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1/14/15, "Billionaire Carlos Slim Doubles Holdings in New York Times," Bloomberg,
Billionaire Carlos Slim became the largest
investor in the New York Times Co. after exercising options to
acquire 15.9 million shares in the newspaper company.
Slim bought the shares for $6.36 each, about half of Times
Co.’s $12.28 closing price, boosting his stake to 16.8 percent
of the company’s Class A shares, Times Co. said today in a
statement. Slim, the world’s second-richest man, gained the
options after he lent the paper $250 million in January 2009 to
help it get through the financial crisis.
The larger stake, now 27.8 million shares, shows the
billionaire’s confidence in the newspaper’s future -- even as
readers and marketers have flocked to the Internet where content
is largely free and ad rates are cheaper. Since Slim’s loan,
Times Co. has cleaned up its balance sheet, created a paywall
for its website and introduced new digital products.
Times Co. said it received $101.1 million from Slim’s
exercise of his warrants and plans to use the money to buy back
Class A shares....
Slim’s stake in the company is now valued at $341 million
based on today’s closing price. Fairpointe Capital is now the
Times second-biggest shareholder, with a stake of 9.44 percent
as of Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg....
When 74-year-old Slim agreed to loan Times Co. money in
2009, the company had just canceled its dividend to preserve
cash and a credit line was set to expire. Slim’s investment
bought the company enough time to find buyers for assets like
the Boston Globe.
Even with the bigger stake, a takeover would be difficult
because the controlling owners -- the Ochs-Sulzberger family --
hold voting shares that give them a firm grip on board seats.
Slim’s stake only allows him to vote for Class A directors, a
group that represents no more than a third of the company’s
board seats. The family’s Class B shares, which aren’t publicly
traded, elect the remaining two-thirds of the board....
The Times Co. investment is only one element of Slim’s
empire, which ranges from banking to energy to retail. The bulk
of his riches come from a majority stake in America Movil SAB (AMXL),
the mobile-phone operator trying to sell assets in Mexico to
reduce its market share."...via Drudge
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