Partnership Profits on Sale of 250,000 Gencorp Shares

General Partners, the investment group that unsuccessfully tried to take over Gencorp, has sold 250,000 shares in the company, realizing a gross profit of $9.25 million.

The stock sale, which lowers the partnership’s stake in Gencorp from 9.8% to 8.6%, came Wednesday, the day after General Partners said it was dropping its $2.2-billion takeover bid because it could not “compete economically” with the bold restructuring that Gencorp launched to ward off the hostile tender offer.

The partnership, which amassed nearly 2.2 million shares at an average price of $81.50 in February and March, sold a bit of its holdings Wednesday at $118.50 a share, a $37 per share profit over the 60-day period. Gencorp shares closed Thursday at $118.125, down 25 cents for the day in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s Corp. on Thursday lowered its rating on AFG Industries’ outstanding $135 million of subordinated debentures to Single B plus, from Double B plus.

The rating service cited AFG’s interest in taking on debt to buy large corporations for its downgrading, saying that the bids for both Gencorp and Lear Siegler “demonstrate a greater appetite for substantial acquisitions than was previously anticipated.”