Qiagen Investor Davidson Kempner Ups Stake to 8% (Reuters)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Hedge fund Davidson Kempner said on Monday it had raised its stake in takeover target Qiagen (QIA.DE) to 8% from 7.3% previously, reaffirming its opposition to Thermo Fisher’s (TMO.N) 11.3 billion euro ($13.3 billion) bid. “We remain confident in Qiagen’s prospects and that the standalone value is attractive over both the short and long term,” the investor said.
Government Bond Investors are Now “Boiling Frogs” Amid Yield Squeeze, Says Algebris Macro Chief (Hedge Week)
Alberto Gallo, head of macro strategies at multi-strategy credit and equities hedge fund Algebris Investments, has compared investors in government bonds to “boiling frogs” who risk seeing their returns “wiped out” from future inflation rises. As government bonds increasingly offer “return-free risk”, investors should look to alternatives, said Gallo, who is also portfolio manager of Algebris’ Global Credit Opportunities Fund. Speaking on a recent Algebris Investments’ podcast, he noted that of the EUR70 trillion of sovereign and corporate debt in the world, just one-tenth yields more than 3 per cent.
Hedge-Fund Launches Pick Up Despite Covid-19 Pandemic (The Wall Street Journal)
Raising money for a new hedge fund long was contingent on a host of in-person meetings. But a slate of managers are launching sizable startup funds despite complications wrought by the new coronavirus. Hedge-fund manager Gaurav Kapadia has raised one of the biggest, with more than $1 billion in committed capital for his new firm, XN LP, according to people familiar with the firm. XN invests in stock markets as well as in private companies and is up 7.4% after fees since its July 1 start, according to a person familiar with…
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Another Hedge Fund is Sweeping Up Newspapers. This Time, Journalists are Cautiously Optimistic (CNN)
New York (CNN Business) Hedge fund ownership of newspaper groups typically spells doom for the newsrooms. Just ask some of the former employees at the Denver Post who famously revolted against owner Alden Global Capital‘s order to cut staff. But Chatham Asset Management‘s takeover of McClatchy — scheduled to be finalized on Tuesday – is actually inspiring some cautious optimism among its journalists. That’s because Chatham has agreed to allow all employees to keep their jobs while honoring existing union contracts under the hedge fund’s plan to pay $312 million for the newspaper conglomerate.
House-Flipping No More Successful These Days For Cliff Asness Than Hedge-Fund Managing (Deal Breaker)
Two years ago, Cliff Asness bought himself a little beachside getaway. And we do mean little: Immediately after extensively renovating a place he’d just spent $26 million on, the AQR founder realized that five bedrooms and 13,000 square feet in the sun simply were not enough for an investing superhero. So he put it right back on the market. Unfortunately for Asness, would-be buyers apparently shared his assessment of the place, and were not interested at the $29.5 million asking price in COVID-infested Miami Beach, nor even at Asness’ own pre-renovation price.
Glenview, Winton, and Lansdowne Are Among 7 Big-Name Hedge Funds that are Down Double-Digits this Year Despite the Markets’ Rally (Business Insider)
After a tumultuous start to the year, many big-name managers — and the markets overall – have gotten back in the black. Still, despite the markets’ rally on the backs of unprecedented monetary and fiscal policies, some funds have struggled and are down double-digits midway through 2020. Billionaire-run shops like Glenview Capital and Winton Group, credit-focused funds like Sculptor’s Credit Opportunities fund and Angelo Gordon‘s Mortgage Value strategy are all down double-digits this year.
Vitruvian Partners Races to $4.7bn Hard Cap Close for the New Fund (Opalesque.com)
UK private equity firm Vitruvian Partners has closed its fourth buyout fund at its hard cap of €4bn ($4.7bn), less than three months after its formal launch. According to the London-headquartered international growth equity firm, the vehicle, VIP IV, is 40% larger than its predecessor, which closed in June 2017 at €2.4bn, and will follow the same investment strategy of supporting high growth companies in the middle market, primarily in Europe. “VIP IV reached the hard cap quickly, and was over-subscribed, in part due to Vitruvian’s longstanding track record and strong alignment with investors. Vitruvian has generated top-decile performance in each of its three predecessor funds through long-term partnerships with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams,” said a press statement.
How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Secondary Market (Preqin.com)
Like the primary fundraising market, the secondary market has seen something of a pause in the last few months, as investors considered how to respond to the effects of COVID-19, assessed their liquidity, and reflected on the likely valuation impact of current economic developments. Secondary investors are starting to emerge from the ‘wait-and-see’ mode they had been in due to the significant disparity in valuation approaches that different private equity managers had taken for Q1 marks.
Monday 8/3 Insider Buying Report: NAVI, HMST (Nasdaq.com)
At Navient, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, Chief Executive Officer John F. Remondi purchased 50,000 shares of NAVI, for a cost of $7.82 each, for a total investment of $390,930. So far Remondi is in the green, up about 5.6% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $8.26. Navient is trading up about 1.8% on the day Monday. And also on Friday, Director Mark Robert Patterson bought $333,190 worth of HomeStreet, buying 13,000 shares at a cost of $25.63 each. Before this latest buy, Patterson bought HMST at 3 other times during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $689,015 at an average of $22.97 per share. HomeStreet is trading up about 1.6% on the day Monday. So far Patterson is in the green, up about 5.2% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $26.95.
Notable Insider Buys: AT&T, Kinder Morgan And More (Benzinga)
Insiders continued to add shares despite overall market volatility and economic uncertainty. Here are some of the most noteworthy insider purchases reported in the past week. Kinder Morgan: The Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI) executive chair of the board, Richard Kinder, has resumed his buying. He picked up 300,000 more shares of this Houston-based energy infrastructure giant early last week at $14.10 to $14.15 each. That totaled more than $4.24 million. Kinder was a frequent buyer of shares last year. Blackstone: A 10% owner of Blackstone Group Inc (BX) has indirectly acquired 200,000 shares of this asset management firm for $17.00 apiece. That totaled $3.40 million and came in the wake of an in-line earnings report that prompted target price hikes at some analysts.
Waters Corp (WAT) CEO and President Christopher J Oconnell Sold $6.4 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO and President of Waters Corp., Christopher J Oconnell, sold 30,000 shares of WAT on 07/31/2020 at an average price of $213.3 a share. The total sale was $6.4 million. Waters Corp is an analytical instrument manufacturer. It designs, manufactures, sells and services liquid chromatography, ultra performance liquid chromatography & mass spectrometry instrument systems & support products.
The Shareholder of Therma Bright (Other OTC: THRBF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Shareholder of Therma Bright (THRBF), David J Woods, sold shares of THRBF for $3.19M. In addition to David J Woods, 3 other THRBF executives reported Sell trades in the last month.
Repay Holdings Corp (RPAY) CFO Timothy John Murphy Sold $9.8 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CFO of Repay Holdings Corp., Timothy John Murphy, sold 450,120 shares of RPAY on 07/31/2020 at an average price of $21.88 a share. The total sale was $9.8 million. Repay Holdings Corp has a market cap of $1.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $22.13 with and P/S ratio of 8.26. GuruFocus has detected 2 severe warning signs with Repay Holdings Corp.
