Billionaire Noam Gottesman’s Favorite Small-Caps Are Nimble Storage Inc (NMBL), Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (HCBK)

Another merger-related small-cap pick of GLG’s was in New Jersey-based Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK). During the first quarter GLG increased its stake in the company by 14% to 4.45 million shares valued at $47.55 million. Founded in 1868, Hudson City Bancorp is one of the oldest banks in the U.S and keeps roughly $50 billion in assets. The company’s stock performance has been poor in 2015, dipping by 4.45% year-to-date. The bank is still waiting for regulatory approval for its proposed merger with Buffalo-based M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB), which has been held up for three years and counting due to M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB)’s non-compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act. M&T CEO Mr. Robert G. Wilmers says that the deal is an “extremely beneficial opportunity for both companies, including the shareholders […]” Hedge funds Mangrove Partners and Farallon Capital are among those waiting for the closure of the deal, holding 2.74 million and 17.6 million shares of the bank corporation respectively.

Lastly is San Jose, California-based Nimble Storage Inc (NYSE:NMBL), in which GLG Partners now holds 1.03 million shares with a value of $22.91 million. Nimble, founded in 2008 and trading publicly since its IPO during the fall of 2013, produces software and hardware for data storage. Nimble Storage Inc (NYSE:NMBL) has been experiencing a bumpy spring, shedding 1.45% year-to-date. The company’s earnings for the first quarter were published on May 26, and revealed earnings per share of -$0.10, $0.03 better than the estimates and $0.04 better than the same period last year. Analysts predict that Nimble will run a loss per share of $0.26 for its fiscal year 2015. During May a number of insiders decreased their holdings in Nimble, among them being CTO Umesh Maheshwari, who unloaded 16,000 shares, and CFO Anup Singh, who sold off 5,000. Other hedge funds with stakes in Nimble are Brett Barakett‘s Tremblant Capital, which increased its stake by 273% to 2.10 million shares, and Quentec Asset Management.

Disclosure: None