RE: Rumors of ML Increasing Their Position.
It seems like we get a post like this at least monthly.
>> after my understanding, any buyout of Borland is limited to what Merrill Lynch will accept. <<
They just own "common" stock. Although they'll have somewhat more influence (through more votes) than the average shareholder, there's nothing special about ML. They don't have any more pull in approving or rejecting a buyout any more than you or I would. To have that absolute control, one would need control of 51% of the stock.
>> They hold now more than 25% of Borland's stock in three of their Funds. <<
Nope, they still own 15%, unless they bought another 10% this month. Shareholders who own 5% or more of the stock are required to file any changes in ownership (buying or selling) with the SEC by the 10th of the month following any such change. Their last filing was on 8/9/96, so their last purchases were in 7/96.
Also, I believe that there are takeover provisions should anyone acquire more than 20% of BORL's stock. (If this is something that you're concerned about, you should check the provisions. I don't recall exactly what they were.) This was put in place sometime around the time of the OPEN acquisition, if I remember correctly.
It's actually seven separate entities within ML that own shares, but the majority of the shares are owned by two separate fund families. I have a hierarchy of the relationships in the message referenced below. Also, be careful not to double-count shares. The SEC filings (and ML company structure!) can be a bit confusing.
>> They have been collecting them since Q2 of 1996, where the stock prices where far above $10. <<
You're correct here. Their average price is probably around $13 (although this could be +/- $2). See my original analysis from over a year ago:
techstocks.com
- Michael Coley
- i1.net |
