York Capital Cuts Gilat Satellite Stake

Jamie Dinan's hedge fund York Capital has filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding their position in Gilat Satellite Network (GILT).  Per the filing, York now owns 2.9% of the company with 1.23 million shares.

This means they've reduced their position size by over 3.9 million shares since the end of the third quarter.  The filing was required due to activity on November 29th and notes that they tendered their shares into FIMI's tender offer.

For more on this fund, we recently posted up Jamie Dinan's stock picks from Capitalize For Kids Sohn Canada conference.

Per Google Finance, Gilat Satellite Network is "a provider of Internet protocol (IP)-based digital satellite communication and networking products and services. Gilat designs, produces and markets very small aperture terminals (VSATs) and related network equipment, such as power amplifiers and antennas."

Be sure to also check out Dinan's rules of investing.

Jamie Dinan's Stock PIcks at Capitalize For Kids Sohn Canada Conference

We're posting up notes from the Capitalize For Kids Sohn Canada conference that just took place.  Next up is Jamie Dinan of York Capital who shared a myriad of investment ideas.


Jamie Dinan's Sohn Canada Presentation

Started off with some general comments. US growth is still quite healthy (although not considered by many people), Europe on the other hand is still not. With oil prices coming down, it will give a huge amount of money to the US consumer (essentially a $130B tax break for consumers – this of course assumes money is not relocated to other spending). Believes Europe will be a reactionary market to policies and this will create lots of distressed situations in Europe (and there is still plenty today).

Some merger-arb names which have ~90% probability of closing: Time Warner Cable/Comcast Corporation, Albemarle Corporation /Rockwood Holdings, and DIRECTV/AT&T Inc.

Next, pitched LONG Molson Coors Brewing (TAP), believes an event could happen with the recent news of Anheuser looking for a deal with SAB. Molson has a 42% stake in MillersCoors (The JV between Molson and SAB). This possible transaction will force SAB to divest their 58% interest from MillerCoors (STZ/BUD deal, divestment of Groupo Model JV), Molson seems like the only option. The deal will likely get done with debt and take Molson to 5x Net Debt-EBITDA. Believes Molson can realize great about of synergies (~$300M) from the US JV with their current Canadian operations. 

Be sure to check out the rest of the presentations from Capitalize For Kids Sohn Canada here.

York Capital Discloses Elbit Imaging Stake

Jamie Dinan's hedge fund firm York Capital has disclosed a position in Elbit Imaging (EMITF).  Per a 13G filed with the SEC, York now owns 19.7% of Elbit Imaging with over 108.9 million shares.

The filing was required due to portfolio activity on February 28th and this is a newly disclosed equity stake.

The company recently announced a debt restructuring where its unsecured financial creditors received ordinary shares 

Dinan gave his rules of investing in a rare interview recently and shared his market thoughts if you missed it.

Per Google Finance, Elbit Imaging is "an Israel-based holding company. It operates in the fields of Commercial and Entertainment Centers, engaged in the initiation, construction and sale of shopping and entertainment centers and other mixed-use real property projects, predominantly in the retail sector; United States Real Property, investing in commercial real property in the United States; Hotels, engaged in the management and operation of hotels; Medical Industries, engaged in research and development, production and marketing of magnetic resonance imaging guided focused ultrasound treatment equipment and development of stem cell population expansion technologies and stem cell therapy products for transplantation and regenerative medicine; Residential Projects, engaged in the initiation, construction and sale of residential projects and other mixed-use real property projects, predominately residential, and Fashion Apparel, engaged in the Distribution and marketing of fashion apparel and accessories."

Jamie Dinan's Rules of Investing & Current Market Thoughts (York Capital)

Jamie Dinan of hedge fund York Capital made a rare appearance on CNBC today and talked about his current market outlook, his rules of investing, and some of his stock picks these days.


Current market thoughts:  Instead of likening last year's positive market return to that of a beta move, he called it "an engagement move," as both investors and companies re-engaged.  Dinan says it's definitely a stock picker's market right now as corporate activity has picked up.


Latest exposures:  While his largest exposure is the US, he says York is increasingly moving to Europe for opportunities.  "We think European equities are apples to apples less expensive than their North American counterparts."  He also thinks the dealflow in Europe is about 6-12 months behind the US and he anticipates it picking up.


Dinan's rules of investing: He says the best thing to do in investing is learn from your mistakes.  His rules are:  focus on liquidity (so you can get out if you're wrong), be diversified, always be diversified (you never know where the dangers are gonna hit).

He says managing position sizes is also key (they run 50-60 positions at 1-4% position sizes).  Dinan argues to size positions not by how much you can make, but by how much you can lose.  The last important thing is leverage (or lack thereof).   He also noted that, "I find the trick in investing is to try not to give too much back" (after you're up a good amount).


York's stock picks:  They continue to like American Airlines (AAL) as the merger has completed and the industry is starting to act a lot more rational and margins are improving.  He thinks AAL can earn $6+ next year and applies a 10x multiple to that number.  And when looking at stocks they own that are up a lot, they ask themselves: "If we didn't own it, would we buy it today?"  He says AAL falls in this category and they'd still buy it.  As noted in our newly released Hedge Fund Wisdom issue, AAL was a consensus buy among the hedge funds tracked in Q4.

