Biglari Holdings Inc (BH) Welcomes Daniel S. Och: OZ Management is Now One of the Largest Shareholders

Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management disclosed last Monday a new position in Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH), a $626 million market cap holding company engaged in investment management, and the franchising and operation of restaurants -conducted through two restaurant concepts, Steak n Shake and Western Sizzlin. The fund acquired on August 14 138,300 shares of the company, which account for more than 8% of its outstanding stock.

On that date, the stock traded at its highest price point in the past three months. However, the price plummeted the next day (following the opening of an offering of transferable subscription rights), having lost more than 16% between August 14 and August 26. Under the offering, Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH) will hand out one transferable subscription right for each share of its Common Stock to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 19. The ownership of five rights will entitle a shareholder to subscribe for one share of Common Stock, priced at $250 per share.

Back to OZ Management, its 138,300 shares of Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH) are worth more than $50 million at the current stock price. This stake makes it the largest hedge fund shareholder, according to our database, trailed by Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, which last disclosed ownership of 99,596 shares of the company, and D E Shaw, which holds barely 15,483 shares. Both these funds slightly trimmed their stakes in Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH) over the second quarter. Similar was the case of Robert Jaffe’s Force Capital, which now holds 7,079 shares of the company.

Mr. Och has been quite active over the past week; this is the second 13D/G form filed in seven days. Last Tuesday, the manager had declared a 42% increase in its exposure to Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ROC). However, none of these two stocks -Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ROC) and Biglari Holdings Inc (NYSE:BH)- stand amongst the fund’s top picks, which include Actavis plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ACT), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX).

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned.