UPDATE 1-Icahn ups stakes in Yahoo, Lions Gate
(Adds details from filings, background)
LOS ANGELES, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn increased his stakes in Guaranty Financial Group Inc GFG.N, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF.N) and Yahoo! Inc (YHOO.O), but the total value of his individual U.S. stock market investments was cut nearly in half in 2008, according to a securities filing on Friday.
Icahn's total investment as an individual fell to $2.58 billion from $5.07 billion between the third and fourth quarters of 2008, SEC filings showed.
Icahn also dissolved his stakes in ImClone Systems Inc (IMCL.H), Lear Corp (LEA.N), Telik Inc (TELK.O), Temple-Inland Inc (TIN.N) as of Dec. 31, 2008, the Securities and Exchange filing showed.
Icahn had been seeking three seats on Biogen's board. He sold 11.7 million shares of the company's common shares in the fourth quarter, the filings showed.
He increased his stake in Guaranty Financial, a savings and loan battered by the housing market crisis, to 3.8 million from 802,481 shares, possibly by trading 2.2 million shares of Temple-Inland and about 800,000 shares of Forestar Real Estate Group Inc (FOR.N) he held in a Sept. 30, 2008 filing.
Temple-Inland spun off Guaranty Financial and Forestar in 2007.
Icahn doubled his stake in Lions Gate to 2.2 million and now holds 10.56 percent of the independent film and television company's common shares, the filings showed.
Icahn upped his individual stake in Yahoo, where he led a fight to force management changes, to 15.1 million from 13.8 million between the 2008 third and fourth quarters, the filings showed. (Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Andre Grenon)
