U.S. Hedge Fund Dispute with South Korea Heads to Arbitration (Reuters)
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – An international arbitration panel will hold hearings next month in the United States in a case filed by two New York-based hedge funds against the South Korean government over a 2015 Samsung merger. Mason Capital LP and Mason Management LLC filed suits in 2018 at both the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which resolves commercial disputes involving states, and a South Korean domestic tribunal.
Sony Rejects Third Point’s Proposal Calling for a Company Breakup (The Wall Street Journal)
Sony Corp. turned down a request by activist investor Daniel Loeb for a spinoff of the profitable Sony unit that supplies parts for iPhone cameras, saying that keeping the business in-house would preserve synergies. The move, backed by a unanimous vote of Sony’s board, marks the clearest statement yet by Sony Chief Executive Kenichiro Yoshida that he intends to preserve the conglomerate model in which Sony embraces a range of businesses including Hollywood movies, PlayStation videogames, Walkman portable music players, life..
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Elliott Doesn’t Trust AT&T’s John Stankey as a Leader, But Getting Him Ousted could Create Chaos (CNBC)
Elliott Management didn’t mention the name John Stankey in its letter last week to AT&T’s board, but the activist hedge fund was clearly expressing its concern about the WarnerMedia CEO’s decision-making, especially as he assumes a bigger role at the telecom giant. Stankey’s positioning as the next CEO of AT&T was the catalyst for Elliott’s Jesse Cohn, a partner at the firm, and Mark Steinberg, an associate portfolio manager, to take a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T and disclose a plan for “enhancing leadership” at the company. The investors don’t like Stankey and ideally want him out, along with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the details are confidential.
Diamondback Duo Starts Long-Short Hedge Fund With $1 Billion (Bloomberg)
Rich Schimel and Lawrence Sapanski have started their new hedge fund with $1 billion in commitments seven years after shutting their previous firm, according to an email sent to investors. Like Diamondback Capital Management, the duo’s Cinctive Capital Management is a long-short stock fund that uses multiple trading teams, each focusing on a specific sector. The firm has 11 teams and more than 20 investment professionals and plans to hire more people, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.
Exclusive: Buyout Firm CD&R Pursues Bid with PPG for Buffett-Backed Axalta – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC is in talks to partner with U.S. paint maker PPG Industries Inc to make an acquisition offer for Axalta Coating Systems Inc, the U.S. coatings company whose largest shareholder is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The bid would come three months after Axalta said it would explore a sale. It would allow PPG to overcome potential antitrust hurdles it would face were it to buy the entirety of Axalta, and only take on businesses it deems complementary.
Hedge Funds Up 0.17 per cent in August, Says Eurekahedge (HedgeWeek.com)
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index was up 0.17 per cent in August, bringing its year-to-date return to 6.58 per cent. Roughly 32.6 per cent of the hedge fund managers comprising the index have recorded double-digit gains over the first eight months of the year. The global hedge fund industry AUM has declined by USD9.4 billion as of August 2019 year-to-date. Final Q2 2019 net outflows figure stood at USD40.0 billion, as investor redemptions continued to slow down. Hedge fund managers recorded USD46.4 billion and USD94.7 billion of net outflows in Q1 2019 and Q4 2018, respectively.
Texas Employees, PAAMCO Make First Investment in New Hedge Fund (Pensions&Investments)
Texas Employees Retirement System, Austin, and strategic partner PAAMCO Prisma have made their first seed investment in newly formed long/short equity manager Cinctive Capital Management, ERS spokeswoman Mary Jane Wardlow confirmed in an email. The amount of the investment by the $28.7 billion pension fund and PAAMCO Prisma, made in a strategic alliance called PAAMCO Launchpad, is not being disclosed, Ms. Wardlow said.
Preqin Venture Capital Benchmark Report, Q4 2018 (Preqin.com)
Preqin Private Equity Benchmarks® are calculated using performance information for over 6,000 private equity funds. This report contains global median and weighted performance benchmarks for global venture capital funds and early-stage funds up to Q4 2018, and provides individual median benchmarks for North America-focused venture capital funds. Plus information on pooled and horizon IRRs. Preqin collects performance data from a variety of sources to ensure a high degree of accuracy and confidence. In doing so, we can verify fund data and ensure that performance is consistent with our methodologies, offering the best and most trustworthy information in the market.
