Lampert Slashes AutoZone Stake as Hedge Fund Clients Pull Money
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Edward Lampert’s hedge fund cut its stake in AutoZone Inc. late last month to meet client redemptions amid a series of setbacks at Sears Holdings Corp., one of its biggest and highest-profile investments.
ESL Investments Inc., the firm run by Lampert, distributed about $1.02 billion worth of AutoZone stock to investors in connection with the closing of one investment partnership and the restructuring of another, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm also used $351.4 million of shares in AutoZone and AutoNation Inc. as payment in kind to meet year-end redemptions from its main fund, ESL Partners LP, the filing showed.