Activist investor David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital – which has a track record of agitating for change at underperforming businesses including Lendlease – has taken a significant stake in Lifestyle Communities, a developer and operator of affordable housing for downsizing Baby Boomers.

Investors responded positively to news that HMC Capital Partners Fund I, which also has stakes in Sigma, Graincorp, Baby Bunting and land lease developer Ingenia Communities, had acquired a 2.69 per cent stake in Lifestyle Communities, pushing the shares up nearly 8 per cent.