Icahn Boosts TW Stake, Starts New Fund; Peltz Buys Into Tribune

Activist, dissident — whatever the appellation, investors Carl Icahn and Norman Peltz are making headlines with their media buys. Icahn, whose first effort to take over Time Warner ended in settlement during 1Q06, added 4.83 million shares in the following quarter for a 1.5 percent stake in the company. Viewed another way, Icahn and his partners now own at least 3.6 percent of TW with another ally holding 2.4 percent — which keeps Icahn’s options wide open should he decide to try again. He recently told the WSJ he was disappointed in the stock price but saw it as a good shopping opportunity.
WSJ: Meanwhile, news that Peltz, who is leading in a proxy fight with the board of H.J. Heinz Co., had acquired 1.2 percent of the Tribune Company goosed the stock price nearly 5 percent to $31.24. Today the Journal is reporting that through his Trian investment fund, Peltz got in touch with the Chandler family aka Tribune’s dissident shareholder in May to chat about the possible value in breaking up the company. That was before the Chandlers went public, suggesting that Peltz does not plan to be a passive investor.
Update: NYT reports that Icahn is developing a new fund as a “special purpose vehicleĆ¢

Comments have been disabled for this post