The Failed Effort to Buy the US Constitution could Cost More Than $1.5 Million in Crypto Fees (Quartz)
Buying the US Constitution is expensive, especially if you don’t succeed. On Nov. 18, a group of cryptocurrency investors banded together online to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), a collective managed on a blockchain, to buy a rare copy of the US Constitution at Sotheby’s auction house. Despite raising a staggering $47 million in cryptocurrency, the group known a ConstitutionDAO was outbid by Ken Griffin, the billionaire CEO of the hedge fund Citadel.
Thyssenkrupp Trades Lower After Activist Fund Cevian Slashes Stake (Market Watch)
Shares in Thyssenkrupp AG fell on Tuesday after Swedish activist investor Cevian Capital said it had cut its stake in the German industrial conglomerate to 7.9% from 15%. Shares at 1105 GMT were down 7.2% at EUR10.48. Cevian didn’t disclose the price at which it sold the shares, but having built its stake in 2013 and 2014 at an average of around EUR17.81 a share, the Stockholm-based hedge fund would have recorded a substantial loss, according to FactSet data.
Here’s an Exclusive Look at the 13-Slide Pitch Deck that NFT Authentication Start-Up ORIGYN Used to Raise $20 Million from Investors Including Bill Ackman and Paris Hilton (Business Insider)
The NFT authentication start-up ORIGYN Foundation just raised $20 million in its first funding round, pulling in investments from activist investor Bill Ackman, blockchain specialists Polychain Capital, and socialite and businesswoman Paris Hilton. The Swiss firm, which was valued at $300 million in the private funding round, uses AI technology to verify non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. An NFT is a unique, blockchain-based digital asset that represents ownership of a real-world item – such as artwork, music, or luxury goods.
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New York Hedge Fund Makes Bid for Large Independent Newspaper Chain (WBUR.org)
New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital has made an offer to acquire one of the last big independent newspaper chains in the country. The firm’s bid for Lee Enterprises is causing a stir in the newspaper industry, as Roben Farzad, host of public radio’s “Full Disclosure,” explains.
Newpark Resources Pressed to Separate Units by Activist Investor (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Newpark Resources, a provider of drilling fluids systems and composite matting systems used in oilfields, is being pushed by an activist investor to separate its industrials systems and fluids business, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Bradley Radoff, a private investor who previously worked as a portfolio manager at Daniel Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund, has approached Newpark’s board and is pushing for the split. He argues that the two segments lack synergies, appeal to different investor bases and boost excessive corporate costs.
BlueBay launches new ESG-focused Multi-Asset Credit Fund (Hedge Week)
The Royal Bank of Canada’s specialist fixed income manager, BlueBay Asset Management (BlueBay), has launched its latest ESG-focused strategy. The BlueBay Total Return Diversified Credit ESG Fund enables fixed income investors to gain an exposure to the firms ‘best ideas’ through an ESG lens across global high yield, bank loans, financial capital bonds, structured credit, Convertible bonds, emerging markets and developed market investment grade. The new Luxembourg SIF fund, which is categorised under Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), will focus on using BlueBay’s proprietary ESG research to identify and avoid investments with excessive ESG risks.
