REPUBLIC AMERICAN<RAWC.O> UPS BUCKEYE<BPL> STAKE Republic American Corp told the Securities and Exchange Commission it raised its stake in Buckeye Partners L.P. to 963,200 limited partnership units, or 8.0 pct of the total, from 744,200 units, or 6.2 pct. Republic, which is controlled by Cincinnati, Ohio, financier Carl Lindner and his American Financial Corp, said it bought 219,000 Buckeye units between May 14 and 22 at prices ranging from 22.49 to 23.02 dlrs each, or about 5.0 mln dlrs total.