Activist Amber Capital Locks Horns with Lagardere Over Lawsuit (Reuters)
PARIS (Reuters) – Activist shareholder Amber Capital, which is being sued by Lagardere (LAGA.PA), said on Monday the lawsuit was baseless and it would continue to seek strategy and management changes at the French publishing group. Lagardere – whose businesses include publishing house Hachette and Relay news agents – said on Friday it was suing minority shareholder Amber and seeking 84 million euros ($93 million) in damages. It accused the fund, which also has a stake in French utility Suez, of leading a “destabilising campaign” and using smear tactics in the press, adding that these had hurt its share price.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin Gives $125 million to Chicago Museum; Name will Change (Pensions&Investments)
Hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin has given $125 million to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, the largest donation in its history. The gift from Mr. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel LLC, will result in renaming the museum as the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. “The Museum of Science and Industry celebrates our greatest scientific and commercial achievements and ignites the imaginations of all who visit,” Mr. Griffin said in a news release from the museum. “As one of the most important institutions of science in the world, the museum’s impact extends far beyond its halls. I am honored to support MSI’s mission to inspire the next generation of scientific exploration and innovation.”
Image By Monkey Business – Adobe
PE Daily: EIG Going Long on Port Bet | Blackstone in Talks for Citadel Stake (The Wall Street Journal)
It’s the Columbus Day holiday here in the U.S. and many of you are hopefully enjoying a well earned day off. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Blackstone Group has discussed an investment in Citadel’s hedge fund unit as well as its securities growing operation, although it remains to be seen whether those talks will lead to an actual deal.
Korea’s Top Hedge Fund Freezes $710 Million As Investors Try to Withdraw (Bloomberg)
Lime Asset Management Co., South Korea’s largest hedge fund with about $4 billion of assets, suspended withdrawals from more funds on Monday, freezing a total of $710 million of its portfolio, after the firm said last week it couldn’t sell assets fast enough to meet redemption demands. The hedge fund halted an additional 243.6 billion won ($210 million) today after freezing funds worth 603 billion won on Oct. 10, Won Jong-Jun, chief executive officer at the Seoul-based firm, said in a press briefing this afternoon. A further 489 billion won of funds may also be restricted from withdrawals, he said.
Tom Steyer’s First Debate: What to Expect From the Paradoxical 2020 Democrat (NYMag.com)
Most of the 11 debaters who will be on the stage in Ohio on Tuesday (or 12, if Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t go through with her threat to boycott the event as part of a DNC/media scheme to “rig” the nomination contest) are familiar figures to those who tune in regularly to these spectacles. Ten of them have been in all three previous debates, and Gabbard missed the September stage. But now, voters will see someone who might be a new face: Tom Steyer.
Ophir Looks Offshore with New Global Fund (AFR.com)
Ophir Asset Management has become the latest Australian fund manager to look offshore, announcing its Ophir Global Opportunities Fund on Tuesday. The small and mid-cap manager has been managing the fund in the background for the past year but has already delivered huge returns to the small pool of investors who bought in during October last year.
MUFG Investor Services to Buy Maitland’s Hedge Fund Administration Unit (Verdict.co.uk)
MUFG Investor Services, a global asset servicing business owned by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), has agreed to purchase select divisions of Maitland’s fund administration arm. The transaction value was not revealed. The assets to be acquired include hedge funds and private equity funds, which will add around $20bn in assets under administration to MUFG Investor Services’ existing portfolio of more than $580bn.
Elliott and Blackstone Enter Hostile Territory in Japan (The Washington Post)
A small $1.5 billion company is attracting the biggest movers in finance in what’s shaping up as the first high-profile foreign hostile takeover in Japan. If successful, it could wake up the sleepy $228 billion market of publicly listed real-estate companies. The attention is on Unizo Holdings Co., until recently an obscure developer and hotel operator. The company has a big chunk of its office rental business, which accounts for about 90% of operating income, in Tokyo, where the vacancy rate is as low as 2% and a decent 3.5% yield can be earned.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACAD) CEO Stephen Davis Sold $6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., Stephen Davis, sold 150,000 shares of ACAD on 10/10/2019 at an average price of $40.15 a share. The total sale was $6 million. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biotechnology company which develops and commercializes biopharmaceutical products to address central nervous system disorders. It aims to discover small molecule drugs to address Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.
Notable Insider Buys In The Past Week: Assured Guaranty, Red Rock Resorts, TerraForm Power (Benzinga)
The following are some notable insider purchases reported in the past week, ahead of the new earnings reporting season. TerraForm Power: TerraForm Power Inc (TERP) 0.41% 10% owner Brookfield Asset Management stepped up to the buy window this past week. The firm picked up over 2.98 million shares of this clean power generation asset holder at $16.77 each last week. That transaction totaled about $50 million, and it brought the firm’s stake to nearly 32.86 million shares.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARWR) CEO Christopher Richard Anzalone Sold $1.8 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc., Christopher Richard Anzalone, sold 56,325 shares of ARWR on 10/10/2019 at an average price of $31.83 a share. The total sale was $1.8 million. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc is a biotechnology company. It is engaged in the development of medicine to treat diseases such as hepatitis B, and thrombosis with a genetic origin, primarily divided by the overproduction of one or more proteins.
