There is levered long investing, then there is levering up on a levered long investor. The notion that a public company would make such a "bet" is plain scary. Who signed off on this?
When my Partner, Howard Penney, forwarded me the following excerpt from the Leucadia (LUK) 10K, I thought there were typos in the numbers!
Taken from LUK 10K filed 2/29/08:
"In June 2007, the Company invested $200,000,000 to acquire a 10% limited partnership interest in Pershing Square, a newly-formed private investment partnership whose investment decisions are at the sole discretion of Pershing Square's general partner. The stated objective of Pershing Square is to create significant capital appreciation by investing in Target Corporation. For the period from investment to December 31, 2007, the Company recorded losses of $85,500,000 from this investment under the equity method of accounting, principally resulting from declines in the market value of Target Corporation's common stock. At December 31, 2007, the book value of the Company's investment in Pershing Square was $114,500,000."
No wonder why LUK insiders have been net sellers...
KM
When my Partner, Howard Penney, forwarded me the following excerpt from the Leucadia (LUK) 10K, I thought there were typos in the numbers!
Taken from LUK 10K filed 2/29/08:
"In June 2007, the Company invested $200,000,000 to acquire a 10% limited partnership interest in Pershing Square, a newly-formed private investment partnership whose investment decisions are at the sole discretion of Pershing Square's general partner. The stated objective of Pershing Square is to create significant capital appreciation by investing in Target Corporation. For the period from investment to December 31, 2007, the Company recorded losses of $85,500,000 from this investment under the equity method of accounting, principally resulting from declines in the market value of Target Corporation's common stock. At December 31, 2007, the book value of the Company's investment in Pershing Square was $114,500,000."
No wonder why LUK insiders have been net sellers...
KM