Maguire raises stake to 9.8%

Maguire Properties Inc. founder Robert F. Maguire increased his stake in downtown Los Angeles’ largest office landlord to 9.8% and said he might seek talks with the company, investors or potential partners.

Maguire, 73, who quit Maguire Properties as chairman and chief executive in May, bought 1.56 million shares of the Los Angeles-based company’s common stock for about $2.99 million from Dec. 9 through Jan. 13, he said Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those purchases boosted his holdings to 4.76 million common shares.

Maguire is “considering various alternatives which may ultimately lead to one or more possible transactions,” he said in the filing. He may hold discussions with the company as well as other shareholders, industry analysts, strategic partners or competitors, he said.

Maguire left Maguire Properties after withdrawing a bid to buy the real estate investment trust. He founded a predecessor company in 1965, and took Maguire Properties public in 2003.

In October, he wrote a letter to company shareholders saying Maguire Properties, whose shares at the time were down 83% for the year, had strong fundamentals and didn’t belong on the “corporate junk heap.”

Robert Maguire declined through a spokesman to comment beyond today’s filing.

Maguire Properties spokeswoman Peggy Moretti said the company wasn’t commenting on its founder’s filing.

Maguire Properties rose 43 cents, or 24%, to $2.25.