A couple of years ago, I got into the guts of the Melrose Industries hostile takeover of GKN. This deal squeaked through, despite it being opposed by GKN employees.
The bit of it that particularly interested me was the role of hedge funds doing the mer…Read more…
Shire takeover & derivatives
So the takeover of Shire PLC by Takeda Pharma has been completed. I thought I’d have a quick look for merger arbitrage plays in the filings.
A few familiar names in the list below. Most of these investors are listed as having an interest (presumably s…Read more…
Hedge funds and Sky
I thought I’d have another quick look at hedge fund activity around the bidding war for Sky PLC. This looks like it could be quite a profitable trade (especially after several got burnt on Qualcomm / NXP).
As before, some old favourites are in the lis…Read more…
NEX Group takeover & derivatives
Another takeover, another example of hedge funds piling in using derivatives. In this case its NEX Group, which is being taken over by US-listed CME Group. It’s not hostile so it went to a vote and got a strong thumbs up.
I find this one interesting a…Read more…
More hedge fund shenanigans
1. I had a quick Google to see if there are any more funds that use the generic blurb I’ve found in dozens of cases to avoid compliance with the Stewardship Code. And… yes there are.
Curam Capital Management:
Curam Capital Management LLP (the “Firm…Read more…
Inmarsat: in come the hedge funds
At the back end of last week the UK-listed telecoms business Inmarsat revealed that it has been approached by US-listed Echostar Corporation about a potential takeover, which it knocked back.
As a result of the offer, a different regulatory disclosure…Read more…
Derivatives, influence, tax, policy etc
One of the things that was left hanging after the Melrose/GKN bid was the nature of the relationship between hedge funds and similar investors and their counter parties, and how this plays out during bid situations.
When I watched Greg Clark defending…Read more…
Merger arbitrage in practice: Sand Grove Capital
Given the renewed interest in financial market activity around mergers and acquisitions, I thought it might be interesting to have a look at the regulatory disclosures for one of the funds that has caught my eye lately.
I hadn’t heard of Sand Grove Ca…Read more…
No, Elliott is not Whitbread’s largest shareholder
With the Melrose bid for GKN almost complete, our old friends Elliott are back in the news again, this time targeting Whitbread, where it looks like they will be pushing for Costa to be spun off. Cue lots of headlines, many of them identifying Elliott’…Read more…