Basses Now Own 5.4% Stake in Union Carbide

The Bass family of Fort Worth disclosed Friday that it has bought the equivalent of 5.4% of the stock of Union Carbide Corp, an announcement that the embattled chemical company saluted as proof of the investment value of its stock.

In a filing required by the Securities and Exchange Commission, an investment group including Bass Brothers Enterprises Inc. and members of the Bass family said it had been buying the shares since Dec. 11 at prices ranging from $34.06 to $38.55 a share.

Their holdings are equivalent to 3.85 million shares and include debentures convertible to 80,500 shares and options to buy another 220,000 shares, the filing said.

In a statement, the Danbury, Conn., chemical company, from whose plant in Bhopal, India, toxic gas leaked to kill more than 2,000 last month, said it was “pleased that sophisticated investors such as the Bass interests have recognized the investment value of Union Carbide stock.”

The company said that it had “been informed directly that the Bass interests purchased the stock only for investment purposes.”

Several analysts agreed that, although the Bass family has taken part in several publicized takeover battles, it was unlikely that they were assembling stock in hopes of gaining control of the firm.

Union Carbide stock, which fell to $32.75 from $64.125 on the news of the Bhopal disaster, rose $1.125 on Friday to close at $38.825.

Brian Corvese, an analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., said the disclosure should be interpreted as a sign of growing investor confidence in the future of Union Carbide. He said Drexel is now recommending the stock, partly from confidence that lawsuits brought by victims of the leak will be settled within months.

A Union Carbide spokesman said a panel of federal judges will convene in New Orleans on Thursday to consider the company’s motion to consolidate all the plaintiff’s cases.

But some observers believe that the Indian government will soon mediate an out-of-court settlement.