Investor Group Acquires 7.3% of Times Mirror
A group led by billionaire investor George Soros disclosed Wednesday that it has acquired a 7.3% stake in Times Mirror Co. as an investment.
Two partnerships controlled by Soros, Quantum Partners LDC and Lupa Family Partners, currently own 5.87 million of Times Mirror’s Series A common shares, according to their filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Times Mirror, publisher of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, also has Series C stock outstanding that has superior voting rights to the Series A shares. Soros’ stake, therefore, represents less than a 2% voting interest in the company.
The Hungarian-born Soros, 65, is one of the world’s most celebrated investors through his New York firm Soros Fund Management. Its flagship vehicle, the Quantum Fund, is among the best-known “hedge funds,” which place risky multimillion-dollar bets on various securities and currencies in markets worldwide--often with borrowed cash in order to leverage those bets.
A spokesman for Soros declined to elaborate on the reasons for the Times Mirror investment. But analysts said the stake appears to be part of Soros’ recent efforts to profit from the wave of restructurings among major U.S. companies.
Times Mirror this year has undertaken a restructuring program that included the elimination of 2,200 jobs, newspaper closings and other cost-cutting actions.
Although charges related to the program gave Times Mirror a loss from continuing operations of $197.4 million in the first nine months of this year, Wall Street has bid up the company’s Series A stock in anticipation of higher earnings.
The stock has risen from $17 a share last March to its Wednesday close of $34.125 a share, up 25 cents for the day, in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Mark H. Willes, Times Mirror’s chief executive, said, “We are pleased with the confidence that the Soros Fund Management has in the future of Times Mirror, and we will try to justify that confidence for all our shareholders.”
The Soros group said it most recently bought 2.2 million shares between Oct. 25 and Tuesday( at prices ranging from $28.90 to $33.81 a share, for a total of $72 million.
