Michael Dell’s MSD Capital Reported 9.9% Activist Stake in $SCHS

Michael Dell’s MSD Capital filed amended 13D on November 28th for its 9.9% activist stake in School Specialty Inc. (SCHS). According to the filing, MSD Capital sold 900 thousand shares at $4.20 on November 23rd, and now has 1.88 million shares in SCHS. This is a 32.5% decrease in the firm’s position since it reported 2.78 million shares in SCHS at the end of the third quarter. During the third quarter, MSD Capital did not make change to its SCHS position. SCHS is now trading at $10.21, and has returned 4% in 2011.

Michael Dell

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund tracking list, seven hedge funds were bullish about SCHS in the second quarter, MSD Capital took the most and reported 2.78 million shares. Geoffrey Raynor’s Q Investments had 700 thousand shares in the stock. Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners had 375 thousand shares at that time.

MSD Capital was established in 1998. The firm is formed to exclusively manage the capital of Michael Dell and his family. The firm mainly invests in Publicly-traded securities, Traditional private equity activities, real estate, special opportunities, and selectively investing with established third-party managers in the private and public markets. MSD Capital has a team of approximately 80 people, and operates from the firm’s offices in New York, Santa Monica and London.

According to Yahoo! Finance, School Specialty, Inc. is an education company. It provides “supplemental educational products and equipment for the pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade market in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Educational Resources and Accelerated Learning.” The company markets its services and products through direct sales force, catalogs, and its e-commerce websites. The company was founded in 1959 and is based in Greenville, Wisconsin.