Celgene, Shire Make Five as Kyle Bass Expands Drug Patent Fight (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass has expanded the number of drug companies whose patents he has targeted to five. In less than three months, Bass’s Coalition for Affordable Drugs has filed petitions to invalidate patents on six different drugs, including two on Thursday, owned by Shire Plc and Celgene Corp. His tactics are largely made possible by a change in U.S. law that, beginning in 2012, created new procedures to challenge patents, including by third parties.
Steven Cohen ‘Continuing to Advocate’ For Christie (The Wall Street Journal)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s fundraising for a potential 2016 presidential bid could be getting a boost from a billionaire hedge-fund manager. Steven Cohen, the founder of SAC Capital Advisors, attended a dinner last week in New York City for Mr. Christie’s super PAC, America Leads, according to people familiar with the matter. About a dozen people attended the dinner at the 21 Club for Mr. Christie’s political-action committee, which can raise unlimited amounts of money to support a presidential run if the governor chooses to do so.
Knighthead’s Wagner Buys 15 Central Park West Apartment (Bloomberg)
Thomas Wagner, the co-founding partner of hedge fund Knighthead Capital Management, bought an apartment at Manhattan’s 15 Central Park West for $10.6 million, more than double what the previous owner paid seven years ago. The seller of the 2,135-square-foot (198-square-meter), fourth-floor condominium was listed in New York City property records as Sultan Ahmed Al-Qassimi. He bought Unit 4E for $5.04 million in November 2007, records show.
Three Partners Exit Brevan Howard (The Wall Street Journal)
Brevan Howard, one of the most powerful hedge funds in the world whose fortunes have waned in recent months, has revealed in filings that three partners left the firm in little over a month. The three staff include the manager of a commodities fund the $27 billion hedge fund firm decided to close late last year. Filings dated April 11 and published on Wednesday at Companies House by Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, many of whose staff are based in Switzerland or the U.K., show that Matthew James stepped down as a member of the limited liability partnership on March 15, while Filippo Cipriani stepped down as a partner on March 31 and Stephane Nicolas the following day.
Paulson Gets More Time From IRS for Reinsurance Tax Savings (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund managers including billionaire John Paulson won’t immediately face new limits on their use of insurance in offshore tax havens, after the IRS proposed rules and chose not to make them effective now. The Internal Revenue Service rules, released on Thursday, will take effect only after the agency takes comments and considers how several important terms will be defined.
The Surprising Market Response to Activist Hedge Funds (The Wall Street Journal)
Is hedge-fund activism good or bad? This question has dominated financial debate this year, as hedge funds besiege on average nearly one company a day seeking to shake up managements. This month’s battle over the future of Vivendi follows recent activist campaigns at Dow Chemical, DuPont, PepsiCo, Sotheby’s, Yahoo and many others. Martin Lipton—a prominent lawyer who has defended companies against agitating shareholders since the 1980s—labels the new efforts a “war” and warns that “activist hedge funds are winning.”
Citadel’s Weisberg Said to Join Alibaba’s Family Office (Bloomberg)
Oliver Weisberg, a Hong Kong-based managing director of Citadel, has quit his employer of almost nine years to help run a family office for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. executives, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Weisberg will leave Citadel at the end of June, Katie Spring, a Chicago-based spokeswoman for the hedge fund firm led by Ken Griffin, said by e-mail. Weisberg did not reply to two e-mail messages seeking comment.
Proxy Adviser ISS Blesses Pay for Activist’s Directors at Dow (The Wall Street Journal)
An influential proxy adviser blessed a pay setup for directors that investor Third Point LLC placed on the board of Dow Chemical Co., a stamp of approval that could help guide activists trying to navigate the controversial arrangement. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. gave “cautious support” to two sitting directors who have a contract to get what amounts to a bonus from Third Point if Dow stock does well. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the directors at next month’s Dow annual meeting.
