Company Town

Viacom watch: Kirk Kerkorian has bought 5% of Viacom’s non-voting stock. The Las Vegas billionaire, who owns the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and who formerly owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, has accumulated through his Tracinda Corp. 10 million shares of Viacom’s Class B stock, worth nearly $338 million at current prices. Tracinda said the purchase was made as an investment. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone said he welcomed the investment. Unknown is whether it will strengthen Viacom’s stock enough to jump-start its merger deal with Blockbuster Entertainment. Blockbuster executives have criticized the deal because of the softness in Viacom’s stock. Viacom Class B shares, which traded as low as $21.75 in April, added 37.5 cents Monday to close at $33.75 on the American Stock Exchange. But the price is well below its all-time high of $61.25 a share last year and the $55 a share that Blockbuster paid for 23 million shares to help Viacom finance its Paramount Communications acquisition. Although the Viacom-Blockbuster deal is still a long shot, the recent recovery in Viacom’s stock price has reignited interest in the merger among some investors.