Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
News1130.com – The Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing its investigation of possible insider trading involving hedge fund Pequot Capital Management and its founder Arthur Samberg, according to a letter to investors obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
The SEC has been examining whether Pequot traded Microsoft Corp. shares on confidential information provided by a former employee of the computer company who was later hired by Pequot.
Reuters – Hedge fund industry icon Arthur Samberg’s startling decision to shut Pequot Capital shows how a firm’s reputation matters as much as its returns.
For decades Samberg, who founded Pequot more than two decades ago, delivered strong performance no matter how markets behaved, enticing investors to funnel in so much cash that the firm managed $15 billion in its heyday in 2001. When the U.S. government last year reopened a probe into allegations of insider trading in Microsoft Corp, skittish investors left quickly.
Tehran Times – Atticus Capital LP sold 23 of the 25 U.S.-listed stocks it owned in the first quarter as the New York-based hedge-fund firm run by Timothy Barakett put more money into cash while equity markets fell.
Atticus sold 1.69 million shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Potash, the world’s largest producer of its namesake fertilizer, had been the firm’s top U.S. holding.
Barakett, whose firm oversees about $6 billion in assets, also sold all of his 5.31 million shares of Microsoft Corp. The world’s largest software maker, based in Redmond, Washington, had been the firm’s second-largest U.S. position.
Reuters – Internet firm Yahoo Inc is "not opposed" to doing a deal that would potentially sell its search business, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said on Wednesday.
But he said the search business is deeply intertwined with Yahoo’s other online products and properties, and so any deal, whether a partnership or a sale, would be done for the right reasons and the right economics.
"It’s extremely difficult to draw a line down the middle of the organization and split it into two pieces," Jorgensen told the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference.
He did not mention specifically Microsoft Corp, which has repeatedly said it was interested in doing a search deal with Yahoo to compete against market leader Google Inc.
Bloomberg – Yahoo! Inc. Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz, who took the job yesterday, won’t get much of a honeymoon with the Internet company’s investors.
Shareholders are looking for Yahoo to rekindle talks with Microsoft Corp. or possibly sell off assets — anything that earns them a quick return. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said as recently as last week that he’s still open to a partnership with Yahoo, something that may be first on investors’ agenda.
Bloomberg – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened a new investigation into whether Pequot Capital Management Inc., the hedge fund run by Arthur Samberg, illegally profited in 2001 by tapping inside information on Microsoft Corp., two people familiar with the matter said.
Investigators learned of documents that show former Microsoft employee David Zilkha may have obtained confidential information about the software maker, said one of the people, declining to be identified because the investigation isn’t public. Zilkha left the company in 2001 to join Pequot.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Activist investor Carl Icahn purchased another 6.8 million shares of Yahoo stock last week at a price tag of about $67 million, further boosting his already vast stake in the company to almost 5.5 percent.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that stake is equal to 75.6 million shares in the Internet giant, or about $870 million.
The Corporate Raider has been outspoken about his beliefs that Yahoo should strike a deal with Microsoft Corp. in hopes of better competing with Google. Although no merger talks are currently in the works, some believe Icahn is still pushing for the deal.
Icahn was also vocal about his desire to dump Jerry Yang, saying that the former Yahoo CEO did everything he could to discourage a deal with Microsoft. Yahoo is currently seeking a replacement for Yang after he stepped down on November 17. Yang had previously rejected a $31-a-share offer by Microsoft earlier this year, prompted Icahn and other board members to question his leadership.
After news circulated on Friday that Icahn had increased his stake in the struggling company, Yahoo shares rallied almost 9%, up to $11.51 in the shortened trading session. Icahn may be trying to reverse the massive losses he incurred this year, after shares of Yahoo plummeted almost 60 percent.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
Times Online – People who run hedge funds hate the way the press describe them as “secretive”. A quick Google of “hedge funds” shows what a cliche it has become. Hedge funds are “notoriously secretive” and “super-secretive”; they live in a “secretive world”.
But sadly, for an increasing number of them, the secret is finally out.
The promise behind this $2 trillion universe was that its managers would make money whether markets went up or down. But the turmoil in the financial world is proving too much for many of them. All of a sudden the Masters of the Universe are failing fast.
The average hedge fund has lost more than 4% this year, according to Hedge Fund Research, putting the industry on course for its worst year on record. New investments in hedge funds for the first six months of 2008 fell below $30 billion, compared to $118 billion for the same period last year.
The hedge fund manager has become the Gatsby figure of our era. But his fall will be felt by more than Manhattan estate agents, art galleries and Porsche dealers. Over the past decade, the hedge fund industry has grown fivefold, pumped up with billions from corporate and public pension funds and university endowments looking for market-beating returns.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declared that they are “done” pursuing Yahoo and focused instead on Microsoft’s need to invest in its internet businesses.
