Icahn buys stake in Alliance Data

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn bought a 3% stake in Alliance Data Systems Corp., the Dallas-based credit card processor whose acquisition by Blackstone Group has been held up by regulatory issues.

Icahn holds 2.15 million shares including options, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Icahn may seek to discuss Blackstone’s $6.6-billion bid with the Alliance management, the filing said.

Blackstone, the New York-based leveraged buyout firm, said last month that the deal had been delayed because federal bank regulators want it to commit $400 million in financing if Alliance Data’s credit card bank runs into trouble. Alliance Data sued Blackstone, saying it was trying to back out of the deal.

The company dropped the suit after being reassured that Blackstone was working to complete the deal.