Investor boosts stake in Horizon Lines

An investor has acquired 5.2 percent of the stock of Jones Act carrier Horizon Lines.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Giovine Capital Group said it has amassed 1.57 million shares. The company was formed by 1998 by Thomas A. Giovine and acts as an investment advisor for a group of hedge funds, according to information on an alumni Web site at Wharton Business School. Giovine is based in Charlotte, N.C., where Horizon is headquartered.

   In August, a big Boston-based investor, Seth Klarman, trimmed his holdings in Horizon. In a filing with the SEC Klarman's company, Baupost, said it had reduced its holdings to 13.2 percent, down from about 23.25 percent of Horizon's stock in May.

Horizon's stock closed at $3.65 on Wednesday and reached a high in July 2007 of $36.55.

   On Dec. 31 a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors was filed in federal district court in Delaware against Horizon and five of its executives, including Chief Executive Officer Charles Chuck Raymond.

   Horizon said it would vigorously defend itself in the action, which accuses the firm of deceiving investors and fraudulently inflated Horizon's securities prices by entering into illegal price-fixing agreements with competitors in order to manipulate the prices for Puerto Rico freight services.

Source: American Shipper