Kerkorian’s Ford tender attracts huge response

Tracinda Corp. said today that its offer to buy up to 20 million shares of Ford Motor Co. stock for $8.50 per share drew a huge response: More than 1 billion shares of stock were tendered, meaning the holders of that stock are willing to sell at that price.

Tracinda said it still plans to purchase 20 million shares at $8.50 per share for a total purchase price of $170 million, or an estimated 1.9% of the shares tendered.

A Tracinda spokesman declined to comment on whether or not it would offer to buy additional shares given the response to its offer.

Tracinda, which is controlled by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, offered to purchase the shares on May 9 when Ford’s shares were trading at $8.20 per share.

The purchase offer came shortly after Tracinda’s disclosure in April that it had purchased 100 million shares, or 4.7% of Ford’s stock. Detroit Free Press