PLynchJr Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Biglari is buying again. He picked up 1,000 shares at $289.78 on 1/8. I guess he would disagree with those that think SNS is fully or over-valued right now. ;D Regan also picked up a 100 shares on 1/4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 He could also be buying because we don't know what Mario Gabelli's intentions are. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link01 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 He could also be buying because we don't know what Mario Gabelli's intentions are. Cheers! yea, its too bad sns wasnt more fully valued at the time sb signed off on the acquisition of west for cash...i would have liked a stock deal, unless sns was trading much higher than now. plus sardar gave up indirect ownership & control in sns thru his large % stake in west by not doing a stock deal. wonder is it too late to reconsider a stock purch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballinvarosig Investors Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 He could also be buying because we don't know what Mario Gabelli's intentions are. Cheers! The timing would appear to say that. If that's true though, it raises the question as to why Biglari would feel threatened by Gabelli? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 I'm not sure what Gabelli's intentions are. In fact, I know he's attended the Berkshire meeting every year I've gone, and is pretty friendly with attendees. I would not be surprised if Sardar knows Gabelli. This could a positive or negative event. If negative, why would Sardar fear Gabelli? I'm not sure fear is the right word...the only thing Sardar fears is his own reflection! ;D Sardar has righted this ship and shareholders are beholden to him, so I doubt he would have difficulty keeping his job. But Gabelli does control billions and it would be very easy for him to buy 20% and try and influence the board. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinger Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 In what way would 1000 more shares change anything ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 It wouldn't. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uccmal Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 He should just create multiple voting shares ASAP and eliminate control concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granitepost Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Hi Al: I don't think multiple voting shares are allowed in the US. In any event they are not as common as in Canada and even in Canada there seems to be a trend away from them, even though there are several large corporations that utilize them, including of course Fairfax. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bronco Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Multiple voting shares - Berkshire, Comcast, Brown Forman, I believe Viacom...there are several out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargainman Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Multiple voting shares - Berkshire, Comcast, Brown Forman, I believe Viacom...there are several out there Google too. That's how they repriced all employee stock options without greater shareholder approval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorrofan Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 It wouldn't. Cheers! Sanj, Any idea roughly how much does Sardar (if you include the Lion Fund, etc) control? cheers Zorro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Looks like about 11.5% or so. And that's after all distributions of SNS shares to WEST shareholders. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93859/000119380510000139/xslF345X03/e606309_ex.xml Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
investor99 Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I don't really understand the concern. Maybe Gabelli just thinks SNS is a great investment. I can't imagine someone wanting to take control or change management when there has been such a dramatic turnaround at SNS. Also, Biglari has said in the past that he is in favor of shareholders being in control of the company. He even took out some newly added amendments which previous management put in place to keep control after he got control of SNS. If I remember correctly. I'm not sure what Gabelli could have in mind other than just a good investment. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 If it was a passive investment, he would have filed a 13-G, but he filed a 13-D. Perhaps, he just thinks it's a good investment and wants board representation. Perhaps, he's wants control. Only Gabelli knows, and we'll probably find out before the AGM. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daytripper Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I wonder if a company like SNS is maybe too small for somebody like Gabelli to really want to get their hands dirty with. Secondly, I'd have to wonder just how "open" the Sardar would be to Gabelli or any other "uninvited" members. From reading between the lines, I get the impression that Sardar runs the operation as he sees fit (and that is not meant to imply anything negative). Thanks........Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargainman Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Well I think Gabelli stated in the press release that he didn't really want control, but in the past they got into trouble by just filing the G, so to be safe they would file the D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargainman Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Here's the actual text from the 13-d: "The foregoing persons in the aggregate often own beneficially more than 5% of a class of a particular issuer. Although several of the foregoing persons are treated as institutional investors for purposes of reporting their beneficial ownership on the short-form Schedule 13G, the holdings of those who do not qualify as institutional investors may exceed the 1% threshold presented for filing on Schedule 13G or implementation of their investment philosophy may from time to time require action which could be viewed as not completely passive. In order to avoid any question as to whether their beneficial ownership is being reported on the proper form and in order to provide greater investment flexibility and administrative uniformity, these persons have decided to file their beneficial ownership reports on the more detailed Schedule 13D form rather than on the short-form Schedule 13G and thereby to provide more expansive disclosure than may be necessary." I guess that's a bit more vague than I remembered. I guess only Gabelli knows.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfinger Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Cooley has been buying more too: 2010-01-12 Purchase 2010-01-12 9:05 pm STEAK & SHAKE CO SNS COOLEY PHILIP L (Director) 120 $295.6 $35,477 3,431 (Direct) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts