Tiger Global Takes Barclays Stake: Report

Per the FT, Chase Coleman's hedge fund firm Tiger Global has reportedly taken a stake in Barclays (BCS) worth around $1 billion, but this position hasn't been publicly disclosed.  Reportedly, the fund acquired around a 2.5% stake in November when Barclays shares were in the doldrums. 

Based on Tiger's last 13F filing (as of Q3 2017), this would make it around their fourth, fifth, or sixth largest holding, depending on just how large the stake is and if they've adjusted position sizes in other holdings.

This would also be their second major investment in the financial space as of late, as they also built up a stake in private equity firm Apollo (APO) throughout 2017.

Barclays' CEO, Jes Staley, has been focusing on their US-focused investment bank and UK-focused consumer banking segment. 

Per Yahoo Finance, Barclays is "provides various financial products and services worldwide. It offers personal and business banking services, credit cards, transactional and other lending products, and investment products and services. The company also provides financial advice, primary capital raising and capital markets execution, risk and liquidity management, sales and trading, consumer payments, and wealth management services. It serves corporates, financial institutions, institutional investors, governments, consumers, high and ultra-high net worth individuals, and family offices. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom."

ValueAct Capital Doubles Rolls Royce Stake

Jeff Ubben's activist firm ValueAct Capital now owns 10% of Rolls Royce (RR.L / RYCEY), according to a regulatory filing with the company.  The investment firm crossed the required threshold on November 18th.

We highlighted when ValueAct initially took a Rolls Royce stake earlier this year.  Back then, they owned 5.44% of the company and since that disclosure shares have fallen around 21% and they've utilized the dip to increase their stake.

The company's new CEO Warren East recently issued another profit warning and is laying out his plans to turnaround the airplane engine maker.

Rolls has been hit in the near-term with its exposure to the oil and gas industry via some of its other business lines.  Additionally, the company has seen some dips in their aerospace segment (especially with its Trent 700 engine) as customers wait for newer, more efficient engines and airplanes to be delivered.

It seems as though ValueAct likes the company's duopoly position in the widebody aircraft engine industry.  However, they're probably looking for the company to improve margins and rationalize their production lines. They've also been pushing for a seat on the board at Rolls, but thus far haven't been granted access.

ValueAct, as a long term investor, probably sees this as an ideal turnaround story and are willing to take the near-term pain as East begins to dig in at the company.  Rolls sells its engines at a loss or break-even but then earns money on service contracts over the lifetime of the engine. 

As RR delivers more and more of their newest engines (on planes such as the Airbus A350) their installed base of service contracts is set to expand dramatically.  The company just has to get through the rough patch until then.

You can view additional portfolio activity from ValueAct here.

Per Google Finance, Rolls Royce is "a United Kingdom-based company that designs, develops, manufactures and services power systems for use in the air, on land and at sea. The Company operates through two divisions: Aerospace and Land & Sea. The Aerospace Division produces aero engines for large civil aircraft and corporate jets and provides defense aero engines and services. The Land & Sea Division comprises power systems, marine and nuclear businesses. The power systems business is involved in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of diesel engines and power systems. The marine business is engaged in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of marine power propulsion systems and aftermarket services. The nuclear business is involved in the development, manufacture, marketing and sales of nuclear systems for civil power generation and naval propulsion systems."

Hound Partners Boosts Short in Admiral Group

Jonathan Auerbach's hedge fund firm Hound Partners recently filed updated short position disclosures in the UK regarding their short of Admiral Group (LON:ADM).

Per the filings, Hound has disclosed they are now short 1.71% of shares as of October 1st.  This is up from the 1.6% of shares they were short back on June 17th.

Given the volatility in markets as of late, we're providing updates on various hedge fund short positions.  You can scroll through them all by clicking here: hedge fund short positions.

The UK regulatory rules for short position disclosures state that hedge funds must privately file when their net short position eclipses 0.2% of the issued share capital of a company.  Notification is also required again at each 0.1% increment after that.  This applies to both increases and decreases in the position.  Public disclosure is required when net short positions reach 0.5% of issued share capital.  Additionally, disclosure is required when the position subsequently falls below 0.5%.

