Investor boosts stake in Horizon Lines

Boston-based investor Seth Klarman has nearly doubled his stake in Horizon Lines.

In a 13-G filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 9, Klarman's company Baupost Group LLC. said it owns 7.1 million shares or about 23.15 percent of Horizon's stock. That's up sharply since April 18, when Horizon's proxy statement showed Baupost owning 12.5 percent.

Klarman is described on the Web site StreetInsider.com as a deep value investor,?adding Baupost is a 7 billion-plus investment group that has returned approximately 20 percent annually since inception. Horizon, whose stock reached a high of $36.55 last July, has been trading near its 52-week low of $10.02 in recent days.

Along with other carriers in the Jones Act trade to Puerto Rico — Sea Star, Crowley and Trailer Bridge — Horizon has been caught up in a Justice Department probe of pricing practices.

That has been followed by 10 class action lawsuits that have been filed in recent weeks against the four Puerto Rico carriers in federal courts in either Puerto Rico or Florida.

Chuck Raymond, chief executive of Horizon Lines, told securities analysts that neither the company nor an individual in the company has been charged with an offense, and that the company is cooperating with the government. 

Source: American Shipper