By The Associated Press
Monday, November 16, 2009
Private equity firm Blackstone Group, run by co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, bought a $7.8 million stake in Southwest Airlines Co., cut its stake in Eastman Kodak Co. and sold its holdings in Calpine Corp. during the latest quarter.
New York-based Blackstone disclosed the changes to its $2 billion U.S. stock portfolio in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
The firm disclosed that it sold its $4.4 million stake in power generator Calpine and a $102,000 investment in Chunghwa Telecom Co. It also trimmed its stake in Eastman Kodak to about $13 million from $21.7 million.
Meanwhile, it bought into Southwest Airlines with the purchase of 809,700 shares for $7.8 million. It also purchased a $16.5 million stake in the WisdomTree India Earnings fund and increased its stake in Barclays Bank PLC to 381,600 shares worth $22.5 million from 35,500 shares totaling $1.7 million.
Blackstone shares closed flat Monday at $15.22.