Friday, June 5, 2015

Hedge Fund Links ~ 6/5/15


Pershing Square reveals stake in Nomad [ValueWalk]

Summary of hedge fund picks at Sohn Hong Kong conference [WSJ]

More from Sohn HK [China Money Network]

Activist investor takes aim at Samsung [NYTimes]

Ex-SEC chair Mary Schapiro signs on to activist hedge fund [ValueWalk]

Women are scarce among fund managers [Morningstar]

Elliott anticipates a bigger short in bonds [ii alpha]

Coatue hunts for investments in India [IndiaTimes]

On side letters and the Caymans [All About Alpha]

What happens when you pick a fight with activist hedge funds [All About Alpha]

Olive Garden's hedge fund bosses waited tables to aid turnaround [Bloomberg]


Peltz's Trian Fund Reduces Wendy's Stake

Nelson Peltz's activist investment firm Trian Partners recently filed a 13D with the SEC regarding their stake in Wendy's (WEN).  Per the filing, they will be reducing their Wendy's (WEN) stake.  The company is buying back shares, including $211 million from Trian.

Trian's plan is to reduce their stake in Wendy's down from their current almost 25% to between 17% and 19.68% in the next couple of months.  In addition to selling shares in the buyback program, they'll also divest shares via the open market or other transactions.

Per Google Finance, Wendy's is "a quick-service restaurant company in the hamburger sandwich segment."


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

What We're Reading ~ China Edition


Dealing with China: An insider unmasks the new economic superpower [Henry Paulson]

Takeaways from a week in China [Justin Paterno]

A cautionary tale from the muddy waters of Chinese business [FT]

The Shenzhen stock market is like no other [Bloomberg]

Here comes the Yuan [WSJ]

Why are Chinese markets more prone to booms and busts? [Economist]

Why the Chinese government is hyping the stock market [Quartz]

China reduces import tariffs to boost consumer demand [Emerging Equity]

Chinese stocks are priced for a boom [New Yorker]

A few tell-tale signs that you should short a Chinese stock [Business Insider]

Expect to see Chinese shares in more emerging market equity indices [FT]

It pays to follow Sina's leader [WSJ]


Carl Icahn on Wall Street Week: Part 2

Anthony Scaramucci and Gary Kaminsky's show Wall Street Week this week featured the second part of their interview with Carl Icahn.  We previously posted the first part of their Icahn interview here where he said he was very concerned about high yield bonds.

In the second part of this interview, they talked about how you have to go through the pain of losing money to learn how to become a good investor.  Icahn says you also have to have an "obsessive nature" to be great.

Icahn also extensively walks through his background and how he was a stock picker, got into options, eventually started making arbitrage plays, and eventually to activism.

Embedded below is the video of the second part of Carl Icahn's interview on Wall Street Week:



For more from this show, head to Jim Chanos' recent appearance on Wall Street Week.


Tom Russo's Interview on Wealthtrack

Global value investor Tom Russo of Gardner Russo & Gardner recently appeared on Consuelo Mack's WealthTrack.  Russo mainly focuses on consumer products companies with a global presence and has a long-term holding period.

Embedded below is the video of Russo's interview:



For more from this show, head to Joel Greenblatt's interview as well as Bruce Berkowitz's chat.


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Glenview Capital Adds To Manitowoc Position, Files 13D

Larry Robbins' hedge fund firm Glenview Capital has filed a 13D on shares of Manitowoc (MTW).  Per the filing, Glenview now owns 7.06% of the company with over 9.61 million shares.

This means they've increased their position size by 1 million shares since the end of the first quarter.   This is the second time Glenview has added to their stake this year. The filing shows they were out purchasing in late April at weighted average prices of around $19.55.

The 13D contains the standard boilerplate about potentially engaging management, etc.

Readers will recall that activist Carl Icahn successfully pushed for the company to split up.  Manitowoc will split into two: a crane manufacturer and a food service unit.

For more from Glenview, head to Larry Robbins' Sohn Conference presentation.

Per Google Finance, Manitowoc is "a multi-industry, capital goods manufacturer. MTW operates in two markets: Cranes and Related Products (Crane) and Foodservice Equipment (Foodservice). Crane is a provider of engineered lifting equipment for the global construction industry, including lattice-boom cranes, tower cranes, mobile telescopic cranes, and boom trucks. Foodservice is a manufacturer of commercial foodservice equipment serving the ice, beverage, refrigeration, food-preparation, and cooking needs of restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, healthcare, and institutional applications."


Tiger Global Shows eHi Car Services Stake

Chase Coleman's hedge fund Tiger Global has filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of eHi Car Services (EHIC). The filing indicates Tiger Global owns 21.5% of the company with over 9.4 million shares.

This is a newly disclosed equity stake as they did not report one as of the end of the first quarter.  The filing was made due to activity on May 22nd when they entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with the company where they acquired over 7.62 million shares at $6.00 per share.  They also acquired shares from other sellers and entered into agreements for cash-settled total return swaps as well. 

Additionally, Tiger Global has the right to purchase an additional 7,266,666 shares at the same price.  They also entered into a lock-up agreement which prevents them from selling until November 21st, 2015.  You can read all the necessary items regarding their position here.

For more from this hedge fund, you can view other Tiger Global portfolio activity here.

Per Google Finance, eHi is "a China-based holding company, which provides car rentals and car services to both individual customers and corporate clients. The Company utilizes mobile and Internet platforms to provide online to offline (O2O) mobility solutions. The Company operates its car rentals business primarily through its People's Republic of China (PRC) subsidiaries, Shanghai eHi Car Rental Co., Ltd. (eHi Rental) and eHi Auto Services (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. (eHi Jiangsu), and their subsidiaries and branches."


Lee Cooperman Discloses Resource America Stake

Omega Advisors' Lee Cooperman has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Resource America (REXI).  Per the filing, Cooperman has disclosed a 11.7% ownership stake in the company with over 2.69 million shares.

This is a new position for Cooperman since the end of the first quarter.  The filing was made due to activity on May 29th.

For more from Cooperman, head to his latest stock picks from the SALT Conference.

Per Google Finance, Resource America is "a specialized asset management Company, which evaluates, originates, services and manages investment opportunities through its real estate, commercial finance and financial fund management subsidiaries. The Company seeks to develop investment funds for outside investors, for which it provides asset management services, underLong-term management arrangements either through a contract with, or as the manager or general partner of, its sponsored investment funds. It maintains an investment in the funds it sponsors. In its real estate operations, it concentrates on the ownership, operation and management of multifamily and commercial real estate and real estate mortgage loans, including whole mortgage loans, first priority interests in commercial mortgage loans, known as A notes, subordinated interests in first mortgage loans, known as B notes, mezzanine loans, investments in discounted and distressed real estate loans and investments in value-added properties."