Filed under: Deals, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM)
Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian must know something we don’t. Or perhaps at his level, he might have other considerations than such trivial matters as a mere $34.5 million. That’s the premium his Tracinda Corp. would pay for 20 million of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) shares over today’s price if it went ahead with the offer.
On Might 9th, Kerkorian offered, through Tracinda Corp., to buy an additional 20 million shares of Ford at $8.50 a share. At the time, it was a small premium over the $8.20 price. Naturally, such a savvy investor had a clause providing him an out should the shares fall more than 10% from the time of the offer. Well, they fell about 18%, but Kerkorian is waiving the provision, saying he will go ahead with the purchase and that “Tracinda continues to believe in Ford’s management and turnaround efforts.”
For Kerkorian, it’s the third try with one of the Large Three. Chrysler and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) felt his weight in the past, and while he may have effected changes in Chrysler despite, or maybe because, of his failed attempts to take it over, he didn’t manage much change and gave up on GM despite owning almost 10% of it. Currently, Tracinda owns 100 million Ford shares, a 4.7% stake, and will likely own 20 million more by June 9 when the offer expires.
No doubt, Kerkorian’s show of support in Ford and its management, namely Alan Mullaly, is meaningful, but it was just last week that Ford stated it does not anticipate to meet its goal of returning to profitability by 2009. Ford has also announced further cuts and a product mix shift in an attempt to superior respond to consumer demands due to the high cost of gas.
Ford shares could get a temporary lift from Kerkorian’s apparent support, but at the same time, the billionaire investor doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to auto companies. Unless something fundamentally changes and investors begin seeing the fruits of the turnaround and the current actions taken, Ford shares will likely continue to be pressured.
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