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Trian claims Disney's board has failed to generate sufficient returns in recent years as subscription streaming losses have mounted and traditional TV subscribers have declined. Early vote countBoth Disney and Trian received support from influential shareholders ahead of Wednesday's meeting. Roughly one-third of Disney's shareholders are retail shareholders, who historically vote in small numbers in annual meetings. The arrangement still raised questions about ValueAct's support for the company and whether Disney's board should have disclosed the prior relationship. WATCH: Disney board battle reaches final moments

Persons: Bob Iger, Mickey Mouse, Valerie Macon, Nelson Peltz, Jay Rasulo, They've, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Michael Froman, Peltz, Ike Perlmutter, Trian, Disney's, Iger, Bob Chapek, Patrick T, Adam Jeffery, Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, CNBC's, George Lucas, Laurene Powell Jobs, Lucas, Powell Jobs, Ken Squire, Rowe Price, Rowe, Mason Morfit's, ValueAct, Neuberger Berman, John Ferguson, Rasulo —, Glass Lewis, Iger's, Gorman, Jeremy Darroch, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Heidi Gutman, Lagomasino, shouldn't, Blackwells, Rasulo, Jason Aintabi, John Foley, Jessica Schnell, Craig Hatkoff, Leah Solivan, ValueAct hasn't Organizations: AFP, Getty Images Disney, Voters, Trian Partners, Disney, PepsiCo, Marvel, SEC, Fallon, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC Disney, CNBC, Star Wars, LucasArts, Pixar, BlackRock, Institutional, California Public Employees, Yacktman Asset Management, Saratoga Proxy, ISS, Sky, Trian Fund Management, NBCU, Bank, NBCUniversal, Green, Comcast Locations: Los Angeles, New York

☆ Disney's fight with Nelson Peltz will come to a head tomorrow. Here's where things stand.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A vote for the Disney's slate of board members will show support for Iger's performance as CEO since he returned to lead the company in November 2022. AdvertisementIt's the culmination of months of tussling between Disney and Peltz, who has been waging war against Disney's board since January last year. "When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago, I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my long-time admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger's leadership." And proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Service recommended shareholders vote for Peltz, though not Rasulo. Advertisement"We wish the very best to Bob, this management team, and the board," Peltz said on CNBC at the time.

Persons: —, Bob Iger, Nelson Peltz's Trian, that's, Peltz, Jay Rasulo —, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Michael Froman, Gen, Alpha, Jason Schloetzer, BlackRock, Rowe Price, Iger, Roy Disney's, Laurene Powell Jobs, George Lucas, Lucas, Bob Iger's, Donald Duck's, Ludwig Von Drake, Schloetzer, Trian, That's, Neuberger Berman, Ike Perlmutter, he'd Organizations: Service, Disney, Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners, Business, Century Fox, Epic Games, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Vanguard, Street Journal, ValueAct Capital, Walt, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, New York Times, California Public Employees, CNBC, Netflix, ABC, ESPN, Marvel, Financial

☆ Disney paid ValueAct millions in fees before winning its support in proxy fight, activist says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Blackwells Capital, which previously voiced support for Iger and Disney management, said ValueAct had been managing more than $350 million in Disney pension funds in a relationship stretching back to 2013. Blackwells has estimated that Disney paid a cumulative $95 million in fees to ValueAct from 2014 to 2022. Disney and Trian have been in the throes of a proxy fight since October, with the fight intensifying as Disney's annual shareholder meeting nears. Disney has repeatedly voiced its support for Iger and has highlighted that its directors have experience overseeing successful succession planning. Representatives for Disney, Blackwells and ValueAct did not respond to requests for comment outside of normal business hours.

