Hedge Fund News: Daniel Och, Murray Stahl & George Soros

Page 1 of 2

Och-Ziff Falls on Report Saying Firm Financed Africa Deal (Bloomberg)
Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) fell the most in three weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported that the hedge-fund firm run by Daniel Och helped finance controversial oil and mining deals in Africa. Och-Ziff made two loans with a total value of $234 million to companies controlled by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler, the newspaper said, citing documents. The loans were routed through offshore companies, the paper said.

Och-Ziff Capital ManagementHedge fund buying doubles Minneapolis Grain Exchange seat prices (Reuters)
Hedge fund manager Murray Stahl has bought 13 percent of the seats on the last independent U.S. grain exchange, doubling prices and fueling speculation he may want a platform to trade his fund’s products or even to cash in on a potential takeover, industry sources said on Monday. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) survived rounds of consolidation among global exchanges that created giants like CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME), based in Chicago, and ICE, a network of exchanges including the New York and Euronext stock markets.

George Soros Further Reduces Stake In Exar Corporation (EXAR) (Insider Monkey)
George Soros has decided to further trim his stake in Exar Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAR) and has sold 26,577 shares in two transactions at prices of $11.23 and $11.24 apiece, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, his fund, Soros Fund Management is now holding approximately 4.93 million shares, which, given the current market price of $11.12, carries a value in excess of $54.9 million. In January, George Soros has already reduced exposure to Exar Corporation, selling approximately 985,700 shares.

Pine River Parts Ways With Reinsurer Execs. (FINalternatives)
Pine River Capital Management’s road to joining the reinsurance business is proving a winding one. The hedge fund hopes to join the likes of Third Point and Greenlight Capital with an affiliated reinsurer that will invest its premiums with Pine River. The firm initially sought to buy SAC Capital Advisors’ reinsurer, but the unit ultimately went to Two Sigma Investments.

Ackman documentary stars alleged Herbalife victims (New York Post)
In his quest to bring down Herbalife, activist investor Bill Ackman will publicly showcase a documentary about former Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) distributors who say they were defrauded by the company. Ackman, who has bet more than $1 billion that Herbalife’s stock will collapse, is offering the film as his latest evidence that the controversial nutrition products company is a pyramid scheme. He said his Pershing Square hedge fund commissioned the 15-minute documentary last year to get alleged victims before regulators and the public.

‘Huge amount’ of dry powder in private equity: Pro (CNBC.com)






Page 1 of 2