Asset Manager Gets $1 Bln Haircut on Biogen Plunge
Mon Feb 28, 2005 02:26 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Big stock swoons often wipe out tens of millions of dollars in shareholder value, but the plunge in shares of Biogen Idec and Elan Corp. on Monday left one asset management firm with almost a $1 billion haircut.
Shares of Biogen (BIIB.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Elan (ELN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (ELN.I: Quote, Profile, Research) plummeted after the companies suspended sales of Tysabri, a highly touted new multiple sclerosis drug, on news a patient had died from a rare and often fatal central nervous system disease.
The top five shareholders of Biogen and Elan are big asset managers with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets under their management. But according to the latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the biggest holder of Biogen shares was Primecap Management Co., a much smaller firm based in Pasadena, California.
As of Dec. 31, Primecap held 32.04 million shares in Biogen, making it the largest shareholder with an almost 10 percent stake. With Biogen shares trading off about $30.50 in early afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, the 45 percent slide wiped out $977.2 million in Primecap's holding.
Primecap declined to comment, saying it does not talk to the press. The company manages several Vanguard funds, and was recently praised in a report by Morningstar Inc. as a prudent investor. |
