Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) and Westport Innovations Inc. (USA)(NASDAQ:WPRT) announced on Tuesday that they have entered into a merger agreement under which the latter will be acquiring the former. Matthew Drapkin and Steven R. Becker‘s Becker Drapkin Management, which owns over 1.89 million shares or about 10.47% of the outstanding shares of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS), submitted a 13D filing following the announcement in which it revealed that it has entered into an agreement with Westport Innovations Inc. (USA)(NASDAQ:WPRT) to vote in favor of this merger, at any Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) shareholders’ meeting that takes place before the termination of the voting agreement. In a separate 13D filing, Glenn W. Welling‘s Engaged Capital, which was the largest shareholder of Medifast Inc (NYSE:MED) among the hedge funds that we track at the end of June, revealed that it has purchased an additional 1,199 shares of the company. Following this purchase, Engaged Capital now owns 737,465 shares or 6.1% of the outstanding shares of Medifast Inc (NYSE:MED).
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Matthew Drapkin and Steven R. Becker founded Becker Drapkin Management, a Dallas, Texas-based activist hedge fund, in 2004. The fund mostly invests in small-caps or companies with valuations of less than $500 million, and primarily uses value-focused strategies. Since its inception, the fund has gone activist on several small-cap companies, which includes EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ:EMKR) and Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (NYSE:RT). Its U.S public equity portfolio was worth $114.64 million as of June 30.
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Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) is a New York-based alternative fuel systems provider for industrial, refueling, and transportation applications around the globe. After remaining almost flat for the first four months of 2015, shares of the company have fallen significantly following the disastrous first quarter results it announced on May 7, and it currently trades down by 44.4% year-to-date. Since the news broke on Tuesday that it would be acquired, Fuel Systems’ shares have actually fallen by over 10%, a rarity for an acquired company’s shares. Under the terms of the deal, Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS)’s shareholder will be receiving 2.129 shares of Westport Innovations Inc. (USA)(NASDAQ:WPRT) for every one share of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) that they own. Several analysts and industry experts have raised concerns over this acquisition, arguing that it might not be in the best interests of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS)’s shareholders. On September 2, analysts at Canaccord Genuity reiterated their ‘Hold’ rating on the stock, with an $8 price target. After Becker Drapkin Management, Chuck Royce‘s Royce & Associates was the second-largest shareholder of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSYS) in our database, owning slightly above 1.2 million shares.