Per Google Finance, Admiral Group is "a United Kingdom-based company engaged in the provision of car insurance. The Company has four operational segments, which include UK Car Insurance, International Car Insurance, Price Comparison and Other. The UK Car Insurance segment consists of the underwriting of car insurance and other products that supplement the car insurance policy. The International Car Insurance segment consists of the underwriting of car insurance and the generation of revenue from additional products and fees, from underwriting car insurance outside of the United Kingdom. The Price Comparison segment relates to the Company's price comparison Websites; Confused.com in the United Kingdom, Rastreator in Spain, LeLynx in France and compare.com in the United States. The Other segment comprises of the United Kingdom household insurance, the Company's commercial van insurance broker, Gladiator and commercial van insurance. It operates approximately 14 brands in seven countries."

Blue Ridge Capital Shorts Royal Mail

John Griffin's hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital has filed a short position disclosure with regulators in the UK.  Per the filing, Blue Ridge is now short 0.75% of Royal Mail's (LON:RMG) shares as of September 25th.  As far as we can tell, this is a newly disclosed short position.

Given the volatility in markets as of late, we're providing updates on various hedge fund short positions.  You can scroll through them all by clicking here: hedge fund short positions.

The UK regulatory rules for short position disclosures state that hedge funds must privately file when their net short position eclipses 0.2% of the issued share capital of a company.  Notification is also required again at each 0.1% increment after that.  This applies to both increases and decreases in the position.  Public disclosure is required when net short positions reach 0.5% of issued share capital.  Additionally, disclosure is required when the position subsequently falls below 0.5%.

Per Google Finance, Royal Mail plc provides postal services. The Company's segments include UK Parcels, International & Letters (UKPIL), General Logistics Systems (GLS) and Other. The UKPIL segment provides letter and parcel services to and from countries across the world under reciprocal arrangements with other overseas postal administrations. It is also responsible for the design and production of the United Kingdom's stamps and philatelic products. The UKPIL segment includes Royal Mail Group Limited, Royal Mail Estates Limited and Royal Mail Investments Limited. The GLS segment operates in continental Europe and the Republic of Ireland and operates ground-based parcel delivery network in Europe. The GLS segment includes GLS Germany GmbH & Co. OHG, GLS Italy S.p.A. and GLS France S.A.S. The Other segment includes its subsidiaries, Romec Limited, which is engaged in facilities management; NDC 2000 Limited, a provider of design services, and Quadrant Catering Ltd, a provider of catering services.

Lone Pine Capital Increases Short Position in Rolls Royce

Steve Mandel's hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital has recently made some disclosures regarding their short position in shares of Rolls Royce (RR.L) in the UK.

We previously highlighted Lone Pine's initial short in RR shares earlier this summer and now they've increased their short position further.  Per filings made with the UK's FCA, Mandel's firm increased the short to 0.66% of shares on September 22nd, up to 0.76% of shares on September 23rd, and then finally up to 0.85% of shares a day later.  This is the most recent disclosure.

As we've also detailed, this is now somewhat of a battleground stock between two well respected investment managers as Jeff Ubben's ValueAct Capital is long RR.  They obviously saw an opportunity for activism here and are long-term investors.  Lone Pine, on the other hand, is looking to take advantage of the near-term troubles at the company.

We've posted a bunch of short position updates this week.  You can scroll through them all by clicking here: hedge fund short positions.

The UK regulatory rules for short position disclosures state that hedge funds must file when their net short position eclipses 0.2% of the issued share capital of a company.  Notification is also required again at each 0.1% increment after that.  This applies to both increases and decreases in the position.  Public disclosure is required when net short positions reach 0.5% of issued share capital.  Additionally, disclosure is required when the position subsequently falls below 0.5%.

You can read more recent portfolio activity from Lone Pine here.

ValueAct Capital Discloses Rolls Royce Stake; GreenWood's Thesis on Rolls

Jeff Ubben's activist firm ValueAct Capital has filed a regulatory disclosure in the UK regarding shares of Rolls Royce (RR.L)


ValueAct Starts Rolls Royce Stake

The filing indicates that ValueAct now owns 5.44% of Rolls Royce's (RR.L) voting rights.  The filing was made due to activity on July 29th and their are now the largest shareholder.

Per the FT, Rolls Royce in a statement said that, "ValueAct has been an investor before and we constructively engaged with them before.  We welcome any investor who recognises the long-term value of our business.  We look forward to engaging with ValueAct, just as we do with all investors."

