Lewis takes another bite of Bear

Joseph Lewis, the British billionaire, increased his stake in Bear Stearns from 8.01% to 9.57% this month.

Joseph Lewis, the British billionaire, increased his stake in Bear Stearns Cos. to 9.57% from 8.01% this month, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As one of Wall Street firm’s largest shareholders, Mr. Lewis now holds 11.1 million shares in Bear Stearns, up from 9.3 million as of Dec. 7.
Mr. Lewis and a group of his companies made the purchases between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 at a per-share price range between $89.08 and $110.00.
Mr. Lewis, who originally bought a 7% share in the firm in September, owns the stake through his companies Cambria Inc., Aquarian Investments Ltd., Darcin Inc., Mandarin Inc. and Nivon Inc.
According to the latest SEC filing, the aggregate purchase price for the 11.1 million shares is about $1.19 billion and was paid from working capital by Mr. Lewis’s entities.