York also likes a potential consolidation play between Men's Wearhouse (MW) and Jos A. Bank (JOSB) as he highlights the potential cost savings that could come from a merger here.  He feels you can double the profitability if the companies combine. 

Dinan also touched on his stake in Hertz (HTZ) as he likes how the industry has consolidated and the fleet has rationalized.  He also highlights their equipment rental business that they think could be spun-off and the company could take advantage of its balance sheet and buyback stock.

Embedded below are the videos of Dinan's interview:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4


For more on York Capital's leading man, check out Dinan's other recent interview.

York Capital Reduces Gilat Satellite Networks Position

Jamie Dinan's hedge fund firm York Capital has filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding their position in Gilat Satellite Networks (GILT).  Per the filing, York has disclosed a 14.3% ownership stake in the company with just over 6 million shares of GILT.

This means they've reduced their position size by over 2.1 million shares since the end of the third quarter.  The filing was required due to activity on February 3rd. 

The reason for the transaction is that York entered into an agreement with FIMI Opportunity Fund to sell them over 2.1 million shares for over $10.5 million.

York has been a longtime holder of Gilat, previously owning debt that they converted into stock.

Per Google Finance, Gilat Satellite Networks is "a provider of Internet protocol (IP)-based digital satellite communication and networking products and services. Gilat designs, produces and markets very small aperture terminals (VSATs) and related network equipment, such as power amplifiers and antennas. The Company operates in three businesses: Gilat Worldwide, which consists of Gilat International and Gilat Peru & Colombia; Spacenet Inc. (Spacenet), and Wavestream Corporation (Wavestream)."

For more on this hedge fund, we posted up a rare interview with Jamie Dinan where he talked about York's positions.

Jamie Dinan Likes Airlines, Hertz & Sprint/T-Mobile: Interview

York Capital's James Dinan appeared on CNBC today and talked about his latest market views.

He said they own most of the major airlines and notes these companies are now being run like businesses and can make money even at $95 oil.

He specifically mentioned American Airlines (AAL) and thinks there's great optionality here as they've merged with US Air and will have a great management team.  While some of these mergers can be rocky at the start, he thinks the value will be realized.  This has been a big hedge fund trade as of late with the likes of David Tepper and Julian Robertson also being involved in many of these names.

Dinan's biggest position is Hertz (HTZ) and he says it's a consolidation play as they'll see cost savings and revenue synergies from the Dollar Thrifty merger as well as fleet rationalization.  A few quarters ago, our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter flagged this popular trade and posted a write-up on Avis Budget (CAR), another beneficiary of the consolidation.

York thinks that this environment is great for event-driven investing, especially due to low interest rates.  Dinan also sees earnings going up next year and thinks companies will continue to do buybacks.  He also said he likes Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS).


Here are the videos of Dinan's appearance:

Video 1


Video 2


Video 3


Video 4

James Dinan's Hedge Fund York Capital Files 13D on Sybase (SY)

James Dinan's hedge fund York Capital recently filed a 13D with the SEC disclosing a new position in shares of Sybase (SY). This is the first time we've really detailed the portfolio activity out of York Capital so here's a brief background: Dinan's firm is a hedge fund that invests in both public equities and fixed income. Their primary focus is companies with catalysts such as mergers & acquisitions, restructurings, special situations, distressed plays, etc. Taken from York's website, they think that, "While the markets may be efficient on balance, there are pockets of inefficiency that can be exploited by experts who know where to look." York was founded in 1991 by Dinan and today manages over $12 billion. At the end of the first quarter, we saw that York was up 4.52% for the year in our hedge fund performance post.

Due to activity on May 13th, York has disclosed a 4.2% ownership stake in Sybase with 3,659,183 shares and the aggregate amount of funds used to purchase these securities was $273,603,384. Keep in mind that a 13D filing signifies an activist stake so we'll have to see what York has planned. Per the filing, Dinan's firm says they acquired shares "for investment purposes and not with a view towards changing or influencing control of the company." They bought shares after a tender offer was announced by Sheffield Acquisition Corp for all of Sybase's outstanding shares.

It looks like York purchased the majority of their position in the $64.xx range on May 12th & 13th. However, they also disclosed a steady stream of sales from May 19th to May 21st, and it's not clear if they're still reducing their position. But, the filing does note that on May 21st, York ceased to be the beneficial owner of a 5% stake in the company. While this is just speculation on our part, it's almost as if they bought a large position which triggered a regulatory filing, but they are already reducing or winding down this position. Unfortunately there is no information as to whether or not they've continued selling this week; the filing only encompasses sales up to May 21st.

At a recent investment conference, hedge funds Highbridge and York Capital both said they were taking risk off the table, so maybe this coincides with that, who knows. For those interested, York has disclosed their transaction details of the shares they acquired at the bottom of their 13D filing here. So, we'll definitely have to keep a close eye on this one. This is a brand new equity stake for York because as of March 31st they did not own any SY shares per their most recent 13F filing.

Taken from Google Finance, Sybase is "delivers enterprise software and services to manage, analyze and mobilize information. The Company provides open, cross-platform solutions that deliver information anytime, anywhere, providing decision-ready information to the right people at the right time."

As always, for the latest movements from prominent investment managers, head to our hedge fund portfolio tracking series.

York Capital Management Letter to Investors

Here's York Capital's letter to investors (RSS & Email readers you may have to come to the blog to read it):

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