Just last week, we highlighted how Steve Mandel's Lone Pine Capital is short Rolls Royce.  So now we have a bit of a battleground stock with prominent investors involved on both sides.  However, given the investment timeframes of longs versus shorts, both sides could still potentially end up winning.

Lone Pine is plausibly betting on the near-term pain at Rolls as some of their business units suffer from oil and gas exposure amidst the decline in oil prices and their Trent 700 engine sees a dip as purchasers wait for a newer, more efficient engine and airplane (Airbus A330neo).

ValueAct, as a long investor, is probably looking to capitalize on a turnaround in Rolls' business under new CEO Warren East.  They're typically long-term holders anyways and would seemingly be fine with riding out any turbulence in the near-term. 

Ruane Cunniff's Sequoia Fund is also a long-term holder of Rolls shares.  In their 2014 annual letter, they lamented that, "Management and the board seem stubborn and entrenched, and it may take a tough-minded activist to force strategic change."  Well, now they have both: a new CEO and an activist in ValueAct.  Sequoia feels that "Rolls' wounds are self-inflicted and reversible."  They also really like the company's "world class business making engines for wide body jets" due to the high barriers to entry.

ValueAct seems to be bullish on the aerospace industry in general and engines in particular.  During the first quarter of this year, they also initiated a new $119 million stake in Precision Castparts (PCP). 

Numerous other prominent investors were buying PCP shares such as Berkshire Hathaway, Lou Simpson's SQ Advisors (he previously worked at Berkshire as well), Soroban Capital, Vulcan Value, Farallon, Third Point, and Eminence Capital, among others.  Sequoia also owns PCP and bought more in Q1 as well.

PCP makes castings, forgings, fasteners and more, and many of their parts go into aircraft engines.


GreenWood's Thesis on Rolls Royce

Steven Wood of GreenWood Investors also recently took a stake in Rolls Royce and posted his investment thesis on the name.

You can quickly get up to speed on the name and see his suggestions that the company should perhaps vertically integrate more to follow in the footsteps of their competitor, GE Aviation, to play catch up in margins.

Embedded below is Greenwood's investment thesis on Rolls:

   Rolls Royce Mind the Gap

You can download a .pdf copy here.


For more from ValueAct, you can view some of their other recent portfolio activity here.

Eton Park Capital Short Burberry Group and J Sainsbury

Eric Mindich's hedge fund firm Eton Park Capital has recently disclosed updated short positions in Burberry Group (LON:BRBY) and J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY).


Eton Park Short Burberry Group

Per regulatory filings in the UK, Eton Park has disclosed it is net short 0.7% of Burberry's shares as of July 13th.  This is up from a 0.62% net short position back on May 11th.

Institutions are required to publicly disclose when they build a short position above the 0.5% of shares threshold.  Keep in mind that this could either be an alpha short or a hedge to one of their long positions.

Last week we also highlighted 2 stocks that prominent hedge funds are short.

Per Google Finance, Burberry Group is "a United Kingdom-based manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of luxury goods. The Company designs, produces and sells products under the Burberry brand. The Company’s product categories include women’s and men’s apparel and accessories and beauty. The Company owns distribution network consisting of: 497 directly operated stores and concessions, offline and burberry.com, a digital platform active in 11 languages, online. The Company’s Licensing revenues are generated through the receipt of royalties from the Group’s partners in Japan and global licensees of fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and European children wear. The Company’s retail/wholesale engages in the sale of luxury goods through Burberry mainline stores, concessions, outlets and digital commerce as well as Burberry franchisees, prestige department stores globally and multi-brand specialty accounts. The Company has subsidiaries in Europe, Middle East, India, Africa, United States and Asia Pacific region."


Eton Park Also Short J Sainsbury

Per a separate regulatory filing in the UK, Eton Park has disclosed a net short position in 0.69% of J Sainsbury's shares as of June 29th.

Per Google Finance, J Sainsbury is "engaged in supermarkets and convenience stores, and an online grocery and general merchandise operation. The Company also has two property joint ventures with Land Securities Group Plc and The British Land Company Plc. Sainsbury’s Bank provides a range of banking and insurance products."

Greenlight Capital Short ARM Holdings

David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital is short shares of ARM Holdings traded in the UK.  Per short selling disclosure rules, funds must publicly disclose when they are net short 0.5% of a company's shares or greater.

