Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corporation has repurchased 12 million shares in General Motors that it sold late last year to cover tax obligations, giving the billionaire owner the same stake he held before the sale, according to reports.
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The New York Times (NYT) said the purchase, disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, cost Kerkorian US$263m and returns his company to a 9.9% stake in GM – his stake had fallen to 7.8%.
The purchase consisted of seven million shares bought on the open market and five million bought in a private transaction, according to a filing made by Tracinda with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the paper said.
The NYT noted that the action again makes Kerkorian the largest individual shareholder in GM – two investment funds — the State Street Corporation, based in Boston, with a 17% stake, and the Capital Research and Management Company, based in Los Angeles, with 12.4% — hold larger investments.
The paper added that Kerkorian’s decision to restore his GM stake comes two weeks after his adviser, Jerome York, called on GM to take a series of steps to hasten its revamping, including cutting its dividend in half and reducing salaries for directors, executives and other employees.
GM has not taken any of the steps York recommended, the report added.