However, the past six months of on-again, off-again talks with Yahoo have critics wondering if in fact the door is actually closed on this infamous almost-merger.
"We had a set of principles, we talked about them, it didn’t work out," he said. "Fine, we’re done. We can move on."
Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell added, "The chances of us buying Yahoo on a full acquisition basis are so small that they are essentially negligible."
Instead, Microsoft announced it had expanded its current deal with the internet social networking site, Facebook. In addition to displaying ads on Facebook pages, they will also provide web search and search advertising for its 40 million+ U.S. users.
The rhetoric also focused around the fact that Microsoft’s attempt at an acquisition of Yahoo was mainly to better position themselves to compete against Google. However, with Microsoft’s new strategies in place, their one-time need for Yahoo will become obsolete.
"This is a two-horse race,” exclaimed Ballmer. ”It is about Microsoft and Google."
The backdrop was Microsoft’s annual meeting with Wall Street analysts at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Ballmer discussed the potential of its online services division as well as emphasized how important it is to capitalize on future opportunities.
"There is this huge, huge, huge new opportunity around the Internet and online and we have to embrace that opportunity and invest in that opportunity."
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net)- Michael Adair, former head of sales finance for Google North America is joining Glam Media Inc, a global web-publishing network, as Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance.
“I am excited to join Glam Media’s executive team as we leverage Glam’s vertical network model that it is ripe for expansion,” said Michael Adair. “Glam’s focus on creating the right network model for display advertising makes them one of the most exciting companies in media today.”
This newly created position involves evaluation and execution of Glam Media’s strategic investments, corporate development and corporate finance. The company is backed by hedge fund GLG Partners, Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, and Information Capital among others.
While at Google, Adair directed Google’s North American sales finance team and worked closely with Google’s president of advertising and commerce. Adair helped lead the team that managed strategic acquisitions responsible for over $3.5 billion in revenue, including dMarc, YouTube and DoubleClick.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Carl Icahn continues his quest to shake up the board of Yahoo, and this time, that includes ousting CEO Jerry Yang. According to the Wall Street Journal, Icahn is channeling shareholder complaints in hopes to fuel his proxy battle and to facilitate the Microsoft deal.
Last month, several Yahoo shareholders filed a complaint against Yang and the board of Yahoo, claiming that they acted in a way to discourage the Microsoft deal and that Yang, who has a personal disdain for the software giant, did everything he could to quell the prospect of a merger. According to the statements, Yahoo had rejected a bid from Microsoft back in January 2007, when CEO Terry Semel said no to a $40/share offer.
The plaintiffs also suggest that Yang, along with co-founder David Filo and other Yahoo executives, not only turned down Microsoft’s bids, but set up a nice exit plan for employees to leave the company should there be a hostile takeover by constructing attractive compensation plans.
"Nobody ever understood the magnitude of what Yahoo did to do avoid making a deal," said Icahn.
Yahoo, who issued a statement last night, said that Yang, along with the board, has been "crystal clear that it would consider any proposal by Microsoft that was in the best interests of its shareholders".
Recently, hedge funds Paulson & Co. and Third Point LLC publically backed Icahn’s push for the Yahoo/Microsoft deal, with the hopes that the deal would help fuel higher returns and help Yahoo better compete against Google. Both hedge funds hold a major stake in Yahoo.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Another hedge fund is backing Carl Icahn’s proxy battle against Yahoo, days after Paulson & Co. gave their support.
Third Point LLC, a hedge fund that manages $5.7 billion in assets, is believed to be on board after accumulating 5 million shares of Yahoo Inc., along with T. Boone Pickens, an oil investor who has amassed 10 million shares.
An undisclosed source told reporters that Third Point head Dan Loeb “strongly supports Icahn and supports his slate and thinks that he is shining a bright light on the botched process at the Yahoo board in negotiating the deal with Microsoft.”
Icahn believes that Yahoo should be sold to Microsoft, in order to better compete with Google. Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s initial offer of $47.5 billion before the software giant broke off talks earlier this month.
Initiating his fight last Thursday, Icahn believes, “it is quite obvious that Microsoft’s bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo’s prospects on a standalone basis." Talks between Microsoft and Yahoo are said to have been revived.
Paulson & Co., the $30 billion hedge fund manned by famed John Paulson, currently holds 50 million shares in Yahoo. Paulson has expressed his desire for the merger, aligning himself with Icahn last week.
Hedge funds, who push for high returns in the short run, many times take a proactive approach in restructuring a company in which they are invested. Icahn is also aiming to strategically place himself, along with Mark Cuban, Frank Biondi and Robert Shaye on the board.
Even with only a few companies backing the proxy battle, the force behind them is monumental. The supporters will have accumulated over 80 million shares of Yahoo, which equates to over 5% of the total shares.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds! Be sure to check out our sister sites. For more information, visit www.hedgeconetworks.com