As of July 21st, Greenlight was net short 1.36% of ARM Holdings shares.  This is up from a 1.23% position on July 10th and a 1.11% net short position on July 8th, 2015.

Per Google Finance, ARM Holdings is "a United Kingdom-based company engaged in designing of microprocessors, physical intellectual property (IP) and related technology and software, and sale of development tools. The Company's offers products, such as 16/32/64-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. The Company's product offering includes microprocessor Cores, physical IP, development tools and support and maintenance services. ARM licenses and sells its technology and products to international electronics companies, which in turn manufacture, market and sell microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard processors (ASSPs) and microcontrollers (MCUs) based on ARM's technology to systems companies for incorporation into a variety of end products."

While this could be an alpha short, it could also potentially be a hedge to Greenlight's tech exposure, as they've been long names like Applied Materials (AMAT), Micron (MU), Apple (AAPL), ON Semiconductor (ON), and SunEdison (SUNE).

For more from this hedge fund, we've posted Greenlight's Q2 letter here and just yesterday highlighted a stock Greenlight's been buying recently.

To see other hedge fund short positions, click that link to scroll through the recent updates.

Lone Pine Capital Short Rolls Royce

Steve Mandel's hedge fund firm Lone Pine Capital has filed a regulatory disclosure in the UK regarding shares of Rolls Royce (RR.L), indicating they have a net short position. 


Lone Pine Short Rolls Royce

Lone Pine has disclosed they have a net short position to the tune of 0.59% of Rolls Royce shares.  This is a newly disclosed short position and the disclosure was triggered on July 10th, 2015.  Previously, they were short 0.35% of shares due to a filing on July 8th.

This comes only a few days after new CEO Warren East issued a profit warning, cut guidance, and noted that next year's results would also be weaker than expected.  Prior to joining Rolls, East was the CEO at ARM Holdings.  This is the fourth time Rolls has issued a warning since last early year.  The company also canceled its existing share buyback.

The company's marine division has been impacted by lower oil prices.  Additionally, Rolls Royce said its main segment, civil aerospace, would be impacted next year due to lower orders for its Trent 700 engines.

While it's harder to discern if this is an alpha short or a hedge to one of their longs, it still seems Lone Pine is looking for near-term pain to continue for the company.

On the other side of the trade, Ruane Cunniff (Sequoia Fund) has been long shares and in its year-end 2014 letter they bemoaned the company's move into marine engine and power generation.  They believe that "Rolls' wounds are self-inflicted and reversible" and love the company's "world class business making engines for wide body jets" as it enjoys a duopoly with General Electric with high barriers to entry. 


Short Selling Disclosure Rules in the UK

In 2012, the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) began requiring institutional investors to
to privately notify the FSA when their net short position eclipses 0.2% of the issued share capital of a company.  Notification is also required again at each 0.1% increment after that.  This applies to both increases and decreases in the position.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) now monitors short sales.

Public disclosure of the short (as is the case above), is required when net short positions reach 0.5% of issued share capital.  Additionally, disclosure is required when the position subsequently falls below 0.5%.


Stay tuned this week and next as we'll be updating other short positions from prominent hedge funds.  Today we also posted about how Viking Global is short Peugeot.

For more from this hedge fund, we posted that Lone Pine almost doubled its stake in Charter Communications recently.

Maverick Capital & Odey Out Buying AO World Shares

Lee Ainslie's hedge fund firm, Maverick Capital, has disclosed a holding in London listed online retailer AO World (LON:AO).  Due to trading on March 16th, Maverick hold the equivalent of 3.31% of AO's voting rights via a total return swap.

AO World recently traded around 330p / share and now trades at 182p.  Maverick first disclosed an interest in AO in November 2014 but sold enough shares to go below the 3% disclosure threshold a few weeks later.  You can view other past portfolio activity from Maverick here.

Crispin Odey's firm Odey Asset Management have held AO stock for over a year but due to trading on March 13th, 2015 increased their stake substantially from 5.03% to 10.09%.  About 40% of Odey's holding is held via derivatives.

