T Rowe Price bolstered its position in Seacor Holdings three weeks after the diversified owner announced that a New York private equity firm plans to take it private.
Seacor, the New York-listed, Jones Act owner of bulkers, car carriers, tankers and specialised vessels, said on 7 December that an American Industrial Partners (AIP) affiliate will begin a tender offer to buy Seacor's outstanding shares for $41.50 per share in a $1bn cash deal.
T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund acquired 1.31m shares of Florida-based Seacor at $41.45 each on 31 December, according to a regulatory filing.
The $54.5m further investment in Seacor brought T Rowe Price's stake to 14.6%.
Other major shareholders include BlackRock Fund Advisors (13.2%) and Vanguard Group (9.9%).
The stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, lost $0.04 to close at $41.50 on Monday.
Three days before T Rowe Price upped its stake, two Seacor Holdings shareholders filed separate lawsuits arguing that they were given insufficient information to evaluate the merger.
Seacor owns and manages a variety of assets that serve multiple maritime sectors through subsidiaries Seabulk, Waterman, Cleancor, Seacor Island Lines, SCF and Witt O'Brien's.
Seacor's board has approved the acquisition and recommended that stockholders tender their shares in the offer.
Chief executive and executive chairman Charles Fabrikant, 75, who co-founded Seacor in 1989 in a buyout of Nicor Marine, owns 7% of the company.
Once the deal is finalised, Fabrikant will step down from his executive positions. His son, chief operating officer Eric Fabrikant, will become chief executive.
