PERRY GETS WRIST SLAP IN MERGER

New York hedge fund firm Perry Corp. will pay $150,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges surrounding its controversial 2004 stake in pharmaceutical firm Mylan Laboratories — effectively a slap on the wrist given the hubbub the stake caused.

The SEC yesterday charged the $8.8 billion hedge fund with failing to properly disclose its Mylan stake in a timely manner. The law requires large investors to report within 10 days a purchase of a stake exceeding 5 percent.

Perry agreed to pay the penalty without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.

“The settlement announced today by the SEC brings to a satisfactory conclusion any concerns that were raised with respect to Perry Corp.’s investment in Mylan Laboratories stock in 2004,” Perry said in a statement.

However, left open are broader questions raised in the Perry-Mylan controversy, including the implications of allowing shareholders to use swaps to cancel out their economic interests in companies over which they have voting power.

Perry’s stake in Mylan followed a proposed merger with King Pharmaceuticals. Perry owned 7 million shares in King and supported the deal. But some Mylan shareholders, including activist investor Carl Icahn, did not.

Perry bought a 9.9 percent stake in Mylan, unseating Icahn as the largest shareholder. Perry then hammered out a complicated equity swap that effectively negated the firm’s risk of loss, but enabled it to retain the voting power it needed to sway the merger.