Ackman Wields Finance Tool With Morbid Past for New Venture (Bloomberg)
Bill Ackman is putting a modern-day spin on a centuries-old financial innovation with the special purpose acquisition company he plans to take public. His new SPAC — Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. — will reward investors who hang on to their shares after an acquisition is selected by giving them a fixed number of warrants. When shareholders cash out, those who remain receive more warrants, giving them an incentive to stay.
Toscafund Economist Savouri’s Confidence “Supercharged” by Sunak’s UK Coronavirus Finance Plan (Hedge Week)
Savvas Savouri, chief economist and partner at long-running UK hedge fund manager Toscafund, says UK chancellor Rishi Sunak’s economic update has “supercharged” his confidence. Sunak, a former hedge fund alumni of Theleme Partners and The Children’s Investment Fund Management, unveiled a GBP30 billion plan on Wednesday (8 July) aimed at saving jobs and kick-starting the UK economy following the unprecedented financial squeeze stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s How Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Offloaded Stakes in 2 Funds After Credit Markets Seized Up (Business Insider)
SkyBridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci‘s strongly-worded letter to Merrill Lynch last week illustrated not only the disagreements between the two firms about SkyBridge‘s fund of hedge funds, but also offered a glimpse into the often-opaque world of secondaries trading. Scaramucci wrote to Merrill Lynch after the wealth manager issued a report in late June recommending clients sell his firm’s main product, which picks other hedge funds to invest in, on the heels of a rocky spring performance. In April, the Wall Street Journal had reported that Citigroup cut ties with SkyBridge, which could lead to clients pulling $100 million.
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Crispin Odey Hedge Fund’s Losses Deepen to 17.9% in First Half (Bloomberg)
Crispin Odey’s flagship hedge fund slumped to a 17.9% loss in the first half. The Odey European Inc. Fund fell in five out of six months, including a 7.3% drop in June, wiping out a surge during the market sell-off in March, according to a letter to investors seen by Bloomberg. Odey’s losses compare with a 3.5% slide across the industry that was led by led by event-driven and equity hedge funds, according to preliminary figures from the Bloomberg Hedge Fund Indices.
New Firm Touting Infrastructure-Debt Tokens (HFAlert.com)
A New York startup is developing an auction and trading service that promises to make infrastructure loans available to a broader set of investors, including hedge fund operators. The firm, Pontoro, aims to offer an initial loan pool in the vicinity of $300 million to $500 million during the first half of 2021. Its goal is to complete at least $20 billion of such trades within five years. Infrastructure loans, which often total hundreds of millions of dollars and at times can surpass $1 billion, typically are syndicated by banks among narrow groups of large buyers including pension systems and sovereign wealth funds. Pontoro proposes to break them into smaller amounts that would allow participation by small and mid-size investors while preserving the banks’ roles as originators.
Baxon Capital Announces First Southwest Florida-Focused Opportunity Zone Fund (PRNewswire.com)
FORT MYERS, Fla., July 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Baxon Capital, LLC (“Baxon”) announced today an initiative to launch the first investment fund dedicated exclusively to Opportunity Zone investments in southwest Florida. The fund will leverage the expertise of the Baxon team in focusing on investments into real estate and local businesses located in lower income areas in the region. With the establishment of its Opportunity Zone fund, Baxon aims to contribute to the region through investments that positively impact local communities while providing favorable investor returns. The fund will utilize the Federal Opportunity Zone program which was created in 2017 with the goal of attracting private investment to support development in lower income areas by providing significant tax incentives to investors.
Preqin Quarterly Update: Real Estate, Q2 2020 (Preqin.com)
Activity in the private real estate market declined significantly in the second quarter of 2020. The economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing restrictions led to a drop in PERE deal volume from $78bn in Q1 2020 to just $30bn in Q2. Read our latest real estate industry update for a detailed look at fundraising, funds in market, investors, deals, and performance over the past quarter. The report also features exclusive comment on how the pandemic is accelerating trends and creating new dynamics within property sectors from Laura Dietzel, Partner and Senior Real Estate Analyst at audit, tax, and consulting firm RSM.
Yext Inc (YEXT) CEO Howard Lerman Sold $1.3 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Yext Inc, Howard Lerman, sold 75,000 shares of YEXT on 07/06/2020 at an average price of $17.36 a share. The total sale was $1.3 million. Yext Inc provides a knowledge engine platform that lets businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud and sync it to over 100 services including Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp.
Wednesday 7/8 Insider Buying Report: CULP, CZNC (Nasdaq.com)
On Tuesday, Culp’s Director, Kenneth W. McAllister, made a $20,500 purchase of CULP, buying 2,000 shares at a cost of $10.25 a piece. Culp is trading up about 2.3% on the day Wednesday. Before this latest buy, McAllister purchased CULP on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $38,670 at an average of $12.89 per share. And at Citizens & Northern, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director Frank G. Pellegrino who purchased 397 shares at a cost of $19.02 each, for a trade totaling $7,552. Before this latest buy, Pellegrino bought CZNC at 11 other times during the past year, for a total cost of $46,757 at an average of $23.47 per share. Citizens & Northern is trading off about 0.1% on the day Wednesday.
The CFO, COO, Secretary & Treas of Intellicheck Mobilisia (NASDAQ: IDN) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the CFO, COO, Secretary & Treas of Intellicheck Mobilisia (IDN), Billy Joe White, bought shares of IDN for $244K. This recent transaction increases Billy Joe White’s holding in the company by 664.82% to a total of $1.93 million. In addition to Billy Joe White, 2 other IDN executives reported Buy trades in the last month.
Incyte Corp (INCY) EVP & Chief Medical Officer Steven H Stein Sold $3.9 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
EVP & Chief Medical Officer of Incyte Corp, Steven H Stein, sold 36,124 shares of INCY on 07/06/2020 at an average price of $107.25 a share. The total sale was $3.9 million. Incyte Corp is a biopharmaceutical company. It discovers, develops and commercializes proprietary therapeutics. Its product JAKAFI, a JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor is used for treatment of patients with intermediate or high risk myelofibrosis. Incyte Corp has a market cap of $23.62 billion; its shares were traded at around $108.64 with and P/S ratio of 10.60.
