Laukien family members may sell some of their Bruker Corp. stock from time to time, but it doesn’t seem to stay away for long.
Less than two months after his mother and two siblings disclosed plans to unload a large chunk of their stake, CEO Frank Laukien bought up another 150,000 shares in the Billerica, Mass.-based medical imaging equipment manufacturer from outside investors, according to filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Laukien made the purchases — $1.51 million worth of stock at an average price of $10.03 — via a series of small transactions July 31 and August 3. The latest buying spree follows a familiar Laukien pattern established in recent years: They sell and he buys, although not necessarily from each other.
Since last November, Frank Laukien has spent close to $7.5 million of his own funds to acquire an additional 1.6 million shares. He now owns 38,449,445 shares, or roughly 23.4 percent of the company.
Other Laukien family members control another 45 percent of Bruker stock. That combined stake, however, would dip to roughly 22.5 percent if the company moves ahead with a proposed secondary offering that includes the sale of 35 million shares now held by Isolde Laukien-Kleiner and Dirk and Marc Laukien.
Frank Laukien’s recent purchases came through open-market deals, rather than the exercising of options or other stock awards. He was also a significant player in overall trading of Bruker stock during the past few days, accounting for 14 percent of total volume on Friday and Monday.
One reason might be Bruker Corp.’s rather stingy ways with option grants. Frank Laukien holds vested options to buy a total of 175,000 shares — with only 75,000 of those options priced below Monday’s closing price of $10.09, according to company proxy statements.
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