Ackman Raises CP Rail Stake, Abrams $CCMO, Bannasch $MF $NTCT

Ackman’s Pershing Square Ups Stake in Canadian Pacific Railway to 12.4% (FINAlternatives)

William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management has upped his stake in Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada’s second-largest railroad. The activist investor has bought another $90 million worth of CP stock, reports Reuters, bringing his stake to 12.4%. Pershing revealed in a U.S. regulatory filing on October 28 that it had become the railroad’s biggest shareholder, at that time holding 12.2%.

Bill Ackman PERSHING SQUARE

Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital Management Filed Positions in $NTCT and $MF (InsiderMonkey)

Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital Management filed on November 22nd for its stake changes in Netscout Systems Inc. (NTCT) and MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF). According to the filing, now Cadian Capital Management has 4,196,674 shares in NTCT, which is unchanged from its previous position in the third quarter. Cadian Capital Management now has 0% stake in MF Global, after the MF filed for bankruptcy at the end of October. According to Cadian Capital Management’s 13F in the third quarter, the firm approximately lost $66 million in MF.

Ex-Goldman Star Flamand has Tough Debut Year (Reuters)

Pierre-Henri Flamand, the star trader who left Goldman Sachs to launch one of the most eagerly-awaited hedge funds of 2010, is having a tough debut year as volatile markets rock the M&A dealflow his strategy trades on to make money. His $2.1 billion event-driven Edoma Partners fund, which makes money by taking positions on corporate events like mergers, bankruptcies and restructurings, is down 3.79 percent in 2011 to the end of last week, one investor in the fund said.

David Abrams’ Abrams Capital Bought $CCMO (InsiderMonkey)

David Abrams’ Abrams Capital revealed on November 22nd that the firm made insider purchases for 4.24 million shares in CC Media Holdings Inc. (CCMO). The Form 4 filing shows Abrams Capital bought those shares at $4 per share on November 21st. Abrams Capital initiated its CCMO position in July 2011 and reported 4.69 million shares at that time. Now Abrams Capital owns 6.42 million shares directly and 7.21 million shares indirectly. CCMO is in a downtrend throughout 2011. Now the stock is trading near its 52-week low, at $4.05.

Liontrust Vet Legge Launches Global Equity Fund (FINAlternatives)

Former Liontrust Asset Management CEO Nigel Legge is back with a new vehicle, the long-only IM Vinculum Global Equity Fund. Legge is working with Bjarne Jensen, current CEO of StockRate Asset Management; Niels Jensen, managing partner of Absolute Return Partners; and Douglas Thursby-Pelham, a marketing and communications specialist.

Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital Bought More $FDML (InsiderMonkey)

Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital disclosed on November 22nd for its insider purchases in Federal Mogul Corp (FDML). Carl Icahn made three insider purchases for totally 165,040 shares from November 18 to 22. His average purchase price was about $13.75. After the transaction, Carl Icahn revealed 76.25 million shares in FDML in its 13D filing, corresponding to a 77.09% activist stake ownership. Carl Icahn initiated his FDML position during the second quarter, and he had nearly 76 million shares in the stock by the end of September. FDML is now trading at 13.27%, and has decreased by 36% year to date.

UK’s Futures And Options Association Expands Regulatory Team (FINAlternatives)

The Futures and Options Association has tapped Blake Stephenson as manager of regulation. Stephenson joins the UK-based FOA from the Financial Services Authority where he was part of the exchange supervision team. He is also a qualified solicitor. At the same time, Simon Andrews has been promoted to director of commodities, a new role which will see him spearhead the FOA’s increased activities in this sector. Andrews has been with the FOA for six years and has additional oversight of prudential regulation and taxation issues.

Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital Boosted in $URS (InsiderMonkey)

Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital boosted its passive stake in URS Corp (URS) to 5.21%, according to the SEC 13G filing on November 21th. So now Glenview Capital has 4.15 million shares in URS. This is a 5% expansion in Glenview Capital’s position since the firm reported 3.96 million shares in its 13F filing at the end of the third quarter. In the second quarter, Glenview Capital took 3.81 million shares in URS in its position. URS is now trading at $33.14, losing about 20% so far in 2011.

Ex-SAC Trader Akay’s Hedge Fund to Launch Next Week-Source (Reuters)
Ali Akay, a former trader at Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, is set to launch his emerging-markets focused hedge fund next week after raising around $200 million, a source familiar with the situation said. London-based Carrhae Capital will begin trading on Dec. 1 and invest in emerging market equities, according to the source, who is familiar with hedge fund capital raisings and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Edward A. Mule’s Silver Point Capital Report 72% Stake in $TRU (InsiderMonkey)
Edward A. Mule’s Silver Point Capital reported its recent insider purchases in Torch Energy Royalty Trust (TRU) on November 21st. The Form 4 filing shows Silver Point Capital sold 345 thousand shares (units of beneficial interest) in TRU on November 17 and 18. After that Silver Point Capital remains 6.16 million shares in its position, giving 72% activist stake. Silver Point Capital did not change its TRU position during the third quarter, and reported 5.93 million shares in its most recent 13F filing. TRU has lost 27% year to date, and is trading at $2.52 right now.
Japan’s FGI Launches $500 Million Event-driven Hedge Fund (BusinessRecorder)
Japanese hedge fund FGI Capital Partners has launched an Asia event-driven fund, aiming to tap fresh demand from institutional investors including Japanese and foreign pension funds, a top executive said. The fund started trading on Nov. 1 and has capacity to take in up to $500 million, Hideyuki Omokawa, representative director and president of FGI Capital, told Reuters in an interview.
Solus Alternative Asset Management Bought More $BKEP (InsiderMonkey)
Christopher Pucillo’s Solus Alternative Asset Management filed on November 21st for its 9.99% passive stake in Blueknight Energy Partners (BKEP). According to the SEC 13G filing, Solus Alternative Asset Management now has 2.50 million shares in BKEP, which is a 60% increase. Solus Alternative Asset Management previously reported 1.57 million BKEP shares and did not make change to its position during the third quarter. BKEP performed well for most of the time in 2011 even when the European debt crisis deteriorated in August. But the stock plunged hard in late September due to the settlement of its consolidated securities class action litigation. Now the stock has lost 14% and is trading at about $6.64.
Martin Coward Systematic Fund to Launch Next Quarter (HFMWeek)
Martin Coward, co-founder of the storied computer-driven fund Ikos, is to launch his new systematic trading fund in the first quarter of next year, under the unassuming name of ‘Dormouse’, HFMWeek can reveal. The fund, which has been seeded with $50m of Coward’s own money, is currently talking to outside investors, including a number of family offices and funds of hedge funds, as it looks to grow the business prior to launch. Coward, when approached for comment, told HFMWeek that the business was ambitious and hoping to raise over $1bn, with eventual plans to equal the assets of his former firm which managed close to $3.5bn at its peak.