SPO Advisory Trims Stake in Embattled Resolute Energy Corp (REN), Plus Three Other Hedge Fund Moves

SPO Advisory Corp. Cuts Stake in This Struggling Oil and Gas Company

In a newly-amended 13G filing, John H. Scully’s SPO Advisory Corp. reported ownership of 4.82 million shares of Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN), which account for 6.3% of the company’s total number of outstanding shares. This marks a decrease of 10.17 million shares from the position disclosed in SPO Advisory’s 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 10.24 million shares from the stake revealed in the fund’s previous 13G filing on the company, submitted with the SEC at the end of October.

Resolute Energy operates as an independent oil and gas company whose asset base comprises properties in Aneth Field in the Paradox Basin in southeast Utah and the Permian Basin in Texas and southeast New Mexico. Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN) seems to have an extremely weak balance sheet, as the company’s outstanding indebtedness reached $528.3 million at the end of December. The oil and gas company had only $9.30 million in cash and cash equivalents at the time, as well as an unused borrowing base of $145 million under its credit facility. The company’s capital spending for 2016 is anticipated to be in the range of $115 million-to-$135 million, with 75% channeled into Permian Basin development and 10% into maintenance spending in Aneth Field. Shares of Resolute Energy are down 32% year-to-date. Sageview Capital, founded by Edward Gilhuly and Scott Stuart, owned 5.08 million shares of Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE:REN) at the end of 2015.

Elliott’s Subsidiary Gets another Board Seat at CorMedix

As revealed by a 13D filing, Paul Singer’s Elliott Associates L.P. and its affiliates collectively own 3.80 million shares of CorMedix Inc. (NYSEMKT:CRMD), which include 2.30 million shares issuable upon the conversion or exercise of certain convertible securities. This represents an increase from the stake of 3.60 million shares disclosed in Elliott’s previous 13D filing on CorMedix, submitted with the SEC in early August. The latter stake included 2.10 million shares issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities. More importantly, the filing was amended to add that Manchester Securities Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elliott Associates, exercised its right to appoint a second member to the company’s Board of Directors pursuant to the backstop financing agreement reached in March 2015. As a result, Myron Kaplan was appointed to the Board effective on April 27, 2016.

CorMedix Inc. (NYSEMKT:CRMD) in-licenses, develops and commercializes prophylactic and therapeutic products for the prevention and treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases. The company currently focuses on an ongoing U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial that evaluates the safety and efficacy of Neutrolin, an anti-infective solution for the prevention of catheter-related infections and thrombosis, in hemodialysis patients. CorMedix shares have gained an impressive 111% since the beginning of 2016, but they are down 45% in the past year. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management acquired a new stake of 60,322 shares of CorMedix Inc. (NYSEMKT:CRMD) during the December quarter.