Persons: Robert Iger, Blackwells, Mason Morfit, ValueAct, Bob Iger, Nelson Peltz's Trian, Trian, Bob Chapek, Peltz Organizations: Disney, Dolby Theatre, ValueAct Capital, Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners, Blackwells, Department of Labor Locations: Hollywood , California, Iger

☆ Disney shareholders could cash in as investors offer money for their votes amid a bruising proxy battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThe Disney proxy battle continues to heat up — and ordinary shareholders could cash in. Mom-and-pop investors are also being courted for their votes on a new marketplace called Shareholder Vote Alliance, which runs auctions for shareholders' proxy votes. Xu said Shareholder Vote Alliance doesn't reveal the names of the bidders but confirmed the bid is from a current shareholder. Shareholder Vote Alliance pitches itself as a way for everyday investors to generate income by monetizing their shareholder votes. Shareholder Vote Alliance closes its auctions a couple of days before shareholder votes.

Persons: —, Nelson Peltz's, Ike Perlmutter, Bob Iger, Trian, Blackwells, Donald Duck's, Ludwig Von Drake, Steven Xu, Xu, Blackwell didn't, There's, Iger, we've Organizations: Service, Fund Management, Disney, Blackwells, Business, Alliance, Street, Wall, ValueAct

Disney's fiscal first-quarter earnings per share beat expectations and it said its full-year EPS will rise at least 20% from 2023. Iger also unveiled his strategy and timeline for bringing Disney's flagship sports network ESPN into the streaming era. AdvertisementThe company will launch a stand-alone streaming service with ESPN and its sister networks in the fall of 2025, something Iger called "inevitable." Even if there's consumer demand, the JV faces several hurdles, from challenges brought by existing distributors to antitrust opposition, LightShed Partners wrote in a note published ahead of Disney's earnings release. Challenges aside, the new sports streaming strategy is a big step forward for Iger and Disney.

Persons: —, Bob Iger's, Iger, Taylor Swift, Nelson Peltz, Bob Chapek's, Peltz's, Disney, Paul Verna, Alpha, LightShed, Iger didn't, Trian, Elon Musk, Gina Carano's, Iger's Organizations: Service, Disney, Epic Games, Peltz's Trian Fund Management, Blackwells, ValueAct, Business, Iger, Insider Intelligence, ESPN, Disney's, Fox, Warner Bros, JV, LightShed Partners, Marvel, CNBC Locations: Moana

☆ Activist investor Ubben shutting down Inclusive Capital-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jeffrey Ubben, Founder & CEO at ValueAct Capital, speaks on the Reuters Newsmaker event "The Future of Shareholder Activism" in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 22, 2017. Ubben told investors in a memo he was winding down some funds and returning capital, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Ubben and Inclusive Capital, known as InCap, did not respond to calls and emails for comment. Last year more hedge funds closed their doors than launched, data from Hedge Fund Research show. More than two decades ago, Ubben, 61, who started his career at mutual fund giant Fidelity, founded ValueAct Capital in San Francisco.

Persons: Jeffrey Ubben, Andrew Kelly, Jeff Ubben, Ubben, InCap, Martha Stewart, John Paulson, Louis Bacon, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Sabrina Valle, Josie Kao Organizations: ValueAct, Reuters, REUTERS, Capital Partners, Inclusive, Hedge Fund Research, Fidelity, Microsoft, Street Journal, Exxon, Rad Laboratories, Unifi Inc, Bayer, Svea, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S, San Francisco, Houston

Target's bright outlook lifted shares of other retailers including Macy's (M.N), which rose 7.5%, and Kohl's (KSS.N), which closed up almost 9%. The S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS), which includes Target, was the top sector gainer, adding 0.7%. "Those two data points reaffirmed the message from Tuesday that the Fed seems to be navigating the soft landing quite well," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. Among individual stocks, retailer TJX's (TJX.N) shares fell 3.3% after it forecast current-quarter profit below Wall Street expectations, signaling spiraling costs weighing on margins. The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 106 new highs and 89 new lows.

