Papa John’s Strikes Deal with Starboard in Hopes of Ending Feud with Founder, But Schnatter Says He Had Rival Plan (CNBC)
Embattled pizza chain Papa John’s has struck a deal with activist hedge fund Starboard Value in what it hopes may bring an end to a rocky few months that included a public battle with its founder, John Schnatter. As part of the deal, Starboard will invest $200 million, which will bring Schnatter’s stake in Papa John’s down from roughly 30 percent to around 26 percent, according to a person familiar with the situation. It will also install Starboard Chief Executive Jeff Smith, known for his turnaround of Darden Restaurants, on the pizza chain’s board as chairman, giving it a powerful defense should Schnatter wish to launch a proxy battle or seek to overturn members of the Papa John’s board.
Here’s What Happens When a Hedge Fund’s Star Walks Away (Bloomberg)
Andrew Fredman hit the hedge-fund lottery. For a decade and a half, he made a fortune as the investment brains behind Fir Tree Capital Management. Then, at 53, he walked away. What happened next shows the vagaries of the hedge-fund business — and how quickly a hot hand can go cold when a star steps back.
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Elliott Management Increases Passive Stake in Dell Technologies (Bloomberg)
Elliott Management Corp. has upped its stake in Dell Technologies Inc. and believes the company can increase its share price by taking actions including distributing its stake in VMware Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based hedge fund, run by billionaire Paul Singer, increased its passive stake in Michael Dell’s technology giant to 9.6 million shares, or 5.6 percent, from about 6.3 million shares previously, according to a regulatory filing Monday.
Gannett Rejects Hostile Bid From Hedge Fund-Backed Group (The New York Times)
Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and more than 100 other newspapers across nearly three dozen states, rejected a hostile takeover bid from a hedge fund-backed newspaper group on Monday, kicking off a battle for shareholder votes to determine the future of the company. In a statement, Gannett’s board said it turned down a $1.3 billion buyout offer, or $12 per share, from MNG Enterprises, which is controlled by the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital. It concluded that the “proposal undervalues Gannett and is not in the best interests of Gannett and its shareholders” and called it not “credible.”
Insider Weekends: Dr. Denner Purchases Over $20 Million Of Biogen (SeekingAlpha)
Insider buying more than doubled last week. Notable insider buys: Biogen Inc., Kinder Morgan, Inc., Discover Financial Services, DISH Network Corporation, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. Notable insider sales: Adobe Inc., Twitter, Inc., Clarus Corporation, Medpace Holdings, Inc., The Charles Schwab Corporation. Insider buying more than doubled last week with insiders purchasing $37.61 million of stock compared to $11.46 million in the week prior. Selling also more than doubled with insiders selling $831.23 million of stock last week compared to $356.43 million in the week prior.
Monday 2/4 Insider Buying Report: BIIB, NRGX (Nasdaq.com)
And at PIMCO Energy and Tactical Credit Opportunities Fund (NRGX), there was insider buying on Wednesday, by Mark R. Kiesel who bought 280,000 shares at a cost of $20.00 each, for a total investment of $5.6M. This buy marks the first one filed by Kiesel in the past twelve months. PIMCO Energy and Tactical Credit Opportunities Fund is trading up about 0.8% on the day Monday. Kiesel was up about 1.4% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with NRGX trading as high as $20.28 in trading on Monday.
Did Insider Trading Cause This Junior Gold Miner to Gain 25% in a Week? (The Motley Fool)
After a fatal attack on its employees in late September 2018 Colombian gold miner Continental Gold Inc.’s (TSX:CNL) market value collapsed. This saw its stock fall from 2018 highs of over $4 per share to a two-year low of $1.76 per share. Since then, Continental Gold’s price languished below $2 a share until Tuesday of last week, when its value surged to well over $2 and gaining 26% in less than a week. This has sparked considerable concern despite good news regarding the miner’s operations that insider information concerning Continental Gold’s operations may have been leaked.
Kenol CEO Deleted Texts Before Insider Trading Raid (Business Daily)
KenolKobil CEO David Ohana deleted selected text messages and call logs just hours before detectives raided his office, the stock market regulator has told the court in the ongoing investigations into suspected insider trading of the oil firm’s shares. Capital Markets Authority (CMA) investigators have in affidavits said they believe that Mr Ohana and Mr Andre DeSimone, the chief executive of stockbrokerage firm Kestrel Capital, got a tip-off on the impending raid, leading them to clean their devices ahead of the raid and seizure of documents.
Insider Buys $100K of Aritzia Inc. (TSX:ATZ) Stock: Should You? (The Motley Fool)
They say the best indicator that a stock is a buy is when an insider steps up and purchases shares in the company on the open market. It implies confidence in the company’s future direction. On January 14, newly appointed director Marcia Smith purchased 6,000 shares of Aritzia (TSX:ATZ) stock at $16.84 a share, laying out $101,040. It’s a significant amount whether you’re a high-net-worth investor or a small-time dabbler. Currently trading around Smith’s purchase price, investors ought to be wondering if this makes it a buy. I’ve got one reason…
