Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Steinway Musical Instruments Inc (NYSE:LVB), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), UBS AG (ADR) (NYSE:UBS), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP)
Icahn to return to St. Louis business prominence with Lumiere deal (StLToday)
Corporate takeover artist Carl Icahn is about to become a big player in the local casino business. His Tropicana Entertainment last week reached a deal to buy Lumière Place, the glitzy riverfront casino, its adjoining Four Seasons hotel and HoteLumière, for $260 million cash. Icahn is best known in St. Louis for his ownership of now-defunct Trans World Airlines. He bought the airline in 1985 but became a local pariah after he pulled nearly $1 billion out of the company and doubled its debt to $2.67 billion. His involvement ended when he surrendered control in 1993. American Airlines later bought TWA, and eliminated the passenger hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Steinway bought by hedge fund firm for $512m (Classical-Music)
The historic musical instrumental company Steinway Musical Instruments Inc (NYSE:LVB) is to be sold for $512m (£330m) to hedge fund firm, Paulson & Co. Inc. The offer from Paulson, which is owned by the investor John Paulson, beat a previous offer from Kohlberg & Co. Paulson offered $40 per share, trumping the $35 per share offer from Kohlberg. Paulson himself owns three Steinway Musical Instruments Inc (NYSE:LVB) & Sons pianos, including the 6’11” Model B grand piano, but is best known in the financial world for making his money betting against the subprime mortgages at the heart of the 2007 financial crisis.
J.P. Morgan Hires UBS’s Senior Prime Broker in Asia (WSJ)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) +0.56% & Co. has named a new head of prime brokerage account management for Asia Pacific, as investment banks jostle to win business in the region’s growing hedge-fund industry. Chris Barber, who joins the U.S. bank as a managing director, was previously head of prime brokerage account management for Asia Pacific at UBS AG (ADR) (NYSE:UBS) -0.65%, according to an internal memo seen by MoneyBeat on Wednesday. He will be based in Hong Kong. Mr. Barber’s appointment comes after JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) hired David Leahy in May from Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) as its head of Asia Pacific prime services sales.
What Google, Priceline.com, and Michael Kors Have in Common (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
It looks like the Tiger descendants are talking again . . . or at least syncing up their brains more closely. Between four and seven of these hedge fund managers, who have some sort of roots in Julian Robertson Jr.’s famed hedge fund firm, Tiger Management, owned at least five of the same stocks at the end of the second quarter: Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Liberty Global and Michael Kors. Several other stocks counted at least three members of this much-watched group as holders.
Blackstone looks to entice retail investors (WorldFinance)
While hedge funds have gained a reputation as being investment strategies only for financial experts and the risk averse, one of the world’s leading firms is hoping to attract a wider range of retail investors with the launch of a new fund. The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), the US-based investment giant, has partnered with mutual fund provider Fidelity Investments to offer retail customers the chance to put their money into the relatively high-risk strategies. Fidelity’s Portfolio Advisory Service (PSA) – which is made up of clients that have funds worth a minimum of $50,000 – has started investing in The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX)’s Alternative Multi-Manager Fund.
