The billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian sold another big chunk of his General Motors (GM) stock on Thursday -- and may have dumped the rest of his shares in a late trade.
If so, the step would end an 18-month saga that saw Kerkorian accumulate 56 million shares -- 9.9 percent of GM -- land an associate on the board, press the company to speed its turnaround efforts and unsuccessfully try to maneuver the company into an alliance with Renault and Nissan.
Data from the New York Stock Exchange showed that Bank of America bought 28 million GM shares at US$29.25 each late on Thursday. That quantity matched the number Kerkorian owned after selling 14 million shares earlier in the day.
That first sale was reported in a regulatory filing by Tracinda Corp, Kerkorian's investment company. But there was no disclosure of a subsequent sale; one reason may be that the first sale dropped his holdings below the level at which a disclosure was required.
From GM's perspective, Kerkorian's retreat appears to eliminate a thorn in its side far more quickly than many analysts might have expected. It means that GM's turnaround efforts now will rest solely on the shoulders of its chief executive, Rick Wagoner, and GM's management team, giving them the independence they lacked under the scrutiny of a dissident shareholder.
It is too soon to tell whether Kerkorian and his associates will continue to agitate for change at GM, but it is now clear that they will have to do some from outside the company, not inside.
"It appears that Kerkorian may now be out of his entire GM position," John Murphy, an industry analyst with Merrill Lynch, said in a research note on Thursday night.
Murphy issued a sell recommendation on GM shares, joining other analysts who did so, before reports that Kerkorian had sold his stake.
Neither GM nor Tracinda would confirm that he had abandoned his stake. A GM spokeswoman, Gina Proia, said that GM did not comment on the actions of its shareholders. A spokeswoman for Tracinda, Carrie Bloom, said she could not comment.
Kerkorian was GM's biggest individual shareholder until he began selling his stock last week. His initial sale of 14 million shares came in a private transaction for US$33 each.
That may have been the only profit Kerkorian made on his GM shares, for which he paid an average of about US$31.50. Tracinda said he sold Thursday's 14 million shares for US$28.75 each.
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