Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim acquires 6.4 stake in New York Times

11 September 2008

Mexican billionnaire and telecommunications czar, Carlos Slim Helu and his family have acquired 6.4 per cent stake in New York Times Co that publishes the New York Times.

According to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the stake, valued at $121.2 million, has been acquired through Slim's family-controlled Inmobiliaria Carso SA.

The acquisition of about 9.1 million Class A shares makes Carlos Slim the third-largest investor in New York Times outside of the Sulzberger family, that owns 19 per cent.

Although his intentions are unclear, media reports have quoted him as saying that the investment were not a strategic move into American media but purely ''financial''.

Analysts said Slim may be buying the shares in anticipation that a third party would make a bid for the publishing company, whose largest investor, Harbinger Capital Partners, launched a proxy fight earlier this year for seats on the board, asset sales and more internet investment.

Harbinger raised its stake in the company early last month to almost 20 per cent of the stock outstanding, exceeding the Sulzberger family's 19 per cent. T Rowe Price Group Inc, the second-largest shareholder, had an 11-per cent stake, on 30 June.