Persons: ValueAct, Stocks, Ronald Temple, Wall, Temple, Brendan McDermid, Walt Disney, Russell, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, decliners, Sinéad Carew, Sruthi Shankar, Amruta, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel, Pooja Desai, Richard Chang Organizations: Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Target, Reuters, Lazard, Dow Jones, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Walt, ValueAct Capital, Money, U.S . House, Senate, Republican, TJX's, Sirius XM, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

Biden and Xi try direct diplomacyThe mood music was upbeat but pragmatic after the first face-to-face meeting in a year between President Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. There was no joint communiqué after Wednesday’s talks, but both sides issued positive statements trumpeting where they found common ground, including on tackling climate change and improving communications. The leaders agreed to restart military communications that were suspended last year after Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the House, visited Taiwan. Larry Fink of BlackRock and Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone reportedly sat at the Chinese leader’s table. The measure would keep the federal government funded through early next year, clearing the way for President Biden to sign the legislation.

Persons: Biden, Xi, Wednesday’s, Nancy Pelosi, —, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone, Tim Cook, Albert Bourla, Ray Dalio, ” Richard McGregor, DealBook, “, they’re, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Nelson, Trian Organizations: Hyatt Regency, Apple, Pfizer, Bridgewater Associates, Lowy Institute, SpaceX, Tesla, Nvidia, Disney, ValueAct Capital, 13D, Microsoft Locations: San Francisco, U.S, Taiwan, China, Beijing, Iran, Israel, Australia, Ukraine

☆ Activist ValueAct Builds Stake in Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Disney has called its theme parks, along with cruises, one of four building blocks of its future. Photo: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Associated PressDisney has attracted the interest of another activist investor that believes the company is undervalued, with ValueAct Capital accumulating a stake in the entertainment giant’s stock and initiating dialogue with its board. ValueAct, an activist fund based in San Francisco with investments in information technology, energy, financials and media, has taken a “sizable” but so far undisclosed stake in Disney that makes it one of the fund’s biggest holdings, according to people familiar with the matter.

Persons: Joe Burbank Organizations: Disney, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press Disney, ValueAct Capital Locations: San Francisco

[1/3] Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2023. The bright outlook lifted shares of other retailers including Macy's (M.N) and Kohl's (KSS.N), while the S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS), which includes Target, was among the top sector gainers. "Those two data points reaffirmed the message from Tuesday that the Fed seems to be navigating the soft landing quite well," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) had posted their biggest daily percentage gains in more than six months on Tuesday, after the consumer prices data. The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 69 new lows.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, ValueAct, Stocks, Ronald Temple, Temple, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, Walt Disney, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, decliners, Sinéad Carew, Sruthi Shankar, Amruta, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel, Pooja Desai, Richard Chang Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Companies, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Reuters, Lazard, Dow Jones, U.S . House, Senate, Republican, ValueAct Capital, Sirius XM, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Salesforce's strong stock price wooed some investors during third quarter-filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The two hedge funds had each cut their investments in Salesforce during the second quarter. Still Starboard Value the first activist to speak publicly in October 2022 about needed changes at Salesforce cut its stake again, the filings show. On Sept. 30, the hedge fund owned 1.7 million shares, marking a 14% drop from what it owned at the end of the second quarter. Light Street Capital Management cut its stake by 44%, while Polen Capital Management trimmed it by 3.2%, the filings show. While Salesforce's stock price lost some ground during the third quarter, it has continued to move higher and closed trading at $221.18 on Tuesday.

Persons: Porte, Benoit Tessier, Salesforce, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, ValueAct, Investment, Securities and Exchange, Street Capital Management, Polen Capital Management, Svea, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Salesforce, Polen

☆ ValueAct Capital builds stake in Disney - 13D Monitor
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsNov 15 (Reuters) - Activist investor ValueAct Capital has taken a stake in Walt Disney (DIS.N), sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. ValueAct is the second activist investor to arrive at Disney after Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management last month signaled it would be pushing for multiple board seats after having abandoned a proxy fight earlier this year. The new position was first reported by 13D Monitor. Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, ValueAct, Nelson Peltz's, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Arun Koyyur Organizations: Walt Disney Company, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Walt Disney, Disney, Management, 13D, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Exclusive: ValueAct takes stakes in Recruit and Expedia, says they are poised for strong growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Recruit logo is displayed at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Mayu Sakoda/ Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - ValueAct Capital Management has bought stakes in job search site Indeed's parent Recruit Holdings (6098.T) and in online travel services provider Expedia Group (EXPE.O) and believes both are poised for strong growth. Recruit is valued at roughly $49 billion while Expedia has a market value of about $17 billion. ValueAct CEO Mason Morfit was invited onto Salesforce's board this year and the stock price has surged 64% since January. There was no mention of Recruit or Expedia.

