Pressure mounts on PetSmart to boost shareholder value (USA TODAY)
Another big investor is barking at PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETM), urging the struggling retailer to boost shareholder value. PetSmart said Monday that it’s “reviewing potential changes” to its capital structure with “a focus on returning capital to shareholders.” The move comes after Longview Asset Management said it had boosted its PetSmart stake to 9%, just days after hedge fund Jana Partners announced a 9.9% stake and urged a sale of the company. PetSmart gained $1.67 (2.5%) to $68.95 Monday after surging 12.5% Thursday on word of Jana Partners’ investment.
TCI’s Hohn Gets Ruling Keeping Finances Private in Divorce (Bloomberg)
Christopher Hohn, the founder of The Children’s Investment Fund Management UK LLP, can keep the financial details of his London divorce proceedings private, a judge ruled. Hohn, 47, started testifying today after media organizations, including Bloomberg News, lost a request to have all of the proceedings heard in public. Judge Jennifer Roberts declined to block reporting of the entire lawsuit over how to divide the couple’s $1.3 billion in assets in one of the largest divorce cases in the U.K.
Argentina Will Meet With Mediator, But Not Hedge Funds (FINalternatives)
Little more than three weeks from its second debt crisis in 13 years, Argentina will meet today with a court-appointed mediator—but not with the hedge-fund holdouts from its 2001 default. Speaking Thursday at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., Argentine Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said a delegation of government officials would meet with Daniel Pollack in New York. But Kicillof said that it would not sit down with the holdouts, led by Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital Management, and implied that it wouldn’t do so unless the hedge funds agree to certain preconditions, chief among them a deal allowing Argentina to pay its restructured debt while negotiating with them.
Standard General Confirms Talks With American Apparel (Wall Street Journal)
Standard General confirmed in a securities filing that it is in talks with American Apparel Inc. to shore up the company’s finances, reconstitute its board and strengthen its management. If the talks with American Apparel break down, the hedge fund said it would consider launching a proxy fight to win board seats. Standard General effectively controls 43% of the company’s shares through an arrangement it reached last month with Dov Charney, American Apparel’s ousted founder and chief executive.
InvestCorp Expands Its Hedge Fund Advisory Board (HedgeCo.net)
Investcorp, the $11.3 billion global hedge fund manager, has appointed four new Corporate Investment Advisory Directors, Brendan Harris, Joan Julia Dinares, Guy Leymarie and Philip Walters. “We are delighted to welcome such an esteemed group of new Advisory Directors.” Hazem Ben-Gacem, Head of Investcorp’s European Corporate Investment team, said: “Their collective knowledge and experience will be invaluable to Investcorp, as we continue to seek to identify and execute a steady flow of attractive investment opportunities and actively support our portfolio company management teams to build world-class businesses.”
