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MELBOURNE, Aug 17 (Reuters) Energy retailer Alinta Ltd built up an 8.3 percent stake in Australian Pipeline Trust (APT) in its bid to become the top owner of Australian infrastructure assets.

Gas pipeline investment firm APT's shares jumped as much as 20 percent to A$5.00, the price at which Alinta was buying in the market, then closed up 17 percent at A$4.85. Alinta shares eased 0.5 percent to A$10.75.

At A$5 dollars a share the transaction should have cost Alinta around A$115 million ($89 million), according to Reuters data.

Alinta's spokesman confirmed a statement by APT saying that Alinta had bought about 8.3 percent of the trust's shares.

APT said it had appointed Caliburn Partnership as corporate advisers in light of Alinta's move and was seeking legal advice over the purchase.

In a statement, it said the purchase was inconsistent with undertakings Alinta had made to Australia's competition regulator.

Alinta said buying its own stake in APT would put it in a better position to meet competition concerns after swapping its infrastructure assets with Australian Gas Light Co. , without giving up quality assets.

It will inherit 30 percent of APT if shareholders approve the asset swap plan with AGL, Australia's top power retailer. Alinta promised the regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), that it would sell AGL's interest in APT and contracts to run some of APT's pipelines to win approval for its plan to acquire AGL's eastern infrastructure assets.

Now it wants to revise its promise in a wider plan to consolidate Australian infrastructure assets.

Alinta said if it could reach a new agreement with the regulator, it would like to keep its stake in APT and present a plan to APT's board on how to separate Alinta from some of APT's assets, possibly selling APT's Moomba-to-Sydney and Parmelia pipelines.

''Alinta's investment today in APT will assist to optimise our position in complying with the undertakings we have provided to the ACCC,'' Alinta chief executive Bob Browning said in a statement earlier on Thursday.

Browning said the move on APT did not undermine Alinta's promise to the regulator.

He also said that at this stage there was no plan to make a full takeover offer for APT, implying that Alinta was not planning to build a stake of more than 19.9 percent.

At more than 19.9 percent, a company must make a full takeover offer.

Browning said the hefty premium paid to secure the stake in APT would not affect Alinta's earnings per share or its forecast dividends.

Alinta is pitching itself as a leader in consolidating power and gas transmission assets in Australia, competing against about 10 other players, including Macquarie Bank Ltd. and Babcock&Brown Ltd. .

''There is certainly a role for multiple players in the market, however we believe the number of entities at the moment is too high,'' Browning said.

($1=A$1.30) REUTERS PV SSC1407