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Investor Samii boosts stake in both suppliers
DETROIT - New York investor Karim Samii is betting heavily on two suppliers rumored to be talking about a merger: Visteon Corp. and Valeo SA.
His hedge fund, Pardus Capital Management LP, surpassed a 5 percent stake in Paris-based Valeo last week. That required Pardus to disclose its holdings to French securities regulators.
Pardus also spent $13.4 million this month to buy 2 million more shares of Visteon. Pardus now owns 17.1 percent of the stock in the giant parts supplier, based in suburban Detroit.
A Valeo-Visteon marriage was a hot subject of speculation this summer. But murmurs diminished when fourth-quarter production cuts, especially at Ford Motor Co. and other Visteon domestic customers, caused Visteon's earnings to plunge.
Visteon CEO Michael Johnston now says the company is expecting a $50 million loss...