Mario Gabelli Raises Exposure to Belo Corp (BLC)

Mario Gabelli, and GAMCO Investors reported increasing slightly their aggregate position in Belo Corp (NYSE:BLC). Gabelli and his funds currently hold almost 6.3 million shares of Belo Corp, the value of the stake amounting to $86.1 million, at the current stock price of the company. The passive position disclosed by Gabelli has been raised to 6.55% of the Belo Corp’s outstanding common stock, from 5.42% representing nearly 5.2 million shares reported in an earlier filing.

Mario Gabelli

Out of the aggregate amount, GAMCO Investors holds around 1.5 million shares, up from 1.3 million held previously. The largest amount of shares is held by Gabelli Fund, which according to the filing, owns close to 3.8 million shares, versus 2.9 million held before. In the latest 13F, GAMCO reported ownership of some 630,000 shares of Belo Corp (NYSE:BLC), which shows that the position has been upgraded significantly.

The stock of Belo Corp (NYSE:BLCgrew by almost 79% since January, trailing a P/E of over 15. The company is currently in the merger process with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), which offered to acquire Belo Corp earlier this year. The merger, under the terms of which Gannett offered $13.75 per share, has been approved by the shareholders in September. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Main hedge funds that hold large positions in Belo Corp (NYSE:BLC) have boosted their exposure during the third quarter of the year. In this way, John Paulson’s Paulson & Co raised its stake by 72% over the quarter to over 9.0 million shares, worth $123.9 million. Carl Tiedemann and Michael Tiedemann’s Tig Advisors, increased their position to around 4.6 million, worth $63.6 million, from some 2.2 million shares held earlier. Aqr Capital Management, run by Cliff Asness, disclosed holding over 3.7 million shares, with a value of $50.9 million, raising the holding from just 315,700 shares owned at the end of the second quarter.

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