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It is rare for investors to take short positions in securities of Indian companies. Securities rules in India also make it hard to quietly build short positions. Institutional investors are obliged to disclose their short positions upfront and there are other restrictions and registration requirements on foreign investors. In Adani, for example, Hindenburg held the short positions through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivatives. China's strict investment rules make it all but impossible to take short positions in domestic-listed Chinese stocks from overseas.

☆ Exclusive: Starboard to challenge engineering materials maker Rogers' board -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The board challenge comes after chemical company DuPont (DD.N) in November walked away from a $5.2 billion deal to acquire Rogers because it failed to secure regulatory approval for the transaction in China. Starboard and Rogers did not respond to requests for comment. Its stock price tumbled after the DuPont deal was scrapped and is down 47% over the last 52 weeks. The company has made changes since the DuPont deal fell apart. Starboard has been active, including recent bets on cloud-based software company Salesforce (CRM.N), software company Splunk (SPLK.O) and website maker Wix.com (WIX.O).

☆ Billionaire Cohen builds stake in Nordstrom, urges board shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Cohen has privately called Tritton, a former chief executive of Bed Bath & Beyond, "conflicted and unqualified," said the people, who were not permitted to discuss the private negotiations. Bed Bath & Beyond is preparing to file for bankruptcy, Reuters reported this week. Investors cheered Cohen's reported involvement at Nordstrom by sending the stock price up 25% in after-hours trading on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal first reported Cohen's stake in Nordstrom. As possible replacements on the Nordstrom board, Cohen has identified executives with experience at retail and e-commerce companies, the people said.

☆ Peltz's Trian seeks to rally Disney shareholders against board director Froman
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Fred ProuserNEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Activist investor Nelson Peltz's hedge fund Trian Fund Management wrote to Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) shareholders on Thursday to make the case for replacing the media and entertainment conglomerate's board director Michael Froman. Trian, which owns a roughly $1 billion stake in the home of Mickey Mouse, has asked Disney shareholders to drop Froman — a former U.S. Trade Representative — from the company's 12-member board and elect Peltz instead. Trian did not spell out in the letter why it had picked Froman to target among the Disney directors, but suggested that Peltz was more qualified to serve. In the letter, Trian also directed its criticism at the full Disney board, blaming it for a 44% drop in Disney's stock last year. A shareholder vote to decide on the composition of Disney's board has not yet been set but is expected in the spring.

[1/2] Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an inauguration ceremony after the Adani Group completed the purchase of Haifa Port earlier in January 2023, in Haifa port, Israel January 31, 2023. On Wednesday, a $2.5 billion sale of shares by one of its companies Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS was called off. Adani Group and the stock market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not respond to a request for comment. Cracking the code of how Hindenburg did the trade could lead to more short sellers taking positions against Indian companies, which have been rare, analysts said. But several bankers familiar with trading in Indian securities said the more profitable piece of the short seller’s bet would likely lie in the derivative trades it had placed.

☆ Activist Elliott to nominate directors at Salesforce -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Elliott Management Corp, the activist investment firm that recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in Salesforce (CRM.N), plans to nominate several director candidates at the cloud-based software company, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Elliott, which invests more than $55 billion, is currently interviewing a number of people including technology industry executives and executives in other industries, the people said. Elliott has long invested in technology companies and in the past reached settlements for board seats with companies including Pinterest (PINS.N), Twitter and eBay (EBAY.O). News that Elliott expects to nominate directors, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, came after Bloomberg reported Salesforce was considering refreshing its board, a step some companies take preemptively if activists start building holdings of their shares. At Salesforce there are at least four activist investors including Elliott, Starboard Value, Jeff Ubben's Inclusive Capital and ValueAct, the firm Ubben founded and which is now run by Mason Morfit, sources familiar with the matter said.

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Large shareholders in News Corp (NWSA.O) on Wednesday applauded Rupert Murdoch's decision to withdraw a proposal to reunite the owner of Dow Jones and Fox Corp , as News Corp decided to pursue a sale of Move Inc instead. On Tuesday, activist investment firm Irenic Capital, which had also opposed the proposed reunion of Fox and News Corp, applauded the decision to not move forward. Cowen & Co's Doug Creutz said investors were pleased by the decision to walk away from a potential combination, saying that pressure from investors like T Rowe Price weighed on the Murdoch's decision to pursue the deal. Fox shares were up about 2% on Wednesday. "The other big question is – does News Corp give their shareholders their pro-rata shares of REA in addition to selling Move?

