New York Times Co. shares rose as much as 11 percent Monday and bullish options trading was the highest in seven weeks after speculation that the newspaper publisher may be acquired.
The stock closed at $11.75, up 7.4 percent, the biggest gain since Dec. 23. More than 11,400 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 12 times the four-week average and 35 times the number of puts to sell. The most-active contracts were March $12.50 calls, which jumped 350 percent to 45 cents and changed hands almost 4,200 times. Before Monday they had an open interest, or number of outstanding contracts, of 179. This month's options, known as front-month contracts, expire March 19.
"It looks like takeover speculation," said Joshua Belanger, founder of OptionSizzle.com, a Stamford, Conn.-based provider of options market data and analytics. "They're going after the front-month March contracts and there's a spike in the price too."
Diane McNulty, a spokeswoman for the New York-based publisher of the namesake newspaper, said in an e-mail that the company doesn't comment on rumors.
Billionaire Carlos Slim, who controls Mexico's biggest wireless and land-line phone companies, owns about 7 percent of New York Times's Class A shares. He also has warrants to buy enough stock to give him control of 16 percent of the shares.
Slim has no plans to change his investment in Times Co., including the warrants he holds to buy more shares, said Arturo Elias, his chief spokesman.
"We are very happy with the performance of the company, in the reduction of costs and how sales have improved," Elias said today in an interview.
Slim said Nov. 16 that he invested in New York Times because he believes the news company "will pay." Slim, who controls America Movil SAB, agreed to give the publisher a $250 million loan in January 2009.
