Jana Partners Is Pushing Vonage to Sell or Break Up (Bloomberg)
Activist investor Jana Partners has called on Vonage Holdings Inc. to hire advisers to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of all or parts of the telecommunications services company, according to people familiar with the matter. Vonage rose as much as 11% on the news. The New York-based hedge fund, which owns about 4% of Vonage, has discussed its views with the company and fellow shareholders after a previous review of the company’s consumer business failed to result in a sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
Pershing Square to Buy Extra 2.9% of Universal Music for $1.15 bln (Reuters)
PARIS, Aug 31 (Reuters) – American hedge fund manager Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square is buying an additional 2.9% of Universal Music Group (UMG) from Vivendi (VIV.PA) for $1.149 billion, the French conglomerate said on Tuesday.
Magnetar Appoints Head of Business Development for Systematic Investing (Hedge Week)
Alternative asset manager Magnetar Capital (Magnetar) has appointed Stuart Davies as head of Business Development, Systematic Investing. A 24-year industry veteran, Davies brings a wealth of alternative investment, client partnership and product innovation experience to Magnetar’s Systematic Investing team. “Our Systematic Investing business is seeing an increase in demand for our products and solutions as investors continue to adopt our belief that systematic hedge fund returns are a critical portfolio component,” says Alec Litowitz, founder, CEO and head of Systematic Investing at Magnetar Capital. “I’m happy to welcome Stuart to the team. He is one of the true innovators in the systematic alternatives space and innately understands investors’ wants and pain-points. I know our clients will utilise him as a strategic, trusted partner.”
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David Rosen’s $1.5 Billion Hedge Fund Rubric Capital, a Top Performer Since Spinning Out of Steve Cohen’s SAC, Just Made a Big Bet on Natural Gas (Business Insider)
A protege of Steve Cohen has bet big on natural gas. David Rosen‘s Rubric Capital has been an under-the-radar star in the hedge fund space over the last couple of years. The manager, which launched in 2016 after operating as a unit in Cohen’s SAC Capital, is up nearly 15% through the first half of this year, an investor document shows, besting the industry average of 10%.
How COVID Reshaped the Infrastructure Market (Preqin)
As demand for data, renewables, and ESG-minded assets accelerates, Philippe Camu and Scott Lebovitz of Goldman Sachs explore the opportunities available for private capital infrastructure investment. The past year has been one of unprecedented change. The COVID-19 pandemic, economic shutdowns, work-from-home, increased social awareness, and a continued focus on sustainability have all led to a significant acceleration in pre-existing trends in infrastructure, most notably a focus on renewables and energy transition, as well as the continued digitization of economies.
Millennium, Barclays Hire Ex-Bank of America Staff in Paris (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund Millennium Management LLC and Barclays Plc have hired a number of bankers who left Bank of America Corp.’s Paris offices earlier this year, following a wave of departures at the U.S. lender. Romain Paternot, who was a director in equities synthetics and securities lending for the U.S. bank in Paris, joined Millennium’s Dubai office earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the move. Barclays has hired Niels Aage Juhl Christensen in Paris as Head of Equity Distribution Nordics, a person familiar with the move said. He previously led Bank of America’s equity team covering the Nordics.
Tampa Bay Times sells a big tract of land to real estate affiliate of hedge fund Alden Global Capital (Poynter)
The Tampa Bay Times will get a $21 million cash infusion after selling its former printing plant and the 27 acres it sits on in a deal announced Tuesday. The buyer is Twenty Lakes Holdings, a commercial real estate subsidiary of hedge fund Alden Global Capital. Alden has gained notoriety in recent years for aggressively seeking acquisitions in the newspaper industry – most recently when it bought Tribune Publishing in May — then drastically cutting newsrooms and other costs.
Why Tiger Global Bet on Crypto Firm CoinSwitch (Fortune India)
It is Tiger Global’s maiden investment in an Indian cryptocurrency startup. But before we begin with why Tiger chose CoinSwitch Kuber, let’s take a sneak peek into the crypto dossier. That which can’t be deciphered, how can it be governed, and what can’t be governed, how can it be regulated? That’s the state of cryptocurrencies as governments and central banks worldwide, including in India, try to figure out the functionality and utility of the new game in town.
Monday 8/30 Insider Buying Report: CRMT, IMVT (Nasdaq.com)
At America’s Car-Mart, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Thursday, Director Joshua G. Welch purchased 2,539 shares of CRMT, for a cost of $124.75 each, for a total investment of $316,740. Welch was up about 3.4% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with CRMT trading as high as $128.99 in trading on Monday. America’s Car-Mart is trading up about 1.5% on the day Monday. And on Friday, Director Douglas J. Hughes purchased $150,355 worth of Immunovant, purchasing 18,247 shares at a cost of $8.24 each. This buy marks the first one filed by Hughes in the past twelve months. Immunovant is trading up about 1.4% on the day Monday. So far Hughes is in the green, up about 8.1% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $8.91.
The COO of Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the COO of Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Joshua Kobza, sold shares of QSR for $3.57M. Following Joshua Kobza’s last QSR Sell transaction on January 07, 2021, the stock climbed by 2.1%. In addition to Joshua Kobza, 2 other QSR executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Based on Restaurant Brands International’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending June 30, the company posted quarterly revenue of $1.44 billion and quarterly net profit of $259 million. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $1.05 billion and had a net profit of $106 million. The company has a one-year high of $71.12 and a one-year low of $51.12.
