Marcato Capital Takes Terex & Buffalo Wild Wings Stakes

Mick McGuire's activist firm Marcato Capital Management has recently taken stakes in two companies.


Marcato Discloses Terex (TEX) Stake

First, Marcato just filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Terex (TEX).  They now own 5.1% of the company.  CNBC reported that the firm will urge a spinoff and restructuring but support the CEO.

Per Google Finance, Terex is "a lifting and material handling solutions company. The Company is focused on providing its operations and delivering solutions for a range of commercial applications, including the construction, infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, transportation, energy and utility industries. It operates through five segments: Aerial Work Platforms (AWP), Construction, Cranes, Material Handling & Port Solutions (MHPS), and Materials Processing (MP). The AWP segment designs, manufactures, services and markets aerial work platform equipment, telehandlers and light towers. The Construction segment designs, manufactures and markets over two primary categories of construction equipment and their related components, and replacement parts. The Cranes segment designs, manufactures, services, refurbishes and markets mobile cranes. MHPS designs, manufactures, services and markets industrial cranes. The MP segment designs, manufactures and markets materials processing equipment."


McGuire Starts Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) Position

Second, McGuire has also filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).  Per the filing, Marcato now owns 5.1% of the company with 950,000 shares.  The stake is comprised of various common stock holdings as well as the purchase/sale of various options which you can view here at the very bottom.

This is a newly disclosed position.  They were active in shares and options as early as June 20th and as late as July 22nd.

The filing notes they've already had discussions with directors and will continue to have discussions.

Per Google Finance, Buffalo Wild Wings is "an owner, operator and franchisor of restaurants featuring various menu items. The Company's restaurants feature a bar, which offers a selection of 20 to 30 domestic, imported and craft beers on tap, as well as bottled beers, wine and liquor. The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants feature various menu items, including its Buffalo, New York-style chicken wings spun in one of its signature sauces from sweet to screamin' hot, which includes Sweet barbeque (BBQ), Teriyaki, Bourbon Honey Mustard, Mild, Parmesan Garlic, Medium, Honey BBQ, Spicy Garlic, Asian Zing, Caribbean Jerk, Thai Curry, Hot BBQ, Hot, Mango Habanero, Wild and Blazin', or signature seasonings, Buffalo, Desert Heat, Chipotle BBQ, Lemon Pepper, and Salt & Vinegar. Its restaurants include a multi-media system, a bar and an open layout. It operates Buffalo Wild Wings, R Taco and PizzaRev restaurants, as well as sells Buffalo Wild Wings and R Taco restaurant franchises."

Eric Mindich's Eton Park Capital Adds To A Position

As per a 13G just filed with the SEC, Eric Mindich's hedge fund firm Eton Park Capital has disclosed a 6.24% stake in Terex (TEX). The filing was made due to activity on December 21st and they now own 6,750,000 shares. This is a 25.5% increase in their position as they previously owned 5,375,000 shares back on September 30th. Over the course of the past three months, they've added 1,375,000 more shares. In terms of other recent portfolio moves, we saw in October that Eton Park had filed a 13G on Verisk Analytics (VRSK). Also, we recently saw they were expanding their UK positions as well.

Mindich started the fund back in 2004 with $3 billion under management (and a $5 million minimum investment). Nowadays, Eton Park manages over $6 billion. Their investment strategy draws upon Mindich's time at Goldman Sachs where he focused on merger arbitrage. Previously, Mindich was the youngest partner in Goldman Sachs' history at the age of 27. In addition to merger arbitrage, Eton Park focuses on long/short equity strategies and even invests up to 30% of their portfolio into private investments. Eton Park's solid track record has landed them in our Market Folly portfolio which is seeing over 26% annualized returns by replicating hedge fund holdings through Alphaclone.

Taken from Google Finance, Terex is "a diversified global manufacturer of capital equipment focused on delivering reliable, customer relevant solutions for the construction, infrastructure, quarrying, surface mining, shipping, transportation, refining and utility industries. The Company operates in five segments: Terex Aerial Work Platforms, Terex Construction, Terex Cranes, Terex Materials Processing & Mining and Terex Roadbuilding, Utility Products and Other."