Fairholme Capital Increases Sears Stake

Bruce Berkowitz, cio of Fairholme Capital Management (Miami), has announced an increased stake in Sears Holdings Corp. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) to 26 percent. The group purchased 1.45 million shares in Sears in the month of December 2015, bringing Fairholme and Berkowitz’s total shares of the company to 27.8 million.

Bloomberg Business reports the purchases began on Dec. 3 when Sears announced its $454 million loss for the third quarter. The article also reports Berkowitz filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Dec. 18 stating that Fairholme is transitioning its role as a passive investor to an active role.

Berkowitz, a long time investor in the company, has previously supported Sears’ hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, who controls close to half the company’s shares. The move has been seen as a change in this position, and Fairholme has announced that it will contact Sears management soon with proposals for action to be taken at Sears.