California firm buys major stake in Maguire Properties

NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Investment firm California Capital has taken a 9.7 percent stake in southern California office building owner Maguire Properties Inc (MPG.N), according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Over the course of about a week, California Capital, purchased 4,650,000 shares at prices ranging from $5.81 to $6.23 per share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Also on Friday, the company's founder and largest shareholder issued a public letter saying the panic in the stock markets has unjustifiably driven down the price of the Maguire Properties shares, along with a slew of other companies and real estate investment trusts.

"Maguire Properties could unnecessarily find itself on the corporate junk heap thanks to today's unforgiving market, along with any number of other companies who have been swept up in the current financial maelstrom and are not deserving of such an ignominious fate," Robert Maguire III wrote.

On Friday, Maguire Properties stock hit a low of $3.32, which would have valued the entire company at less than net proceeds of what one of Maguire's 30 buildings could generate from a sale.

On a see-saw day for shares of real estate investment trusts on Friday, Maguire Properties closed up 25 percent, or $1.00, at $5.00. The benchmark MSCI U.S. REIT Index closed up 14.2 percent.

Maguire was hard hit by the credit crunch, which drove some of its tenants, mortgage bankers, out of business. Year to date, the stock is off 83 percent. (Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Gary Hill)