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Focus Of Pepsi $87M Somers Campus Purchase Now On Billionaire Businessman

SOMERS, N.Y. -- With news that Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim is reportedly the new owner of the PepsiCo campus in Somers, the billionaire has quickly become a focus of attention in Somers.

Carlos Slim, speaking at a 2014 conference. The photo is available under a Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Carlos Slim, speaking at a 2014 conference. The photo is available under a Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

Photo Credit: ITU Pictures

Forbes, which reported that Slim was involved in the acquisition as an investment, ranks him as the world's second-richest person with a net value of $75 billion.

Officially, the buyer is an entity called One P Way, LLC, which acquired the campus in March for nearly $87 million, records show. Forbes reports that son-in-law Arturo Elías Ayub, who confirmed Slim's ownership connection, called the buyer a "privately owned real estate company."

Elías could not be reached for comment.

A notable venture of Slim's is a large investment in The New York Times Company. The company's report for its annual shareholders meeting, which is set for this Wednesday, shows that Slim and his family possessed a 16.8-percent stake in Class A shares as of March.

The shares have been held by companies that family members own and were acquired in connection with a January 2009 borrowing deal, filings show. The deal allowed for the Times company to borrow $250 million with a roughly 14-percent annual interest rate, with Slim and his family having the right to acquire stock. The loan was repaid in 2011.

Although the Slim family has held a plurality of the company's ownership, Class A shares have weaker voting rights than their companion Class B shares. Filings show that the latter, which are mostly owned by a trust for the Ochs-Sulzberger family, give voting rights for the majority of the company's board seats, which Class A shares lack.

Slim's other U.S. real estate holdings include buildings in New York City; multi-million deals have been reported in some cases. Forbes, in its article about the PepsiCo, reports that Slim has acquired Marquette Building in Detroit, which it calls "iconic."

Slim, who is known in the business press for his conglomerate, Grupo Carso, is bulking up his investment in energy, according to Reuters. The news outlet reports that two of slim's energy companies are being merged into Carso Oil & Gas. This comes after Mexico ended the monopoly of a state oil company in the sector, Reuters reported.

The PepsiCo site was sold by PSI Investments LLC, an entity that, records show, is owned by Norman Sturner, who is a founder and CEO of MHP Real Estate Services. A woman who answered Sturner's office number referred the matter to Roxana Girand, an official with the company.

Girand could not be reached for comment. News outlets reported that Girand has represented Slim in past real estate deals. Her name is also listed in paperwork filed with Westchester County for the PepsiCo site's sale.

 

 

 

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