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.
Proactive Investors UK – Shares in Et-china.com International Holdings LTD (AIM: ETC) got an enormous boost today from news that Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd has bought the 31.8 percent stake in the company that was held by hedge fund Gandhara Master Fund Ltd. Financiasl details were not disclosed
At mid-morning, Et-China was trading up nearly 65 percent from yesterday’s closing level.
In a statement, the group said it considers the acquisition of Gandhara’s shares to be in Et-China’s best interests given the expected synergistic benefits and the global expertise of Kuoni.
Times and Democrat – Activist shareholder William Ackman sought for months to replace four incumbents on the Minneapolis-based retailer’s board of directors with five of his own picks, including himself.
The head of Pershing Square Capital Management, which has a 7.8 percent stake in Target, has argued that the cheap chic discount retailer, which has stumbled as shoppers focus on basics, needed new perspective. He said it especially needed to beef up its board in the areas of retail and real estate to better compete with its chief rival, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark.
Shareholders rejected those arguments at their meeting outside Milwaukee Thursday. They also sided with the company in approving a measure that sets the board’s size at the current 12 members, instead of the 13 that Ackman had wanted.
Reuters – U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners said it has urged shareholders of loss-making wig maker Aderans Holdings to reject an offer by Japanese private equity fund Unison Capital to buy Aderans shares.
Japan’s Aderans said last month it supported Unison Capital’s bid for at least a 35 percent stake in Aderans to replace top shareholder Steel Partners, which has been pushing for management changes.
Unison Capital’s proposed offer is "inadequate and coercive", Steel Partners said in a statement on Monday.
Daily Times – Less than three weeks ahead of what’s expected to be a heated proxy contest at Target’s annual shareholders’ meeting, activist shareholder William Ackman aims to strengthen his case to investors for a new slate of directors by personally introducing his roster at a town hall meeting here Monday.
According to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital Management, which owns a 7.8 percent stake in the discounter, intends to “improve Target’s board and consequently, help make Target a stronger, more profitable and more valuable company.”
Reuters – Integrated Asset Management said on Wednesday it is repositioning as a pure play brokerage business after agreeing to sell a 51 percent stake in its French fund of hedge funds business.
The firm, listed on London’s AIM market, is selling the stake in Altigefi to Sal. Oppenheim in a deal which will also see the private banking group exit as Integrated’s major shareholder.
The move is evidence of smaller asset management players being forced to reexamine their business models as the financial crisis changes the market place. A spokesman said Integrated’s decision to concentrate on brokerage came because it had become more and more difficult to achieve the scale thought necessary to successfully run a fund of funds business.
Reuters – Integrated Asset Management said on Wednesday it is repositioning as a pure play brokerage business after agreeing to sell a 51 percent stake in its French fund of hedge funds business.
The firm, listed on London’s AIM market, is selling the stake in Altigefi to Sal. Oppenheim in a deal which will also see the private banking group exit as Integrated’s major shareholder.
The move is evidence of smaller asset management players being forced to reexamine their business models as the financial crisis changes the market place. A spokesman said Integrated’s decision to concentrate on brokerage came because it had become more and more difficult to achieve the scale thought necessary to successfully run a fund of funds business.
Daily Times – Banks and hedge funds that hold $6.9 billion in Chrysler LLC debt have proposed forgiving $2.5 billion of it in exchange for about a 40 percent stake a Chrysler-Fiat alliance, according to two people briefed on the proposal.
One of the people said the lenders delivered their counterproposal to Chrysler and the U.S. Treasury Department late Monday night. Neither person wanted to be identified because the negotiations are private.
Forex Pros – Private equity firm TowerBrook Capital said on Monday it had reached an agreement to take control of French debt-ridden auto parts firm Autodistribution Group.
The deal, at a time of slumping sales in the European car industry, will see Autodistribution’s debt slashed and new management brought in.
A majority of lenders have accepted a debt-for-equity swap, which will reduce the company’s debt from approximately 600 million euros ($755.6 million) to 140 million euros, a source familiar with the transaction said.
TowerBrook said it would obtain a 62.5 percent stake, the lenders would hold a 21.5 percent stake, while Bahrain-based private equity firm Investcorp, the company’s previous owner, would retain a 16 percent stake.
The U.S. government announced a restructuring of a bailout plan for the troubled insurer American International Group Inc. Monday, extending $30 billion in additional aid to the company.
News of the additional funds comes as AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, said it lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. corporate history, amid continued financial market turmoil.
Birmingham Business Journal – The hedge fund created by activist investor William Ackman to buy up shares of Target Corp. lost 40.1 percent of its value in January, according to a Bloomberg News report.
Since creating the fund, called Pershing Square IV, Ackman has acquired a 9.7 percent stake in Target. He recently attempted to convince Target to spin off its real estate holdings into an investment trust. However, company officials decided not to pursue the strategy. Ackman also urged Minneapolis-based Target to sell off its credit-card receivables. It completed the sale of half of its receivables last year.
Bizjournals.com – Citadel Investment Group, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has spent $33 million to buy a 5.7 percent stake in ADC Telecommunications Inc.
The deal makes Citadel the second-largest holder of Eden Prairie-based ADC’s stock and sent the company’s shares up 4 percent Friday.
Lord Abbett & Co. remains ADC’s largest institutional shareholder, with a 9.52 percent stake. Oppenheimer Funds Inc. is the third-largest holder, with a 4.3 percent share of the company’s stock.
Post Chronicle – The New York Times Co is trying to sell its stake in the holding company of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
The sale, which could give the Times desperately needed cash as newspaper advertising revenue falls and its debt payments loom, could involve its 17.5 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures and possibly the struggling Boston Globe daily newspaper, the Journal reported.
New England Sports Ventures owns the Red Sox, the Fenway Park baseball field where the team plays, and most of the cable network that shows their games.