Persons: Mayu, Expedia, ValueAct, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, ValueAct Capital Management, Recruit Holdings, Expedia, Reuters, Recruit, Microsoft, Danaher Corp, Roblox, Alarm.com Holdings, Svea, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Austin , Texas, Expedia, Illumina

☆ ValueAct builds stake in Disney, adds drama at home of Mickey Mouse -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A screen shows the logo and a ticker symbol for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 14, 2017. ValueAct and Disney declined to comment. Disney's stock price could trade between $120 and $190 a share, far above its current $94.19 price, ValueAct has suggested, the people said. Unlike other activist investors who noisily push for change through public presentations, ValueAct prefers to work quietly behind the scenes. In January, ValueAct CEO Mason Morfit was invited onto Salesforce's (CRM.N) board at a time the company had at least five activist shareholders.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, ValueAct, Mickey, Nelson Peltz's, Peltz, Shaw, Trian, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Dawn Chmielewski, Arsheeya, Arun Koyyur, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Walt Disney Company, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, ValueAct, Walt Disney, Disney, 13D Monitor, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, Fund Management, Management, Capital Partners, Microsoft, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bengaluru

☆ Here’s a rapid-fire update on all 35 stocks in our portfolio, including a new industrial
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Here's a rapid-fire update on all the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust, the portfolio we use for the CNBC Investing Club. Honeywell International (HON): This is the most undervalued stock in our portfolio, Jim said. In a diversified stock portfolio, Jim said there's always room for high-quality companies like P & G, which also has a track record of raising its dividend. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. Here's a rapid-fire update on all the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust, the portfolio we use for the CNBC Investing Club.

Persons: Jim Cramer's, Jim, Bausch, That's, Dupont De Nemours, Dupont, Danaher, Walt Disney, Estee Lauder, Locker, Vimal Kapur, we're, We've, we've, Linde, Eli Lilly, Eli, hasn't, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's, Zuckerberg, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley's, Ted Pick, James Gorman, he's, there's, Patience, Stanley Black, Decker, Wells Fargo, Jim Cramer Organizations: Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust, CNBC, Club, Apple, Amazon Web Services, Broadcom, VMWare, Bausch Health, Caterpillar, Costco Wholesale, Coterra Energy, Disney, Eaton Corp, Emerson, Ford, Union Auto Workers, GE Healthcare Technologies, General Electric, GE, Management, Google, YouTube, Honeywell International, Honeywell, Linde, LIN, Reality Labs, Microsoft, Nvidia, U.S, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Constellation Brands, Corona, Modelo, Stanley, TJX, Wynn Resorts, WYNN, Trust Locations: China, India, Salesforce's, redeploy

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Target, Expedia, Generac, Catalent and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Target — Shares of the retailer surged 17% after Target's fiscal third-quarter earnings came in much stronger than expected. Generac — The power generator company jumped almost 4% after Bank of America upgraded shares to neutral from underperform by Bank of America. The firm cut its price target on the stock, however, and lowered its 2024 earnings estimates on the company. Catalent — The pharmaceuticals company jumped 12% Wednesday after posting a narrower-than-expected loss per share and a revenue beat in the fiscal first quarter. American Eagle Outfitters — Shares of the retailer rose 5% after Bank of America upgraded the company to neutral from underperform.

