Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Crispin Odey, D.E. Shaw, Maplelane Capital, Baupost Group, Passport Capital, Peoples Financial Services Corp (PFIS), Emx Royalty Corp (EMX), and More

Maplelane Raises Bearish Option Bets on GameStop, American Airlines (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Hedge fund Maplelane Capital has raised its bearish options bets on GameStop and American Airlines, companies that were at the heart of a retail-investor-led rally in heavily shorted stocks, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday. Maplelane also disclosed that it had put options on 800,000 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the filing.

Fund Boss Odey’s Assault Trial Starts After Humbling Year (Bloomberg)
For Crispin Odey, a personal and professional crisis is coming to a head. The hedge fund manager will fight a sex assault charge this week knowing that a verdict against him could end an investing career that’s spanned nearly three decades. On Wednesday, Odey will face a two-day trial where he’s accused of groping a young bank employee after inviting her back to his home in 1998.

Steven Cohen’s Point72 Ventures Invests Nearly $19M in UK-Based Fintech Firm (Stamford Advocate)
STAMFORD — Point72 Ventures, the venture capital business founded by billionaire hedge fund investor Steven Cohen, has announced it is leading an eight-figure investment in a financial-technology startup. The £13.5 million investment — which equates to nearly $19 million, based on the British pound-U.S. dollar exchange rate as of Monday — completed the “Series A” fundraising for London-headquartered Trade Ledger.

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Micro-Satellite Specialist Umbra Raise USD32m in Venture Funding (PrivateEquityWire.co.uk)
Umbra, a Santa Barbara-based intelligence and technology company, has raised USD32 million in an equity financing led by the family office venture fund of John Burbank, founder of hedge fund Passport Capital. The company’s existing investors – CrossCut Ventures, Starbridge Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures, PonValley, and others – also participated. Umbra is the inventor of a micro-satellite that can see through clouds, at night, in high resolution (<25 cm GSD). The company has agreements to deliver data to the United States government and commercial geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) firms.

Baupost Group Takes a Large Stake in Intel (Institutional Investor)
The computer-chip giant has also been targeted by activist hedge fund Third Point. Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group initiated a huge new stake in Intel Corp. in the fourth quarter.The hedge fund firm bought more than 18 million shares valued at over $900 million, immediately making the computer-chip maker the firm’s third-largest long position in U.S. listed common stock, according to Baupost’s fourth quarter…