JCPenney’s trouble with Wall Street cage-rattlers isn’t necessarily over.
New York hedge-fund tycoon Richard Perry this week increased his investment in the struggling retailer to 8.6 percent, even as billionaire Bill Ackman, formerly the company’s biggest shareholder, liquidated his entire stake.
Perry — who, like Ackman, has a history of pressing management teams for changes — scooped up 3 million of the 39.1 million Penney shares sold this week by Ackman.
Perry paid $12.90 a share this week to enlarge his stake, bringing it to 19 million shares, according to securities filings.
In a 13D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission — an indication that an investor has taken an active position — Perry didn’t elaborate on his reasons for enlarging his investment.
In an open letter earlier this month, however, Perry backed Ackman’s idea to replace Penney’s current chairman, Thomas Engibous, and its CEO, Mike Ullman.
“We strongly urge the board to take immediate and proactive steps to improve the financial and operational management of the company,” Perry wrote.
The fund manager, who last year became chairman of Barneys New York after amassing control of the luxury chain’s debt, said it was “particularly alarming” that Penney’s stock and bond prices were falling despite a recent $2.25 billion financing package.
After losing a bitter battle with Penney’s board, Ackman this week hired Citigroup to exit his investment in the retailer, which at 18 percent of its shares had made him the Plano, Texas, retailer’s No. 1 shareholder.
Clobbered by recent chaos at the company and worries about the crucial back-to-school season, Penney’s stock yesterday hit a 52-week low of $12.12 before Perry disclosed his stake in the afternoon.
The shares closed 8 cents higher at $12.48, giving Perry’s investment a value of $237 million.