Life Time Fitness CEO Bahram Akradi has bought a 5.3 percent stake in struggling Northern Oil & Gas, and it looks like he plans to be an activist investor.
Life Time Fitness CEO Bahram Akradi buys stake in Northern Oil
Akradi is likely to be an activist investor in struggling Northern Oil.
October 12, 2016 at 12:31AM
![DAVID JOLES * djoles@startribune.com Chanhassen, MN - Sept. 17, 2009-] In a tight economy Life Time Fitness has grown and after briefly faltering, stocks of the company are again climbing. Aside from the top of the line fitness facilities, Life Time has opulence, with banks of TVs in workout rooms, featuring their own LTF TV with original programming. Life Time also features a cafe and spa. A key figure is the success of the company is Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi, seen in Life Time's atrium.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/JRL5LPWRFDFEVHZAR7VI6YQJBE.jpg?&w=712)
Akradi has paid $16 million for 3.4 million shares of Wayzata-based Northern Oil, according to a Tuesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the filing, Akradi said "he expects to engage in discussion with management, the board and other shareholders of [Northern] and other relevant parties" about many aspects of the company, including its operations, management and financial condition. Akradi might buy more shares in Northern, too, the filing said.
Akradi could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Northern invests in oil leases and drilling projects in North Dakota. The company has been hammered by the drop in oil prices over the past two years, and lately has experienced top management turmoil, with its longtime CEO being forced out.
Northern's stock, which briefly topped $30 at its 2011 peak, is trading near its all-time low.
It closed Tuesday at $2.25, up 2 cents.
Akradi founded Chanhassen-based Life Time, one of the most prominent fitness chains in the Twin Cities. While not known for investments in the oil sector, Akradi said in an SEC filing that he believes Northern's stock is "undervalued and is an attractive investment."
Akradi will have company in talking to management about fixing Northern Oil.
A billionaire Texas oilman and luxury hotel chain owner, Bob Rowling, has amassed a nearly 20 percent stake in Northern's stock through several firms. They control a big chunk of Northern's unsecured debt, too, and a representative of Rowling's interests, Michael Frantz, was appointed to Northern's board in August.
Michael Reger, Northern's CEO and co-founder, was terminated in August after he told the board that federal securities regulators might be pursuing an enforcement action against him. He is suing for wrongful termination. Reger is being scrutinized in an SEC investigation of possible stock manipulation in the shares of Wayzata-based Dakota Plains Holdings, a separate oil field services company.
Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003
The Minnetonka-based health insurer says the new contract “ensures continued, uninterrupted network access” to hospitals and clinics at the Bloomington-based health system.
