Tracinda to tender for 20 million Ford shares; offer could boost Kerkorian's stake to 5.6%

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 28 - Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. said it plans to make a cash tender offer for up to 20 million shares of common stock, or 1% of the outstanding shares, of Ford Motor Co. at a price of $8.50 per share.

The offer price is a 13.3% premium over Ford's closing stock price of $7.50 on April 25 and a 38.7% premium over Ford's closing stock price on April 2 when Tracinda began accumulating shares in the company, according to a Tracinda news release.

Kerkorian, sole Tracinda shareholder, currently owns 100 million shares, or some 4.7% of Ford's outstanding shares, which were purchased at an average cost of $6.91 per share.

If the tender offer is fully subscribed, Tracinda will beneficially own 120 million shares, or 5.6%, of Ford.

According to Tracinda, Ford should continue to show "significant improvements in its results" under chief executive officer Alan Mulally, as evidenced by the company's recently announced first-quarter 2008 results.

Ford has been on Tracinda's radar since the Dearborn, Mich.-based car company released its fourth-quarter 2007 results, which indicated the company was starting to achieve "highly meaningful traction" in its planned turnaround, the release said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.