The Age – Third Point, the New York-based hedge fund run by Daniel Loeb, bought a stake in BHP Billiton worth $US162 million at the end of June, adding the world’s largest mining company to its portfolio.
Third Point, known for pushing companies to make changes that increase their stock prices, bought 1.9 million shares in Melbourne-based BHP during the three months ended June 30, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 14.
Loeb, 45, who started Third Point in 1995, bought the stake in the quarter after BHP announced a hostile $US134 billion bid for Rio Tinto. Loeb pressured US oil and natural-gas producer Pogo Producing for more than a year to shed assets or sell itself before it agreed to be bought by Plains Exploration & Production for $US3.6 billion in July last year.
