Mexican Billionaire Builds 28% Stake In Circuit City

Mexico City — Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas Pliego has snatched up more than 47 million shares of Circuit City, making him the company’s largest shareholder.

Pliego, a billionaire whose conglomerate Grupo Salinas encompasses retailing, banking, TV broadcasting and wireless services, acquired more than 30 million shares over three days following Circuit City’s bankruptcy filing last week. He paid an average of 24 cents per share, Securities and Exchange Commission documents show.

Pliego now controls nearly 28 percent of Circuit City stock. By comparison, activist investor Mark Wattles, who successfully agitated for change on Circuit City’s board, holds a 6.5 percent stake in the company.

Forbes pegs the Pliego family as the world’s 154^th wealthiest, with a net worth of $6.3 billion. Their holdings include Elektra, a leading Latin American CE and appliance chain that carries its own line of Elektra brand consumer electronics.

Another Mexican tycoon, former CompUSA owner Carlos Slim Helu, offered to buy Circuit City for $8 a share in 2003.

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