Icahn Enterprises sees favorable conditions for activist investing

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., March 4 - Icahn Enterprises LP's vice chairman and principal executive officer Keith Meister said Thursday that the investment landscape appears favorable for activist investing, particularly in distressed debt, going into 2010.

Speaking during the company's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call, Meister said Icahn believes it is well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities.

Icahn ended 2009 with cash, cash equivalents and liquid assets of $3.6 billion, comprised of $1.9 billion of cash and equivalents and $1.7 billion of direct investment in its private funds.

The company has invested another $250 million in the private funds subsequent to year-end, Dominick Ragone, chief financial officer of Icahn, said later in the call.

"We continue to focus on having ample liquidity and a strong balance sheet to enable us to execute on our strategy and to capitalize on opportunities," Ragone said.

Icahn also had undrawn credit facilities totaling $516 million at Dec. 31.

In January, Icahn issued $2 billion of new senior unsecured notes maturing in 2016 and 2018 and used the proceeds to repay $1.3 billion of notes due in 2012 and 2013.

The transaction increased the company's net cash position by about $625 million, Meister said.

Icahn posted full-year revenues of $7.87 billion, compared with full-year revenues of $5.03 billion in 2008. Net income attributable to Icahn Enterprises from continuing operations was $233 million for 2009, compared with a net loss of $528 million for the prior year.

Meister said the key driver of Icahn's 2009 performance was a strong recovery of earnings of its private funds.

Icahn is a New York-based holding company primarily engaged in the investment management, automotive, metals, real estate and home fashion businesses.

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