Hedge Fund Highlights: Bill Ackman, Philip Falcone & Paul Singer

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Allergan Poison Pill Won’t Be Triggered by Pershing Call (Bloomberg)
Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) agreed with Pershing Square Capital Management LP that a call for a special shareholder meeting to replace part of the drugmaker’s board won’t trigger a “poison pill” takeover defense. Pershing Square, the hedge fund run by investor Bill Ackman, brought the lawsuit as part of its plan with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) to take over Irvine, California-based Allergan, the maker of the Botox wrinkle treatment. Allergan has rejected Valeant’s $54.2 billion offer as inadequate.

Can hedge funds beat the market

New LightSquared Reorganization Plan Includes Cerberus (Wall Street Journal)
Philip Falcone‘s LightSquared wireless venture has a new reorganization plan tentatively in place that includes Cerberus Capital Management LP, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. In addition, the plan doesn’t include LightSquared’s largest secured lender, DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH). Chairman Charlie Ergen, according to a filing made Friday by the court-appointed mediator, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain. The presence of Cerberus in the negotiations comes as a surprise. Mr. Falcone, who controls most of LightSquared’s equity through his Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund firm, had testified in bankruptcy court earlier this year that he didn’t want to work with Cerberus when he was pursuing a restructuring plan.

Hedge funds enter market in droves (Business Standard)
Hedge funds, it seems, are making a beeline to enter the Indian stock market. In the past month, big names like Brevan HowardHudson Bay Capital ManagementBalyasny Asset Management, Treeline Investment Management, Segantii Capital Management, Indus Capital and Myraid Capital Management have entered the market. These funds have participated in the qualified institutional placement of Ashok Leyland and others. Sources said the new foreign portfolio investment guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Board of India are encouraging many of these new entrants because of the lower cost involved by listing with the custodians directly.

Same-Sex Marriage Group Key in Rep. Hanna’s GOP Primary Win (Newsmax.com)
A super PAC formed by multimillionaire same-sex marriage advocate Paul Singer played a key role in helping New York Rep. Richard Hanna win his Republican primary this week over conservative state Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney. American Unity PAC, which was established in 2012, spent $500,000 on television and radio ads supporting the two-term Hanna over Tenney, who got support later in the campaign from the tea party and other conservatives, Time magazine reports. Outside groups poured as much as $700,000 into the race.

Juice Press shoots off on vegan vector with ProViotic (New York Post )
Juice Press believes its newest product line will exceed the expectations of even the city’s biggest juice snobs. The chain is pitching ProViotic, a vegan-based probiotic product line derived from bacterial strains that are said to be pristine. The bacteria is found in the European snowdrop flower grown in the mountains of Bulgaria and cultivated in fresh green juice. Michael Karsch, founder of hedge fund Karsch Capital Management and the lead investor in Juice Press, tells Side Dish he learned about it from a Bulgarian business associate.

Miami: Who’s buying it up? (CNBC.com)






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