Icahn group bids $2.8 billion to buy Lear Corp.

Auto parts supplier Lear Corp. said today it has agreed to a buyout offer by a group affiliated with billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn for about $2.8 billion, but left the door open for a better offer.

At least one major shareholder said he would try to get others who own stock to oppose the deal.

Under the agreement, Icahn-controlled American Real Estate Partners LP is paying $36 a share, and a Lear spokesman said that amounts to about $2.8 billion. It also includes the assumption of about $2.5 billion in debt.

That is more than $4 a share below its closing price of $40.07 on Thursday after takeover speculation drove Lear's price higher. But the offer, made public Monday, represented a premium of 4 percent over the stock's closing price last Friday of $34.67.

Icahn already was Lear's largest shareholder, owning about 16 percent of the Southfield, Mich., company. (AP)