Maguire Properties founder buys shares

Maguire Properties Inc. founder Robert F. Maguire III said Thursday he has increased ownership in the real estate investment trust and its operating partnership to more than 19 percent after recent stock purchases.

Maguire, who was ousted as the company's chief executive in May, bought about 1.6 million common shares of the company from Dec. 9 to Jan. 13 for about $3 million, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows.

Maguire now owns 4.7 million shares, or 9.8 percent, of common stock. Together with roughly 5.8 million units of Maguire Properties LP, Maguire Properties' operating partnership, the former CEO now owns 19.4 percent of the combined outstanding common equity of Maguire Properties and its operating partnership, the SEC said.

Shares of the company jumped on the news, gaining 43 cents, or 23.6 percent, to close at $2.25. The stock has traded between $1.03 and $27.92 in the past 52 weeks.

In a news release, Maguire said he is considering alternatives for his investment, "including an acquisition of additional shares, an acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Maguire Properties that he does not currently own or another form of extraordinary transaction."

In May, Nelson C. Rising took over as president and chief executive, replacing Maguire, who was ousted by the board of directors. Before his ouster, Maguire had expressed interest in buying back the company but abandoned those efforts.

Maguire Properties owns and develops commercial real estate, with a focus in Southern California.