Janus Capital Sells DST Stake

Janus Capital Group(JNS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) announced Wednesday it has sold its remaining 7.4 million shares of common stock in DST Systems(DST - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) for a pre-tax gain of $336 million. The Denver-based asset management company said the sale will result in a $228 million second-quarter gain, or $100 million after taxes.

DST Systems' main business is providing information processing and computer software services to the financial industry, primarily mutual fund companies.

But the company also serves as an investment company holding investments in equity securities with a market value of approximately $1.2 billion, as of December 31, 2003, including approximately 12.8 million shares of State Street Corporation(STT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and 8.6 million shares of Computer Sciences Corporation(CSC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Additionally, DST owns and operates 2.7 million square feet of real estate, mostly in the United States and United Kingdom, which is held primarily for lease to the company's other business segments.

In April, Janus agreed to pay $225 million in restitution, fines, and fee concessions in a settlement with regulators over its role in the mutual fund market-timing scandal.

Janus did not offer a reason for the sale of the DST stake.

Recently, shares of Janus were up 23 cents, or 1.45%, to $16.12 a share. DST shares were down 82 cents, or 1.73% to $46.47.