A group of funds controlled by David Nierenberg has raised its stake in Move Inc. to 10 percent, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.
The shareholders, including Nierenberg's D3 Family Fund LP, now own 15.2 million shares, or a 10 percent stake in the Westlake Village, Calif.-based company, which offers Web-based real estate listings.
Previously, the shareholders reported owning 13.5 million Move shares, representing an 8.9 percent stake.
Last month, Nierenberg called for the removal of Move's Chief Executive W. Michael Long and Chief Financial Officer Lewis R. Belote after the company said its investment in auction-rate securities was no longer liquid.
Auction-rate securities are bonds with an interest rate that is reset at regular auctions. A growing aversion to risk has caused most of those auctions to fail of late, leaving the investors who own the securities unable to sell them. This has particularly hurt some companies that considered auction-rate securities as good as cash.
Move said it may be forced to reduce the value of the investments through an impairment charge.
Nierenberg has said Move should consider selling off parts of its business for cash and reinvest the profits into its core business.
Move shares tumbled 24 cents, or 7.1 percent, to $3.15 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $1.62 and $5.26 in the past 12 months.
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