Icahn Buys 10 Million Shares of RJR

Financier Carl Icahn has bought about 10 million shares of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., or about 3% of its outstanding shares, 15 months after he sold his stake following a failed attempt to take over the nation’s second-largest tobacco company, said sources familiar with the purchases. Icahn couldn’t be reached for comment; RJR had no comment. The investor amassed the stake over the last month, the sources said, as RJR’s stock fell to a five-year low after the tobacco industry failed to settle state lawsuits to recover health-care costs. New York-based RJR’s shares rose $1.19 to close at $23.94 on the New York Stock Exchange. Icahn sold nearly 20 million shares in February 1997 for $732.4 million, for an average price of $36.75. Icahn, 62, staged his takeover effort with Bennett LeBow in September 1995. The two demanded the company spin off its 80.5% stake in Nabisco Holdings Corp., a move that they said would improve RJR’s share price. The two also proposed a new slate of directors. Shareholders turned down the effort by a 3-1 margin.