$2.1B deal to sell Red Lobster slammed as ‘fire sale’ in suit (NYPost)
A controversial deal to sell Red Lobster is still causing indigestion. Starboard Value LP has sued Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) over its $2.1 billion agreement in May to sell Red Lobster to buyout firm Golden Gate, demanding books and records amid allegations of “a fire-sale price.” Starboard, a New York hedge fund whose successful effort to demand a special shareholder meeting this spring over the issue was ignored by Darden’s board, also disclosed in a securities filing that it has increased its Darden stake to 8 percent.
Winton’s low-cost equities fund tops $1bn for first time (FT)
Winton, the London-based hedge fund, has increased the assets in its low-cost equities fund to more than $1bn for the first time in a sign that traditional stock managers may come under increasing pressure from computer-driven rivals. Winton, which manages about $25bn in total assets using secret computer codes that analyse patterns in markets, has seen large inflows into its long-only equities fund this year, which was launched in 2009 to enable the hedge fund to trade in stocks alongside the futures markets that make up the bulk of its investments.
You can’t keep a good hedge fund promoter down (JournalInquirer)
When a hedge fund promoter goes to prison after being convicted of insider trading or some other crime related to his business dealings, one can be sure that his arrogance and disrespect for the law disappears only momentarily — that moment being when he is pleading for lenient terms from the judge. Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, is the defendant in a civil suit filed by Peter Malaszuk, his former driver and personal assistant, who claims to have lost his job because of refusing to perform certain transactions for his former boss.
Closing hedge fund loopholes would mean so much (DesMoinesRegister)
In the July 22 article “Thirteen Hedge Funds Escaped Billions in Taxes,” we learned that just one of those funds, Renaissance Technologies, avoided paying $6.8 billion in taxes, aided by a big bank’s financial scheme. To give just one illustration, that amount of money would pay Iowa government’s per pupil support for all K-12 students for two years with plenty of money left over. Politicians on the right constantly say our country can’t afford one thing or another. Nonsense. All we have to do is close all the loopholes that allow corporations, hedge funds and others to avoid paying their fare share of taxes.
T. Boone Pickens-Backed PE Firm Flipping High-End Ranches (FoxBusiness)
A Dallas-based private-equity firm — backed by T. Boone Pickens — is looking to deliver major returns to its investors, and a whole lot of trout as well. Sporting Ranch Capital’s business plan focuses on flipping ranches. The two-year-old firm buys up neglected ranch land, refurbishes the property and then sells it off to wealthy outdoor enthusiasts. Fund manager Jay Ellis says he expects to provide investors with returns of over 20%.
Recommended Reading:
CVR Refining LP (CVRR): Billionaire Carl Icahn Sells 975,000 Shares
ESL Investments Further Decreases Stake In AutoNation, Inc. (AN)
Coliseum Capital Further Trims Stake In Accuride Corporation (ACW)