Persons: Holley —, Michael Lasser, Generac, Berkshire Hathaway, Catalent, — CNBC's Michelle Fox, Jesse Pound, Sarah Min, Pia Singh, Alex Harring Organizations: Jefferies, —, Corp, JPMorgan, Reuters, ValueAct Capital Management, UBS, Bank of America, Disney —, Deutsche Bank, JD.com, Sirius XM —, Berkshire, American Eagle Outfitters Locations: underperform

[1/3] Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2023. Target (TGT.N) advanced 17.6% as the big-box retailer forecast fourth-quarter profit largely above Wall Street expectations on easing supply-chain costs. The bright outlook also lifted shares of other retailers, while the S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS), which houses Target, jumped 0.7%. U.S. producer prices eased more than expected amid a sharp drop in gasoline costs, providing further evidence that inflation was trending lower. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.13-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Chris Zaccarelli, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, JD.com, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Sruthi Shankar, Amruta, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Companies, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Target, Reuters, U.S, Independent, Alliance, Dow Jones, U.S . House, Senate, Republican, Disney, ValueAct, Sirius XM, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Activist investor ValueAct has been building a stake in Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

ValueAct Capital has taken a significant stake in Disney (DIS) and has been in dialogue with Disney's management, the Activist Spotlight has learned. It operates through two segments, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Activist Commentary: ValueAct has been a premier corporate governance investor for over 20 years. ValueAct began buying Disney this summer during the WGA and SAG strikes and it is one of the firm's largest positions. This certainly gives the Disney board an alternative they were not expecting.

Persons: ValueAct, Warner, Mason Morfit, Wordle, Bob Iger, Iger, Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, Nelson Peltz, Ken Squire Organizations: ValueAct, Disney, Business, Disney Media, Entertainment, Disney Parks, Warner Bros, Paramount, Netflix, WGA, SAG, Microsoft, Adobe, New York Times, Spotify, Century Fox, ESPN, Hulu, Athletic, Trian Partners, 13D Locations: Salesforce

☆ Activists back off Salesforce after share price recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The changes in ownership came after significant overhauls at Salesforce helped push its share price higher. Inclusive Capital Management, one of four activists closely involved with Salesforce in early 2023 along with Starboard, Elliott Investment Management and ValueAct Capital, exited even earlier, according to filings. ValueAct's ownership stake remained unchanged at 3.5 million at the end of the second quarter, its filing shows. Sachem Head Capital Management cut its stake by 20% after Salesforce made up nearly 5% of its portfolio. During the second quarter the stock price moved to $211 a share from $199 a share.

Persons: Mike Segar, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Mason Morfit, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Salesforce, U.S ., LLC, Inclusive Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, ValueAct, Inclusive, Sachem, Capital Management, Farallon Capital Management, Light, Capital, Svea, Thomson Locations: New York, Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Salesforce, Polen

☆ Exclusive: ValueAct names Hale co-CEO, announces partner departures, strong gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At the same time, ValueAct told investors in a letter seen by Reuters that three partners, including the firm's president Brandon Boze, are leaving. Boze will retire from the firm in 2024 and partners Dylan Haggart and Sarah Coyne will leave. ValueAct also pushed to replace four Seven & i Holdings directors with its own candidates this year, a campaign rejected by shareholders. "Rob has built what we believe is the premiere engagement investing franchise in Japan," the letter said. ValueAct said Coyne identified long-term super cycles as the market reached to short term datapoints.

Persons: Robert Hale, Mason Morfit, ValueAct, Brandon Boze, Boze, Dylan Haggart, Sarah Coyne, Morfit, Jeff Ubben, Hale, Rob, Haggart, Coyne, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, San, Fund, Japan Fund, Olympus, Holdings, Elliott Investment Management, Ubben's Inclusive, Spotify, New York Times, Svea, Thomson Locations: Japan, San Francisco, Seagate, Salesforce

"When we're 50% foreign owned that gives people pause within Japan," Johnson said in an interview. Companies often view the presence of an activist investor as a challenge to their strategy or a factor that could delay execution of their plans. The activist investor previously praised JSR's "fact-based decision making" and said it supports the sale to JIC. "But that doesn't contribute to the Japanese semiconductor materials industry overall," he said. "I don't think they're being imaginative enough ... there's a wide range of materials expertise in Japan," Johnson said.

