Kerkorian selling Ford stake
Financier dumps 7.3M shares, says he may sell rest of his 6% stake in automaker.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Financier Kirk Kerkorian is pulling out of the stake he took in Ford Motor Co. just six months ago, selling 7.3 million shares at a fraction of his purchase price.
Kerkorian's investment firm, Tracinda, revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday that he had sold those shares Monday for an average of price of $2.43, and that he was looking to possibly dump his remaining 133.5 million shares, which represent a 6% stake in the automaker.
Ford (F, Fortune 500) shares closed Monday down 7 cents to $2.33. Shares were off another 7 cents in pre-market trading following the announcement.
Kerkorian announced in April that he had bought 100 million shares for an average price of $6.91. He then announced a tender offer under which he paid $8.50 a share for an additional 20 million shares.
Kerkorian, the primary shareholder of casino operator MGM Grand (MGM, Fortune 500), said he was selling the Ford shares because he sees "unique value in the gaming and hospitality and oil and gas industries."
Ford and other automakers have been hammered by both high gas prices and tighter credit, which made it difficult for consumers to find the financing they needed to buy cars.
The general downturn in the economy, with the rising job losses, also has hit auto sales. Ford saw its September sales fall by more than a third from year-earlier level, leaving its sales for the first nine months of the year down 18% from the same period a year earlier.
CNN
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