Reliance raised its stake in Wickes Cos.

The stake in Wickes was increased to 9.7% from 8.4% of the common shares outstanding. In an SEC filing, Reliance, a unit of Saul Steinberg’s Reliance Group, said it purchased 300,000 Wickes $2.50 convertible exchangeable preferred shares at $25 a share. The preferred are convertible into 1.84 million Wickes common shares. After selling 604,200 Wickes common shares, Reliance now holds the equivalent of 9.31 million Wickes common shares.