Mid-Market Private Equity: 2.0 (Preqin)
Mid-market private equity has grown in popularity as investors seek to invest in the high-growth companies that drive economies. The relatively small scale obf deals compared with the large buyout funds means the focus of mid-market private equity is local. That is, the segment is dominated by domestic private equity funds investing primarily in domestic companies. Investing in single countries or regions can make sense – the closer you can get to investee companies, the more likely you are to select the ones with the greatest potential. However, the model lacks diversification; investors are potentially exposed to countries and regions that have structurally slow growth or suffer from geopolitical problems.
Jana Partners Pushes TreeHouse for Sale After Buying Stake, Shares Jump (Reuters)
Feb 10 (Reuters) – Hedge fund Jana Partners is pushing TreeHouse Foods to explore options, including a sale, after taking a 7.3% stake, the packaged food company disclosed in a filing on Wednesday, sending its shares up 22%. Jana bought more than four million shares in TreeHouse as it viewed the stock to be undervalued even after nearly three years into a turnaround, the fund said in the filing.
Wednesday 2/10 Insider Buying Report: AMG, NWBI (Nasdaq.com)
At Affiliated Managers Group, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Tuesday, CEO Jay C. Horgen bought 4,000 shares of AMG, at a cost of $136.23 each, for a total investment of $544,920. So far Horgen is in the green, up about 7.4% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $146.29. Affiliated Managers Group is trading up about 2.7% on the day Wednesday. Before this latest buy, Horgen purchased AMG on 4 other occasions during the past year, for a total cost of $2.29M at an average of $65.56 per share. And at Northwest Bancshares, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director Timothy M. Hunter who purchased 10,000 shares at a cost of $13.50 each, for a trade totaling $134,970. Before this latest buy, Hunter bought NWBI at 2 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $254,975 at an average of $10.20 per share. Northwest Bancshares is trading up about 0.7% on the day Wednesday. Hunter was up about 2.7% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with NWBI trading as high as $13.86 in trading on Wednesday.
Mettler-toledo International Inc (MTD) CFO Shawn Vadala Sold $1.5 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CFO of Mettler-toledo International Inc, Shawn Vadala, sold 1,287 shares of MTD on 02/08/2021 at an average price of $1194 a share. The total sale was $1.5 million. Mettler-Toledo International Inc supplies weighing and precision instruments to customers in the life sciences, industrial and food retail industries. Its products are laboratory scales, pipettes, pH meters, thermal analysis equipment and others.
The COO of Veritex (NASDAQ: VBTX) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the COO of Veritex (VBTX), Lavonda Renfro, sold shares of VBTX for $52.95K. Following Lavonda Renfro’s last VBTX Sell transaction on August 12, 2020, the stock climbed by 10.2%. In addition to Lavonda Renfro, 4 other VBTX executives reported Sell trades in the last month.
Bobblehead Maker Funko Sued Over Insider Trading Allegations (Bloomberg Law)
A Funko Inc. shareholder sued it in Delaware, seeking internal files to probe claims that the toymaker’s board falsely hyped its prospects while its chief executive and financial backers at ACON Investments LLC sold more than $100 million worth of stock at inflated prices. There’s “more than a credible basis to believe” the board offered “misleading statements about Funko’s capabilities, inventory, and finances” while some of its members, along with ACON and CEO Brian Mariotti, made insider sales “after the company raised its near-term guidance and before it announced disappointing financial” results, the complaint says.
