Judge tosses racketeering accusations against Steven Cohen (New York Daily News)
Hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen caught a break Monday as a federal judge tossed out the most serious accusation in a $10 million lawsuit brought by his ex-wife. The rest of her claims will move forward. Patricia Cohen, who split with the Wall Street titan 25 years ago, said her former hubby made millions on insider trades and hid at least $5.5 million in assets during their divorce, slapping him with a racketeering claim that would have tripled her potential payout in the case. She initially sought $300 million in damages when she sued in 2009 but later reduced the sum.
Airbus Gains Jana Hedge-Fund Investor as A350 Jet Risk Declines (Bloomberg)
Airbus Group NV (AIR) gained Jana Partners LLC, the $7 billion hedge fund run by Barry Rosenstein, as an investor, which cited the manufacturer’s attractive prospects with products including the A350 wide-body aircraft. Airbus is “the superior opportunity within aerospace,” New York-based Jana said in a letter to investors. Progress on Airbus’s newest plane, the A350, as well as less government influence and a large cash pile make it a compelling opportunity, said the fund that generally invests in companies undergoing shifts. It didn’t disclose the size of its stake.
Soros Trims Exposure to Exar Corporation (EXAR) (Insider Monkey)
Soros Fund Management, led by George Soros, has recently disposed a significant chunk of its Exar Corporation (NYSE:EXAR) holding. The fund sold last week 985,708 shares of the company, at a price of $12.14 apiece. Following the deal, the amount of shares held by Soros was reduced to some 4.96 million shares. The position held currently by Soros amasses around 10.4% of the company’s common stock, taking into account the total amount of shares disclosed by the fund as outstanding in their latest 10-Q report. Exar Corporation is engaged in design and development of high-performance integrated circuits for Networking, Storage and Communication Infrastructure markets.
Hedge Fund Taking Stake in Brazil’s B2W (Wall Street Journal)
Technology-focused hedge fund Tiger Global Management LLC will invest as much as 1.2 billion Brazilian reais ($500 million) in B2W Companhia Digital SA, Brazil’s largest online retailer by revenue. The investment will be part of a capital increase of 2.38 billion reais, B2W said over the weekend, without saying how big a stake the U.S. fund will be buying. B2W is controlled by local retail group Lojas Americanas, which will contribute at least 1.02 billion reais to the capital increase.
Lotus Peak Plans Abenomics Fund of Hedge Funds to Capture Demand (Bloomberg)
Lotus Peak Capital Pte, a Singapore-based investment manager, will start a fund of hedge funds to benefit from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to stoke the world’s third-largest economy. The Abenomics Long Short Fund will start on Feb. 3 with about $15 million of initial capital from Swiss and Asian family offices, Managing Partner Stephane Pizzo said. It will invest in 10 Japan-focused managers across different strategies with a preference for equity markets, he said.
Hedge fund takes stake as UBM continues chief executive search (CITY A.M.)
Hengistbury Investment Partners, the hedge fund set up in 2011 by The Children’s Investment Fund former senior partner Stuart Powers, has reportedly taken a 5.2 per cent stake in UBM. The hedge fund is now the second largest investor in the events and publishing company, according to a report in The Sunday Times. UBM is currently searching for a new chief executive following the announcement earlier this month that David Levin would leave the company on 1 March, after seven years in the role, to take over as chief executive of McGraw-Hill Education in New York.
What P&G’s performance could mean for Bill Ackman (CNBC.com)
