ESL Hedge Fund Pares AutoZone Stake

ESL Investments is selling 5.6 million shares in AutoZone(AZO Quote) in a $550 million public offering underwritten by Citigroup Global Markets.

The $5 billion hedge fund will still have more than 19 million shares in the Memphis, Tenn., company.

A unit of the hedge fund run by Edward S. Lampert bought the shares in an April 2002 shelf registration deal, a statement from AutoZone said. AutoZone was at $66.44 at the beginning of April 2002 and it closed the month at $76. IT began trading today down 5.1% from its Thursday close at $103.53. ...