Activist Carl Icahn Takes Stakes in Allergan, Herc Holdings, Slashes PayPal Position

Billionaire Carl Icahn of Icahn Capital L.P. is considered the godfather of activist investors, so his moves and comments tend to send shockwaves across financial markets on some occasions. As equity markets have become too efficient due to the proliferation of high-frequency trading in recent years, the idea of simply taking advantage of pricing discrepancies does not seem to be working as it used to. Instead of speculating about future performance, activist investors such as Carl Icahn are attempting to change future performance.

Carl Celian Icahn, the son of a singer and a teacher, was brought up in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Queens, New York. Mr. Icahn usually approaches target companies with a high degree of aggression and disdain, which might have earned him the title of the most feared activist on the shareholder activism arena. Although Carl Icahn keeps shaking up companies through his brand style of activist investing, his firm’s performance has not been good in recent months. His portfolio of investments includes companies from a wide range of sectors, including several energy companies that seriously hit his portfolio in recent months. Without further ado, let’s summarize Mr. Icahn’s most noteworthy moves completed during the second quarter of 2016.

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Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI)

– Shares Owned by Icahn Capital L.P. (as of June 30): 4.31 Million

– Value of Icahn Capital L.P.’s Holding (as of June 30): $148.36 Million

Carl Icahn had a new stake of 4.31 million shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) in his firm’s portfolio at the end of the June quarter, valued at $148.36 million on June 30. The position accounted for 0.7% of the activist firm’s entire portfolio. In late June, Hertz Global Holdings completed the separation of the car rental business and equipment rental business into two publicly traded companies, with Herc Holdings being the company that manages the business of renting equipment. Herc Rentals operates approximately 280 company-operated branches, predominantly located in North America, which generated revenues of nearly $1.7 billion in 2015. The shares of the former Hertz Global Holdings, known as Herc Holdings Inc. post spin-off, were adjusted for a 1-for-15 reverse stock split. As a result, a shareholder of the former Hertz Global Holdings with 15 shares ended up with three shares in the car-rental business (Hertz Rental Car Holding Company) and one share in the equipment-rental business. Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital Partners owns 3.30 million shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) as of June 30.