Kerkorian offloads another 26.4 million Ford shares

Tracinda Corp, led by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, has sold another 26.4 million shares of Ford stock according to a new SEC filing. The shares were sold between October 21-28 at an average price of $2.01 per share, a drop of more than 20% over the smaller liquidation made last week. Kerkorian's remaining stake in Ford now sits at 4.9%.

Last week Tracinda announced in a regulatory filing that it had sold 7.3 million of its shares in Ford at an average price of $2.43 per share. The move came just months after Tracinda raised its stake in the Blue Oval to 6.49% via its $8.50 per share June tender offer.

The new sell-off leaves Tracinda’s stake in Ford at 106.8 million shares, and depending on market conditions and available sales prices, the rest of the shares could potentially go as well. The company has confirmed contact with an investment banking firm regarding the possible sale.

This has also lead to speculation that both Kerkorian and Tracinda could leave the automotive industry for good, and instead look towards the gaming, hospitality and oil and gas sectors to fund future growth.

Ford’s share price has dropped more than 60% since the original June deal, and is currently trading around $2.14 on Tuesday, reports Bloomberg.

Kerkorian has been very active in the U.S. auto industry over the past couple of years. Last year his firm was one of the main bidders for Chrysler but lost out to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, and before that he held a 9.9% stake in GM. He offloaded his shares in the General back in 2006 following the rejection of a proposed tie-up with Renault-Nissan that he presented to the management board.