Simplot Ups Stake In Two Companies

J.R. Simplot has raised his stakes in Boise Cascade Corp. and Asarco Inc.

A trust controlled by the 86-year-old billionaire increased its stake in Boise Cascade to 6.6 percent from 5 percent of the company’s common shares outstanding.

The information was divulged in a Schedule 13D form filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The trust acquired 820,000 shares of the Boise-based forest products company at $34.37 to $39.54 per share between Oct. 6 and Dec. 11. Simplot’s trust now holds 3.17 million Boise Cascade shares.

In July, Simplot revealed he had paid $80 million to acquire 2.3 million Boise Cascade shares. At the time, Simplot said he was not trying to take over the company. Boise Cascade was simply a cheap investment, he said.

Simplot made a similar move at Asarco, a New York-based metals company that owns part of two mothballed mines in northern Idaho.

The Simplot trust purchased 1.43 million Asarco shares between Dec. 8 and Dec. 14, raising its overall stake in the company to 8.58 percent from 5.22 percent of common shares outstanding.