Persons: Eric Johnson, Johnson, ValueAct, JSR's, Atsushi Ikeda, Goldman Sachs, Ikeda, Yuta, JSR, Sam Nussey, Miho Uranaka, Makiko Yamazaki, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Stephen Coates Organizations: JSR, Japan Investment Corp, Samsung, Intel, ValueAct, Companies, Citigroup, Svea, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, American, Japan, there's

☆ Salesforce hires activist lawyer from Wachtell, Lipton as legal chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 17 (Reuters) - Salesforce (CRM.N) appointed Wachtell, Lipton's Sabastian Niles as its chief legal officer on Monday, months after the leading activist lawyer helped defend the business software provider against several hedge funds that had called for changes at the company. "I'm thrilled to welcome Sabastian to Salesforce as part of our world-class management team," CEO Marc Benioff said. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a major law firm sought out by corporate America to handle merger deals as well as activist investment firms' push for changes. Niles spent nearly 17 years at the law firm, where he began his career as a summer associate after earning his law degree from Harvard, rising to become a partner. Niles was part of the team at Wachtell when it advised Salesforce after Starboard Value, ValueAct and Elliott Investment Management pressured it for making key changes earlier this year.

Persons: Wachtell, Lipton's Sabastian Niles, I'm, Marc Benioff, Lipton, Katz, Niles, Bill Ackman's, Jeffrey Ubben, Mason Morfit's, Salesforce, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Yuvraj Malik, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Rosen, Harvard, Bill Ackman's Pershing, Capital Management, Elliott Investment Management, Svea, Thomson Locations: Salesforce, America, Wachtell, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Shares in Japan's JSR untraded on surprise possible buyout
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Sam Nussey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JSR's market capitalisation was 677 billion yen ($4.71 billion) at Friday's market close. JIC would spend about 1 trillion yen on the acquisition, the Nikkei newspaper reported, injecting 500 billion yen into a new company to make the purchase and borrowing 400 billion yen from Mizuho Bank. JSR is a top supplier of photoresists, which are light-sensitive chemicals used to print patterns on wafers, to global chipmakers. JSR, which was set up in 1957 as a government-backed producer of synthetic rubber, reported a 20% jump in sales to 408.9 billion yen in the year ended March, while operating profit declined 33% to 29.4 billion yen. Shares in JSR, which unusually for a Japanese company has a foreign-born CEO, have gained 25% year-to-date.

Persons: JIC, Travis Lundy, Sam Nussey, Jamie Freed Organizations: JSR, Japan Investment Corp, Nikkei, Mizuho Bank, JIC, Quiddity Advisors, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, China, United States, Japan, Tokyo

☆ Toyota governance fight gets stuck in traffic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, May 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Governance campaigns against Japanese companies have a hard enough time gaining traction as it is. ValueAct Capital’s two-year campaign against Seven & i (3382.T) culminated last week with at best just a third of shareholders backing its four board candidates. Glass Lewis asserts just three of Toyota’s 10 board candidates are unaffiliated, fewer than the one-third the advisory sets as a floor. Toyota insists its board meets the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s independence standards. He should go in any event: having the former CEO of 14 years lead the board is bad governance.

☆ ValueAct adds a streaming play to its portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mason Morfit's ValueAct Capital Management picked up Spotify last quarter as the music streaming giant rebounded off its 2022 selloff. The ValueAct CEO added about 2.25 million shares to the portfolio. Spotify has surged nearly 70% in the first quarter, regaining ground after dropping 66.3% in 2022. SPOT YTD mountain Spotify YTD It was Morfit's only new position in the quarter, but he grew Salesforce by a whopping 500%, while Insight Enterprises got a relatively modest 2% boost. Similarly, KKR came in at the second biggest holding in the portfolio despite the more than 13% trim.

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