Activist Manager Offers Fund for Buyout Play (HFAlert.com)
Activist shop Engaged Capital is raising money for a special-purpose vehicle that would aid its quest to take over a publicly traded nutrition and weight-loss company. Engaged already has amassed a 14.9% stake in Medifast, becoming one of its largest shareholders. In a letter to prospective investors in the special-purpose vehicle last week, business-development specialist Richard Gray wrote that Engaged has extensive experience with Medifast, giving it “a very differentiated and well informed point of view.” The Newport Beach, Calif., firm’s investment marks the second time it has taken a position in Medifast. The initial play saw chief investment officer Glenn Welling sit on Medifast’s board from 2015 to early 2018, a period when the Baltimore company’s share price surged before falling by nearly half in 2019.
Billionaire Avenue Capital Founder Marc Lasry Says the Decision to Pay Hundreds of Millions to Buy the Milwaukee Bucks 6 Years Ago was ‘the Best Investment I’ve Ever Made’ (Business Insider)
Billionaire Marc Lasry said he thought he was going to be a professional basketball player when he was a kid. While he played in college for one season at Clark University in Massachusetts, the founder of Avenue Capital ended up going to law school and then making billions of dollars as an investor. But he found his way back to the game when he and fellow billionaire Wes Edens bought the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks in 2014 for $550 million (fellow hedge-fund billionaire Jamie Dinan is now a co-owner as well).
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Luckin Coffee Share Price May Nearly Double to $60 on U.S. Exchanges: Hedge Fund Citron Capital (The New York Times)
NEW YORK – China-based Luckin Coffee Inc’s shares could double in price after it overcomes the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak and a widely publicized bearish bet against its stock, according to Andrew Left, managing partner at hedge fund Citron Capital. Better known for his short bets, Left, who is also editor of the online investment newsletter Citron Research, has come out in defense of Luckin’s stock, which his fund owns.
Banner Month for Formue Nord (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – January was a good month for Danish asset manager Formue Nord with the hiring of a new analyst, its special situations fund booking its best month on record and welcoming more than 40 new investors with a combined DKK 140 million in fresh capital. The primary strategy of Formue Nord Markedsneutral revolves around funding micro-, small- and medium-sized companies via bridge financing, underwriting or buying and exercising subscription rights. The fund gained 5.5 percent in January despite stocks slumping on concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
Leucadia Asset Management invests in Dymon Asia Multi-Strategy Investment Fund (Hedge Week)
Leucadia Asset Management, has formed a strategic relationship with Dymon Asia Capital and made an investment in the Dymon Asia Multi-Strategy Investment Fund. In connection with the transaction, Leucadia Asset Management will acquire an economic interest in certain of Dymon Asia Capital’s strategies. Dymon Asia Capital is a leading Asia-focused alternative investment management firm managing strategies across public and private markets globally. The new fund will invest in Asian equities, currencies and bonds through 26 of Dymon Asia Capital’s portfolio managers. In addition to being a cornerstone investor in this new fund, Leucadia Asset Management will provide certain services to Dymon Asia Capital.
A Lacrosse Pro Turned Top Hedge Fund Manager Goes All-In on Tech (Bloomberg)
A top hedge fund manager and former professional lacrosse player is betting that the roaring technology industry will continue to produce some of Canada’s top performing stocks. In Constellation Software Inc., Donville Kent Asset Management Inc. may have made its best bet yet. More than 10 years ago, the Toronto-based hedge fund began buying shares of the upstart software company. It paid off as Constellation grew to become one of Canada’s largest software sellers, with a market value of about C$31 billion ($23-billion).
Billionaire Steve Cohen ends talks to buy New York Mets: CNBC’s Faber (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen has ended negotiations to buy the New York Mets, CNBC’s David Faber said here on Tuesday. In December, Cohen had said he was in talks with the owners of Mets, the Wilpon family, that would see him increase his investment, but leave its current owners in charge of the team for another five years. Cohen bought a 4% stake in the Mets in 2012.
Leverage Is Exploding in the Fine-Art World (Bloomberg)
A $28 million Warhol. A $35 million Basquiat. A $70 million Twombly. Hedge-fund manager Daniel Sundheim has acquired all these works – and more – while wielding one of the most powerful tools in finance: leverage. Time was, art aficionados rarely talked openly about borrowing money against their paintings to build collections, make investments or just pay the bills.
Massachusetts Man Charged in Multi-Year Insider Trading Scheme (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) Jurors in Boston federal court have returned a verdict finding that Lexington, Massachusetts restauranteur Charlie Chen engaged in illegal insider trading in advance of five earnings announcements of Lexington-based company Vistaprint, N.V. The SEC’s evidence at trial showed that Chen, who was close friends with a Vistaprint insider and her husband, received highly confidential nonpublic information and used it to place trades in advance of five different announcements of Vistaprint’s financial results from April 2013 through July 2014. On some occasions, Chen placed extremely aggressive bets such as wagering much of his retirement account on risky Vistaprint options before the company’s announcement of disappointing earnings results in April 2014.
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) Chairman, CEO and President Jeffrey P Bezos Sold $465 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chairman, CEO and President of Amazon.com Inc., Jeffrey P Bezos, sold 229,981 shares of AMZN on 02/03/2020 at an average price of $2021.93 a share. The total sale was $465 million. Amazon.com Inc is an online retailer. The Company sells its products through the website which provides services, such as advertising services and co-branded credit card agreements. It also offers electronic devices like Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets.
Wednesday 2/5 Insider Buying Report: EFSC, ANVS (Nasdaq.com)
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. On Monday, Enterprise Financial Services’ Director, John S. Eulich, made a $222,250 purchase of EFSC, buying 5,026 shares at a cost of $44.22 each. So far Eulich is in the green, up about 3.4% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $45.71. Enterprise Financial Services is trading up about 1.7% on the day Wednesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Eulich in the past year.
A Director at Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, a Director at Goldman Sachs Group (GS), David Viniar, sold shares of GS for $6.06M. Following David Viniar’s last GS Sell transaction on October 31, 2014, the stock climbed by 65.3%. In addition to David Viniar, one other GS executive reported Sell trades in the last month.
