Will Standard Industries Acquire GCP Applied Technologies Inc.?
We noticed that 40 North Management has been buying shares of GCP Applied Technologies Inc. (NYSE:GCP) since it filed a 13D 1.5 years ago.
40 North Management is founded by David S. Winter and David J. Millstone. It is actually an affiliate of a privately held roofing manufacturer named Standard Industries. 40 North Management's co-founders and co-CIOs, David Winter and David Millstone, are also co-CEOs of Standard Industries. That isn't the only thing they have in common. They are both married to Ronnie and Samuel Heyman's daughters. They took over the CEO position after Samuel Heyman passed away in 2009.
Samuel Heyman was a corporate raider and hedge fund manager. He used to invest Standard Industries' cash in merger arbitrage and other hedge fund strategies. His son-in-laws apparently share the same passion for investing. We don't believe 40 North Management is a traditional activist hedge fund even though it went activist against non-construction companies like Mattress Firm Holding Co.
