Irwin Jacobs, Twins Owner Buy 9% Stake in Allegheny

Corporate raider Irwin L. Jacobs said Wednesday that he and Carl Pohlad, owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball team, had bought a large stake in Allegheny International Inc., the troubled maker of Sunbeam and Oster brand appliances.

Jacobs said the stock had been bought for investment purposes and that the purchases, amounting to nearly 9% of the company, had been made within the last week.

He would not say Wednesday if he will buy more shares. He said he will indicate whether further purchases will be made in a government filing later this week.

Allegheny, which has about 10.8 million shares outstanding, closed Wednesday at $18.625, up 62.5 cents in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

“Allegheny has no comment on Mr. Jacobs,” said Edward Romanoff, Allegheny senior staff vice president.

Pittsburgh-based Allegheny agreed in March to merge with an affiliate of First Boston Inc. in a management-led takeover of the company.

However, the $500-million transaction was called off in May after the two firms were unable to obtain two-thirds of Allegheny’s preferred stock.

Allegheny and First Boston were unable to reach terms with Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, a Wall Street firm that owns 16.3% of Allegheny’s convertible preferred stock.

Spear Leeds said it might look for new bidders so it could get “fair value” for its stock.

Allegheny, which also makes industrial goods, has been plagued by a debt-laden balance sheet, weaknesses in many of its industrial lines and by a troubled management.

“They (Allegheny) would welcome anyone to come forward and provide an infusion of capital,” said John Walsh, analyst at bond raters Fitch Investors. “What they need is an influx of new capital to get them back on their feet.”

Jacobs is chairman of Minstar Inc., a Minneapolis-based leisure and investment company that he has used to pursue such companies as AMF Inc. and, most recently, Borg-Warner Corp.