Fund Manager Hohn Demands Cellnex Board Changes to Speed CEO Search (Reuters)
Hedge fund manager Christopher Hohn on Thursday wrote to Cellnex (CLNX.MC) demanding Europe’s largest mobile phone tower operator remove its chairman and two other board members, and said the search for a new chief executive has been mishandled. Hohn, who runs hedge fund TCI Fund Management, owns 3.1% of Cellnex’s shares and 5.9% in derivatives, corporate records show.
Cathie Wood Doubles Down on Block, Coinbase as Shares Tumble (Bloomberg)
Cathie Wood snapped up more shares of Block Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. as turmoil engulfed both companies Thursday. The daily trading report from Wood’s firm ARK Investment Management showed that three of its exchange-traded funds bought about 338,000 shares of Block in the session, during which the payments firm plunged 15% after becoming the target of activist short seller Hindenburg Research.
AT1 Bond Wipeout: Not the Default Mode of Resolutions (Hedge Nordic)
As part of the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, Swiss financial regulator FINMA instructed the credit-stricken bank to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of additional tier-1 (AT1) bonds. This puts the traditional, common-sense pecking order hierarchy in turmoil as equity shareholders are set to receive payouts from the takeover. This prompted AT1 investors to threaten legal action and other European financial authorities to distance themselves from the decision of the Swiss Financial Supervisory Authority.
Hedge Fund ExodusPoint Drives Recruitment with JPMorgan, BofA Hires (Financial News)
Hedge fund ExodusPoint Capital Management is pushing ahead with new hires as part of a broader shift to bolster its portfolio management and analysis team. Evangelos Makris is the latest to be drafted into the firm as an analyst from JPMorgan, where he was a senior associate for three years. He started as an associate with the bank in December 2019 and was later promoted to the position of senior associate in November 2021. Makris worked at Tokyo-headquartered Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group prior to that.
Friday 3/24 Insider Buying Report: CVGW, PFSW (Nasdaq.com)
At Calavo Growers, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Lecil E. Cole purchased 50,000 shares of CVGW, for a cost of $24.29 each, for a total investment of $1.21M. So far Cole is in the green, up about 10.1% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $26.74. Calavo Growers is trading up about 7.4% on the day Friday. And on Tuesday, CEO/President Michael C. Willoughby bought $211,000 worth of PFSweb, buying 50,000 shares at a cost of $4.22 a piece. This purchase marks the first one filed by Willoughby in the past twelve months. PFSweb is trading down about 6.5% on the day Friday.
Over $1M Bet On This Energy Stock? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Tidewater: The Trade: Tidewater Inc. (TDW) Director Robert Robotti acquired a total of 27,000 shares an average price of $39.64. To acquire these shares, it cost around $1.07 million. New Mountain Finance: The Trade: New Mountain Finance Corporation (NMCF) Director Steven B Klinsky acquired a total of 100,000 shares at an average price of $11.74. To acquire these shares, it cost around $1.17 million.
DOJ And SEC Charge Individual For Insider Trading Through Use Of 10b5-1 Trading Plans (Lexology)
On March 1, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed an indictment against the founder, CEO, and Chairman of a publicly traded health care company (the “Company”), alleging that he had illegally executed trades pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans while in possession of material nonpublic information. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a concurrent civil suit against defendant for the same activity. In each case, the government alleged that defendant improperly used his 10b5-1 plans by entering into them while in possession of material nonpublic information and triggering sales shortly thereafter, without any form of cooling-off period.
