Art Samberg's Pequot Capital Unwinds Positions: 13G Filings

Just yesterday we saw a barrage (yes, a barrage) of amended 13G SEC filings from Art Samberg's hedge fund Pequot Capital. As you're well aware, Pequot Capital will be shutting down due to the negative effect ongoing investigations have had on the firm. Last week, we saw initial signs of the firm winding down as they sold the vast majority of their Akorn (AKRX) position. While Pequot's shuttering undoubtedly means many positions will be liquidated, not all of them will be. This is due to the fact that their Matawin and Special Opportunities funds will remain open under their current managers. So, while you'll see ample selling, you won't quite see a complete wipeout of their portfolios. And, with that in mind, let's get to what they have been selling.

As per all of the amended 13G filings, Pequot no longer holds a position in the following companies: Essex Rental (ERNT), IMAX Corporation (IMAX), GP Strategies Corporation (GPX), STAAR Surgical (STAA), Electronic Game Card (EGMI), Vicor Corp (VICR), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Ballantyne Strong (BTN) and Shells Seafood Restaurants (SHLLQ). While they completely sold out of those positions, there were 3 remaining 13G/13D filing amendments made to positions they still hold.

Due to activity on June 30th, Pequot filed an amended 13G on Health Fitness Corporation (FIT) and they now show a 3.08% ownership stake in the company with 319,770 shares. Previously, Peuot had owned upwards of 523,400 shares. While they have not sold their entire stake, they definitely have been selling. Additionally, Pequot also filed an amended 13G on Velocity Express (VEXP) where they are now showing a 0.3% ownership stake with only 13,790 shares reported. Lastly, they are now showing a 0.2% ownership stake in MedClean Technologies (MCLN) with 1,192,589shares. That sums up everything Pequot filed with the SEC yesterday and we'll continue to bring you any other major updates in this regard. Because, after all, they are not liquidating everything... just *mostly* everything. When the dust settles, we'll have to see what positions their 2 remaining funds will hold. As we've mentioned before, Pequot is just another name to add to the list of prominent funds that have fallen during these rough times. Check out a list of 2008 hedge fund closures here.

If you're unfamiliar with this hedge fund, we've given background on Samberg & Pequot here. For more on Pequot, check out our past coverage of Pequot's March commentary from Byron Wien. Lastly, for those of you curious as to which other positions Pequot could possibly liquidate, you can check out their portfolio here as filed with the SEC which details their holdings as of March 31st, 2009.

Tontine Associates to Close Two Hedge Funds

As I twittered out yesterday, Tontine Associates LLC, ran by Jeffrey Gendell, is said to be liquidating 2 of its hedge funds: Tontine Capital LP and Tontine Capital Partners LP. Taken from Bloomberg,

"Gendell gave no timetable for unwinding the funds, Tontine Capital Partners LP and Tontine Partners LP, during a conference call yesterday with clients, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Options for raising cash include selling the funds' investments privately or pushing the companies in which they are the biggest shareholder to sell themselves. `The combination of falling commodity prices, massive anticipated hedge-fund redemptions and the seizing up of the credit markets cause an enormous dislocation in our portfolios,'' Gendell, 49, wrote in a letter to clients last month. The firm managed $7 billion at the end of 2007."

The good news, if you want to call it that, is that 2 of Tontine's funds will remain open: Tontine-25 and Tontine Financial. As we noted in our October hedge fund performance update, Tontine was -65.7% in October and now down an astonishing 76.8% for the year. You can view the long-side of their portfolio here, which lists many of the positions they'll have to liquidate. And, all of this news comes as they had just taken a 6.16% ownership stake in Myr Group (MYRG).

We also get word that they're exploring options for the possible liquidation of positions.

"For eight companies in which Tontine is the largest holder, the firm may try to sell its stake privately to another buyer, or push the company to put itself on the block, according to documents filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The eight companies are: Miscor Group Ltd (MIGL), Broadwind Energy (BWEN), Exide Technologies (XIDE), Neenah Enterprises Inc (NENA), Integrated Electrical Services Inc (IESC), Patrick Industries (PATK), Innospec Inc (IOSP), and Westmoreland Coal Co (WLB). Tontine may also transfer its shares in these companies to investors, the filings said."

Source: CNBC's David Faber & Bloomberg