Per Google Finance, AO World is "an online retailer of domestic appliances. The Company sources, sells and delivers domestic appliances, including washing machines, washer dryers, tumble dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, range cookers and microwaves, as well as a range of small domestic appliances, including vacuums, floor cleaners, coffee machines, mixers and food processors. The Company’s sales activities are focused primarily on sales of appliances through the Company’s branded Websites, principally AO.com. The Company also offers ancillary services to its AO Website and third-party branded Website customers, including delivery, installation, removal and recycling services and sales of third-party product protection plans."

Greenlight Capital Adds To Cairn Energy Holdings

David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital has added to its stake in London listed Cairn Energy (LON:CNE).  Due to trading on December 12th, Einhorn's fund increased its holding from 4.2% to 6.2% of voting rights. 

Most of the position is via common stock but around 12% is held via a total return swap.  Their latest shares were bought around the 160p mark.

Greenlight first disclosed a 3% in Cairn back in Mach 2012 when shares traded at around 350p.  Since then, they have gone above and below the 3% disclosure threshold a few times and then in January of this year they added shares that cost around 260p each to take the stake to 4.2%. 

For more from this manager, head to David Einhorn's most recent interview.

Per Google Finance, Cairn Energy is "an independent oil and gas exploration and development company. The Company’s operations are organised based on geographical regions. Its geographical segments include North West Europe- North Sea, Atlantic Margin-Greenland, Atlantic Margin-Morocco and the Mediterranean. The Cairn Energy Group’s operations focuses on new exploration activities in Greenland and the Mediterranean. The Company’s operating subsidiaries include Capricorn Oil Limited, Cairn UK Holdings Limited, Capricorn Energy Limited, Cairn Energy Dhangari Limited, Cairn Energy Karnali Limited, Cairn Energy Lumbini Limited, Cairn Energy Malangawa Limited, Cairn Energy Birganj Limited, Capricorn Albania Limited, Capricorn Spain Limited, Capricorn Greenland Exploration 1 Limited and Capricorn Lady Franklin Limited."

Maverick Capital Discloses Pets at Home Group Position

Lee Ainslie's hedge fund Maverick Capital has disclosed a new holding in London listed Pets at Home Group (LON:PETS).  Due to trading on July 29th, Maverick now own the equivalent of 3.14% of voting rights, all via a total return swap.

Pets at Home was floated in March at 245p per share.  It looks as though Maverick might have bought their shares somewhere around 175p.

To see what else Maverick has been buying, check out our just released Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter.

Per Google Finance, Pets at Home is "a specialist retailer of pet food, pet-related products and pet accessories. The Company also operates a small animal veterinary business by combined number of surgeries both in its stores and at standalone sites and is a joint venture operator in the market. The Company is an operator by number of salons of pet grooming services offered through Pets at Home’s in store salons. The Company’s product range consists of two product groups: pet food and pet accessories, which are complemented by services, including veterinary services (both in stores and on a standalone basis) and in store Groom Room grooming services. In addition, the Company also offers pet insurance, advanced nutrition food consultation, acquaria water testing, microchipping services and dental checks, which complement the services offered by its veterinary surgeries and Groom Room grooming salons."

Odey Reveals Tungsten Corporation Stake

Crispin Odey's Odey Asset Management has disclosed a new position in London listed Tungsten Corporation (LON: TUNG).  Due to trading on July 21st, Odey hold 5.21% of Tungsten's voting rights.

Other large investors in Tungsten include Wellington Management with 5% and GLG Partners with 3.63%.  Tungsten is a relatively young business which floated on AIM back in October 2013.

Per Google Finance, Tungsten "is the holding company of OB10 Limited and its subsidiaries. The Company together with its subsidiaries is engaged in the provision of electronic invoice delivery (e-invoicing) to suppliers and buyers. OB10 Limited provides services, such as e-invoicing, where suppliers can send electronic invoices to their customers, eliminating the need for paper documentation; purchase order services, where buyers can send purchase orders to their suppliers; invoice status services, where suppliers can establish the approval and payment status of the invoices they have sent to their customers, and payment services, which includes solutions to enable supply chain financing. The Company operates in European Union, America and Asia."

Maverick Capital Starts Countrywide Plc Stake

Lee Ainslie's hedge fund firm Maverick Capital has disclosed a new position in London listed residential estate agent, Countrywide Plc (LON:CWD).  Due to trading on July 14th, Maverick now hold the equivalent of 3.04% of Countrywide's voting rights, all via total return swap.

