Anthony Scaramucci On Turning Failure Into Success (Reuters)
When hedge-fund king Anthony Scaramucci left Lehman Brothers in 2005 to start SkyBridge Capital from scratch, a few people thought he was nuts, including his own daughter. Fast forward to today: Lehman Brothers went bust, SkyBridge has $12.3 billion under management, and Scaramucci has a new book coming out at the end of October, “Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole: How Entrepreneurs Turn Failure Into Success.” For the latest in Reuters’ “Life Lessons” series, Scaramucci sat down to talk about his own unique money journey.
Activist Jana Partners Stocks Up On HD Supply Shares (Reuters)
Activist investor Jana Partners LLC disclosed an 8.1 percent stake in HD Supply Holdings Inc, and said it had held discussions with the company’s management about possible strategic options. HD Supply, the industrial product distributor that separated from parent Home Depot Inc in 2007 under pressure from a different activist investor, saw its stock rise 3 percent to $33.11 on Thursday. Jana, which owns $449 million worth of HD Supply’s shares, is one of the largest U.S. activist investors, with $9.9 billion in assets. The New York-based firm has taken on companies such as chip-maker Qualcomm Inc and packaged food maker ConAgra Foods Inc.
Hedge Fund Anchorage Capital Seeks Controlling Stake In Ireland’s Eir (Reuters)
The largest shareholder in Irish telecoms firm eir, hedge fund Anchorage Capital Group, plans to acquire additional shares to secure control of the company, according to a regulatory filing published on Thursday. Anchorage held a 36.4 percent share of eir’s parent company Eircom Holdco S.A., according to a filing in June. Ireland’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, on Thursday said on its web site it had been informed of “the proposed acquisition by Anchorage Capital Group L.L.C. of sole control of Eircom Holdco S.A.”. A spokesman for eir declined comment on whether Anchorage would require over 50 percent ownership to secure control over voting rights.
So Platinum Partners Maybe Defrauded An Energy Company All The Way To Bankruptcy Court (DealBreaker)
One day, the morality play that is Platinum Partners will come to an end. From its high-flying, 650%-returning-on-controversial-energy-investments days to its current embroiled-in-a-pay-to-play-scandal, attempting-to-prove-it-still-has-a-nickel-in-the-bank, getting-raided-by-the-FBI, barely-solvent bankruptcy present, the whole sorry tale will be history. And wouldn’t it be perfectly fitting for this Shakespearean drama to end with our protagonist finally felled by that with which it made its name in the first place?
Rhode Island Pension Terminates Och-Ziff and Brevan Howard Funds (Bloomberg)
Rhode Island’s $7.7 billion pension fund terminated investments in seven hedge funds, including Brevan Howard Asset Management and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, after voting last month to cut its allocation in half over two years. The state also terminated Brigade Capital Management LP, Emerging Sovereign Group LLC, Partner Fund Management LP, Ascend Capital LLC and Samlyn Capital LLC, state Treasurer Seth Magaziner said in a news release. The state will redeem an estimate $585 million from hedge funds in the coming months. Hedge funds’ high fees are eating into returns and some of the investment pools provide less diversification than expected, Magaziner said last month when announcing the decision.
GE Isn’t Going to Do Elliott’s Work (BloombergGadfly)
General Electric Co. is making Elliott Management Corp.‘s job a lot harder. The activist fund led by Paul Singer amassed a more than 20 percent stake in SLM Solutions Group AG, a German 3-D printer maker that GE agreed to buy in September. Elliott came out against the takeover on the grounds that it wasn’t in the best interest of shareholders. The strategy seemed to mimic tactics that investment firm has employed with success at Swedish software maker Industrial & Financial Systems IFS AB and drug distributor Celesio AG. There’s one problem though: in those instances the companies’ would-be buyer stuck around and eventually played ball with Elliott. GE gave notice on Wednesday that it’s walking away from its SLM offer.
Activist Investor Oasis Management Raises Stake In Premier Foods (Reuters)
Activist hedge fund Oasis Management Co Ltd has raised its stake in Britain’s Premier Foods Plc to 5.18 percent, a regulatory filing on Thursday showed, sending the company’s shares up as much as 4 percent. Hong Kong-based Oasis has been building up its stake in Premier, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes. The fund, founded in 2002 by Seth Fischer, earlier this month raised its stake to 4.64 percent from 3.05 percent reported in July. The stake raise comes months after Premier’s second-largest shareholder, hedge fund Paulson & Co, criticized the food company’s board for rejecting a 1.5 billion pound takeover proposal from U.S. food maker McCormick & Co Inc.
Julian Robertson Says Clinton Presidency Is ‘A Tragedy That Is Going To Happen’ (CNBC)
Hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson said he is “apoplectic over the thought of” a Hillary Clinton presidency. “Well, I think that’s a tragedy that is going to happen, with or without me,” Robertson said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” Robertson added that biotechnology stocks and Mexico look attractive right now, given the headline risk those areas face in the election. He said that investors are terrified Clinton will put the drug companies out of business and that the Mexican peso will likely gain after election day. He said, however, that he is not backing Donald Trump and is instead supporting Libertarian Gary Johnson for president.
Samsung Elec To Respond To Elliott In November (Reuters)
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday said it is considering activist hedge fund Elliott Management‘s proposals for a radical corporate makeover and will respond by the end of November. Robert Yi, head of Samsung’s investor relations, said the response will be made along with its overall shareholder returns plans. He said the response will likely speak in broad directions as opposed to specific details.
