Kerkorian Finds Out Today if His Chrysler Stock Bid Worked

If his latest plan has worked, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian will announce today that he has spent $700 million to increase his stake in Chrysler Corp. to 13.1% of the company.

Kerkorian’s offer to buy 14 million shares of Chrysler stock at $50 each ran through midnight Tuesday. The Kerkorian camp was comfortable Tuesday that at least that many shares had been tendered by stockholders, according to a source close to Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp.

Kerkorian’s next move is anybody’s guess. Documents he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest he might try to buy additional Chrysler stock or work with other shareholders to take control of the Chrysler board.

He could buy about 7 million additional shares and increase his stake in the company to 15% before Chrysler’s “poison pill” anti-takeover defenses would be triggered. A poison pill is designed to make a takeover prohibitively expensive.

Some managers of large Chrysler portfolios said they were not tempted by the $50 offer. Chrysler shares closed at $48.75, up 75 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Kerkorian announced the offer June 26, less than a month after he dropped an audacious proposal to take over the company with help from former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca.

That $22.8-billion deal would have tapped Chrysler’s cash reserves to help pay for the buyout. The board rejected the unsolicited proposal, saying the company is not for sale.