Countrywide Plc is the UK's largest estate agency group.  In 2007, the company was taken private by Apollo Management.  In March 2013, it was re-listed on the London Stock Exchange.  Currently, the largest shareholder is Howard Marks' Oaktree Capital with 27.59% of the voting rights.

For more on Maverick, check out an in-depth interview with Lee Ainslie here.

Per Google Finance, Countrywide Plc is "an integrated residential estate agency and property services group in the United Kingdom. The Company offers estate agency and lettings services, together with a range of complementary services. The Company operates in five businesses: residential property sales; residential property lettings and property management; arranging mortgages, insurance and related financial products (provided by third parties) for participants in residential property transactions; surveying and valuation services for mortgage lenders and prospective homebuyers, and residential property conveyance services. Countrywide Holdings, Ltd. is the holding company of the Company."

Soros Fund Discloses Sinclair IS Pharma and Spansion Stakes

George Soros' family office Soros Fund Management has disclosed two new positions recently.


Sinclair Pharma

First, Soros has revealed a new stake in London listed Sinclair IS Pharma (LON:SPH).  Due to trading on May 2nd, Soros now owns 5.02% of Sinclair's voting rights.

Other notable holders of Sinclair Pharma include the Toscafund which was set up by Martin Hughes and is now managed by Johnny de la Hay with 26.8% of voting rights and Lansdowne Partners with 11.03%.

Per Google Finance, Sinclair IS Pharma is "a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on treatments in dermatology, wound care, oncology support and critical care through surface technology and delivery systems. It has presence in five European markets and a marketing partner network across developed and emerging markets."


Spansion (CODE)

Second, Soros Fund has started a new position in Spansion (CODE).  Per a 13G filed with the SEC, Soros has revealed they own 5.11% of the company with over 3 million shares.  This is a brand new position and the filing was required due to activity on April 25th.

Per Google Finance, Spansion is "a designer, manufacturer and developer of Flash memory semiconductors. The Company focuses on a portion of the Flash memory market that relates to flash memory solutions for microprocessors, controllers and other programmable semiconductors that run applications in a range of electronic systems. These electronic systems include automotive and industrial, computing and communications, consumer and gaming. In addition to flash memory products, the Company assist its customers in developing and prototyping their designs by providing software and hardware development tools, drivers and simulation models for system-level integration. Spansion’s products are designed to accommodate various voltage, interface and density requirements for a range of applications and customer platforms. Spansion's product designs are based on its two-bit-per-cell MirrorBit technology and floating gate NOR flash memory technology."

For more, check out George Soros' best investment advice.

Elliott Management Boosts F&C Asset Management Stake

Paul Singer’s hedge fund firm Elliott Management has increased its stake in F&C Asset Management (LON: FCAM). At the end of February, we noted that Elliott held the equivalent of 11% of FCAM’s voting rights.

But now due to trading on March 19th, Elliott has increased the position to 17.5%, with the whole position again held via contract for difference (CFDs/ derivatives).

Per Google Finance – “F&C Asset Management plc (F&C) is an asset management company.  The Company operates in three segments: F&C, F&C REIT and Thames River Capital (TRC). The  Company’s clients are insurance companies, institutional, retail and wholesale investors. The  Company manages portfolios across multiple asset classes on behalf of a range of clients including  insurance funds, pension schemes, public authorities and charities as well as private individuals through savings schemes, investment trusts and mutual funds. The Company’s subsidiaries include  FP Asset Management Holdings Limited, F&C Asset Management Services Limited, ISIS Investment Manager plc, F&C Managed Pension Funds Limited and F&C Treasury Limited.”

Elliott Management Discloses F&C Asset Management and Alliance Trust Stakes

Paul Singer’s Elliott Capital Advisors activist hedge fund has made two new disclosures in London recently.  


F&C Asset Management Stake

Elliott started a new position in F&C Asset Management (LON:FCAM) with an 11% stake. Half of the holding is held via contract for difference (CFD) / derivatives.  F&C Asset Management has recently received a takeover offer from the Bank of Montreal. 

