Simmons Boosts Lockheed Stake to 6.2%

Texas investor Harold C. Simmons has increased his holdings in Lockheed to 6.2% of the aerospace firm’s outstanding shares, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

Simmons began buying Lockheed shares last year and had accumulated 5.3% of the firm’s stock by April, just before Lockheed announced a broad restructuring that in part bolstered its takeover defenses. Calling the restructuring a negative development, Simmons then cut his holdings to 4.2%.

Despite his renewed interest in Lockheed, Simmons said in an interview Monday, “I don’t have any plan to take over the company.” He termed his stock ownership “a long-term investment.”

But Simmons said he could change his mind. “If the stock moves to $30 per share, I might change my mind,” he said. “But I don’t think it is going to go to $30.”

Lockheed shares rose 62.5 cents Monday to close at $49.625 on the New York Stock Exchange. The day’s high was $51.125.

A Lockheed spokesman declined to comment on the disclosure.

The SEC filing indicates that Simmons began acquiring Lockheed shares again when he met with Lockheed Chairman Daniel M. Tellep on May 15, according to the SEC filing.

“I did have a very favorable meeting with him,” Simmons said Monday. “My impression is that he is an excellent manager.”

‘Strong Deterrent’

Simmons said he is not currently acquiring Lockheed stock and that he will not buy any more as long as it is above $49 per share.

Simmons purchased 1.4 million common shares between May 15 and June 7 at prices ranging from $47 to $49 per share, according to the filing.

Securities analysts said when Lockheed unveiled its restructuring in April that it would be a very strong deterrent to potential hostile raiders.

At that time, the company created an employee stock ownership plan that holds 17% of outstanding stock, disclosed plans to accelerate the move out of its aged aircraft production facilities in Burbank and said it would sell parts of its information systems group. The group is still for sale, a company spokesman said Monday.

Despite the stock’s rise, analysts said neither Simmons nor anyone else is likely bid for Lockheed, given its restructuring.

“There is no serious candidate to acquire Lockheed,” Jonathan Squires, an analyst with Kleinwort Benson Securities, told Reuters news agency. “It’s highly unlikely at this point that Simmons can put Lockheed back into play.”

“It was a surprise to me that he came back,” Squires said of Simmons’ enlarged stake in the Calabasas-based aerospace giant. “There have been more serious and logical suitors for Lockheed in the past, such as Ford (Motor Co.).”