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.
Reuters – Carl Icahn and other investors who failed to block Steel Partners’ plan to convert a hedge fund into a listed partnership in Delaware court, continue to fight the plan in the Cayman Islands, Steel Partners said on Thursday.
The New York-based fund manager announced it completed the controversial merger of Steel Partners II into a pink sheets portfolio company, WebFinancial. Yet a spokesman acknowledged that the deal, which will create an exchange-listed investment partnership later this year, is only partially consummated.
Interactive Investor – The retreat of two high-profile activist funds from Japan underscores the difficulties such funds face in squeezing value from their investments and raises worries about lax corporate governance in the world’s second-biggest economy.
The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) and Steel Partners have been scaling back since last year, joining a growing pool of foreign funds reducing exposure to Japan.
The departure also points to rising frustration among foreign funds that managers are not interested in maximising value, while domestic shareholders, often through complex cross-holdings, want to maintain the status quo.
Reuters – Warren Lichtenstein’s Steel Partners LLC is forging ahead with a controversial plan to convert its flagship hedge fund, Steel Partners II, into a publicly traded holding company in the face of opposition from shareholders calling for liquidation.
The New York-based firm told limited partners, in a shareholder letter dated Tuesday, that they have until June 5 to either approve its plan to convert the fund into shares in a listed company, Steel Partners Holdings, or elect to receive a share of the fund’s assets. Both options will also distribute some cash.
Reuters Tokyo – Japanese equity fund Unison Capital said on Monday it has raised its planned offer for shares in wig maker Aderans Holdings by 20 percent to 1,200 yen per share.
Unsion Capital and Aderans are locked in a battle with U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners for shareholder votes at Aderans’ annual meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Reuters – Warren Lichtenstein’s Steel Partners LLC is forging ahead with a controversial plan to convert its flagship hedge fund, Steel Partners II, into a publicly traded holding company in the face of opposition from shareholders calling for liquidation.
The New York-based firm told limited partners, in a shareholder letter dated Tuesday, that they have until June 5 to either approve its plan to convert the fund into shares in a listed company, Steel Partners Holdings, or elect to receive a share of the fund’s assets. Both options will also distribute some cash.
"For myself and many of our investors, the option provided by Steel Partners Holdings is too compelling to ignore," Lichtenstein said in his investor letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
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.
Reuters – Steel Partners this week asked a Delaware court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the hedge fund firm by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, saying he is "looking for a scapegoat" for investment losses that happened as the financial crisis deepened.
Steel Partners said the suit, which claims it committed fraud, has no merit.
The court papers were made public on Tuesday.
Two weeks ago ACF Industries, a railcar component maker closely associated with Icahn, sued Steel Partners in Delaware Chancery Court, saying the fund firm failed to properly inform investors about plans to turn one of its funds into a public company.
CNNMoney.com – ACF Industries and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) are suing hedge fund Steel Partners, accusing the fund of fraud by failing to tell investors of plans to go public, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Reuters says ACF, which court documents say is affiliated with Carl Icahn, invested $15 million with Steel Partners Offshore Fund Ltd, which became Steel Partners II (Offshore) Ltd. In the suit, Bank of America, acting as trustee for ACF’s employee pension fund, accuses Steel Partners of failing to give proper notice of plans to become a publicly traded partnership.
Bloomberg – Activist investor Warren Lichtenstein is seeking to convert his largest hedge fund into a publicly traded partnership after clients sought to withdraw 38 percent of their money.
The $1.2 billion Steel Partners II Fund lost 39 percent last year and froze redemptions in December, according to a presentation to investors last week. Lichtenstein is asking investors to approve a plan to merge the fund with WebFinancial LP, a publicly traded partnership it already controls. The move will allow withdrawals to resume without forcing the fund to liquidate assets.
“The WebFinancial structure achieves our objectives of providing liquidity to those that want it, while maximizing value for all our investors,” New York-based Steel Partners LLC said in a statement. If the conversion is approved, the firm expects investors to be able to begin selling WebFinancial units by June.
