone, but talks ended without a deal The self-storage company said on Thursday before the report that it is evaluating all options to maximise shareholder value while remaining focused on its long-term growth strategy The FT said the company could attract interest from private equity firms and strategic buyers in a formal sale process Irenic Capital Management andBig Yellow declined to comment on the report when approached by Reuters (Reporting by Atharva Singh and Anushka Ch