Per Google Finance “F&C Asset Management plc (F&C) is an asset management company.   The Company operates in three segments: F&C, F&C REIT and Thames River Capital (TRC). The   Company’s clients are insurance companies, institutional, retail and wholesale investors. The   Company manages portfolios across multiple asset classes on behalf of a range of clients including   insurance funds, pension schemes, public authorities and charities as well as private individuals   through savings schemes, investment trusts and mutual funds.”  


Alliance Trust Position

Elliott also added to its stake in London listed Alliance Trust (LON: ATST), taking its holding from 5% of voting rights to 10.02%. 

Per Google Finance – “Alliance Trust PLC is a self-managed investment trust. The Company’s   objective is to be a core investment for investors seeking increasing value over the long-term. The Company pursues its objective by investing in both quoted and unquoted equities in different sectors and industries; investing internationally in fixed income securities; investing in other asset classes and financial instruments, either directly or through investment vehicles, and investing in subsidiaries and associated businesses.”

Tybourne Capital Raises Mulberry Group Stake

Eashwar Krishnan’s hedge fund Tybourne Capital Management has disclosed a position in London listed Mulberry Group (LON: MUL).  Due to trading on January 29th, Tybourne now hold 4.3% of Mulberry’s voting rights. 

Mulberry Group is not a new position, as Tybourne appeared on Mulberry Group’s list of large shareholders with a 1.08% stake back in November of 2013.  Tybourne have clearly been out buying more shares since then. 


About Tybourne Capital

Eashwar Krishnan spent 12 years as a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Lone Pine Capital. In 2007, he moved to Hong Kong to set up and manage Lone Pine’s operation in Asia.

He set up his own fund, Tybourne Capital, in 2012. Tybourne focuses mostly on equities in the consumer, financial and TMT sectors in Asia. Tybourne’s flagship fund returned 16.04% in 2013, its first full year of operation.

For more on Tybourne, we've previously posted up Krishnan's investment ideas from the Sohn London Conference.


About Mulberry Group

Per Google Finance, Mulberry Group is "a United Kingdom-based holding company. The Company is engaged in the design and manufacture or sourcing of luxury accessories, clothing and footwear and their subsequent sale through wholesale channels or its own stores and concessions in home and export markets. It operates in two segments: the Retail business and Design business. The Retail segment is engaged in the sale of Mulberry branded fashion accessories, clothing and footwear through a number of shops and department store concessions. The design segment includes brand management, marketing, product design, manufacture, sourcing and wholesale distribution for the Mulberry brand. It invests in design and development in order to develop and market accessory, clothing and footwear collections for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter each year."

Odey Adds to Epistem Holdings Position

James Hanbury's Odey Absolute Return hedge fund has more than doubled its stake in London listed Biotechnology support company, Epistem Holdings (LON:EHP).

Due to trading on January 31st, Hanbury's fund increased their holding from 6.46% to 15.51%.  The Odey group of funds often share positions but in this case it looks as though Hanbury's fund is the sole owner.

Hanbury's fund also disclosed a new position in Wolfson Microelectronics last week.

Per Google Finance, Epistem Holdings is "a holding company. The Company is engaged in  provision of services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, covering pre-clinical   testing and gene biomarker and diagnostic services and the development of novel therapeutics for   partner companies. The trading activity of the Company is principally undertaken in the subsidiary   undertaking, Epistem Limited. The Company operates in three segments: Contract Research   Services, Personalized Medicine and Novel Therapies. Contract Research Services provides pre- clinical testing services. Personalized Medicine specializes in molecular measures of biological effect   and point of care molecular diagnostic testing. Novel Therapies is discovering key regulators of   epithelial stem cells.”

Greenlight Capital Adds to Cairn Energy Stake

David Einhorn's hedge fund Greenlight Capital has added to its stake in London-listed oil and gas exploration company Cairn Energy (LON:CNE). 

Due to trading on January 16th, Greenlight increased their stake from 3% to 4.22% of Cairn's voting rights.  Approximately 20% is held via a total return swap, while the rest is held via common stock.

This stock has largely traded sideways since Greenlight first disclosed a holding in Cairn back in March of 2012.

Per Google Finance, Cairn Energy PLC (Cairn) is "an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. It is organized into two business units: Capricorn Group, being Capricorn Oil Limited and its subsidiary undertakings, and the Cairn India Group. There are two operating segments. Cairn India Limited Group’s operations are primarily within India."

For more on this hedge fund, you can view our previous updates on Greenlight Capital here.