Bear Stearns Chairman sells $61.3 million of stock

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos Inc (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman James Cayne sold $61.3 million of Bear shares on Tuesday, according to a filing on Thursday.

The share sale comes as Bear Stearns prepares to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in a deal worth about $9.32 a share at current prices. That sale is expected to close by mid-June, assuming a majority of shareholders approve it.

Cayne and his wife sold 5.66 million shares at $10.84 apiece, the filing said.

The banks helped ensure the deal would be approved earlier this week when JPMorgan agreed to buy 95 million newly issued Bear Stearns shares, equal to a 39.5 percent stake in the company. Bear's board members agreed to use their shares to vote in favor of the deal.

It is not clear who bought Cayne's shares.

Cayne in January stepped down as chief executive after nearly 15 years at the helm of what was once the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States.

Bear Stearns experienced a run on the bank earlier this month as clients withdrew funds and the investment bank lost access to a form of secured financing known as repo funding.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Andre Grenon)