Three sources familiar with the matter said News Corp was in talks to sell its stake in Move to CoStar for about $3 billion. The deal would have recombined the media empire Murdoch split nearly a decade ago. No offer was exchanged between News Corp and Fox Corp before merger deliberations were abandoned, according to sources familiar with the process, who said pushback from News Corp shareholders played a role in those plans being scrapped. News Corp currently has a market capitalization of about $11 billion, while Fox is valued at a shade over $17 billion. Rupert Murdoch and his family trust control about 40% of News Corp and Fox.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch reversed course on Tuesday and withdrew a proposal to re-unite News Corp (NWSA.O) and Fox Corp as the company is also exploring a sale of its stake in Move Inc., which operates the Realtor.com website, according to a regulatory filing and sources familiar with the process. Several top shareholders had publicly said they opposed the proposed plan, and on Tuesday News Corp said in a statement that the combination was "not optimal for shareholders of News Corp and Fox at this time." The deal would have reunited the media empire Murdoch split nearly a decade ago. No offer was exchanged between News Corp and Fox Corp before merger deliberations were abandoned, according to sources familiar with the process, who said pushback from News Corp shareholders played a role in those plans being scrapped. "Looking ahead, News Corp has an opportunity to create substantial value for its owners."

☆ Activist investor Elliott Management takes stake in Salesforce -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Management Corp has made a multi-billion dollar investment in cloud-based software firm Salesforce Inc (CRM.N), according to people familiar with the matter. It is unclear what Elliott, one of the world's most prominent activist investors, is pushing for at Salesforce. "We look forward to working constructively with Salesforce to realize the value befitting a company of its stature," Jesse Cohn, managing partner at Elliott told Reuters. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment and Elliott declined to comment. It recently won a board seat at Pinterest Inc when the company added Elliott portfolio manager Marc Steinberg as a director.

☆ Top hedge funds earned sharply less for clients in 2022, LCH data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - The 20 best performing hedge fund managers earned $22.4 billion for investors in 2022, marking their slimmest gains since 2016 as many firms, including Tiger Global Management, struggled with slumping financial markets, LCH Investments data show. The top 20 managers, led by Ken Griffin's Citadel, Bridgewater Associates and D.E. Overall, hedge funds lost $208 billion in 2022 for clients, marking the biggest single-year decline since 2008, when they lost $565 billion, LCH data showed. Hedge funds, which were jointly managing $3.3 trillion on Dec. 31, 2022, according to eVestment data, often promise to outperform, especially when markets are stumbling. Shaw, Millennium Management, Soros Fund Management, Elliott Management, and Viking Global Investors also ranked in the top 10.

☆ Exclusive: ValueAct calls for Seven & i to spin off 7-Eleven retail chain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

ValueAct argued a tax-free spin-off of 7-Eleven could be completed through a listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in roughly a year. But it also noted the board may receive a proposal to buy the whole company during its ongoing strategic review. "We understand that Seven & i can combine 7-Eleven, Inc. and Seven-Eleven Japan and execute a tax-free spin-off to launch a global champion 7-Eleven listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange about 12 months from now," the letter said. Seven & i is currently conducting a strategic review and has pledged to announce its decisions by early March. Ever since first making its investment in Seven & i known in 2021, ValueAct has said other investors have reached out to the firm about its references to a possible spin off of 7-Eleven.

☆ Investor Ryan Cohen builds Alibaba stake, pushes for more share buybacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Ryan Cohen has built a stake in China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) worth hundreds of millions of dollars and is pushing the e-commerce giant to increase and speed up share buybacks, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. In his communications, Cohen told Alibaba he thought the company could reach double-digit sales growth and nearly 20% free cashflow growth over the coming five years, according to the sources. Cohen felt the company's shares were undervalued at the time, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the investment is private. The people said that Cohen is eager to have a collaborative, long-term relationship with Alibaba and that he has praised management's capabilities. Over roughly the same period, Alibaba has steadily escalated its share buyback program.

☆ Macro hedge funds end 2022 on high, many others lose big, investors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Rokos Capital, run by Chris Rokos and one of a handful of so-called global macro firms, gained 51% last year. Many macro managers sidestepped tumbling equity markets rocked by fast-paced interest rate hikes and geopolitical turmoil including the war in Ukraine to rank among the hedge fund industry's best performers, data from Hedge Fund Research show. The firm's macro index gained 14.2% while the overall hedge fund index dropped 4.25%, its first loss since 2018. Equity hedge funds, where the bulk of the industry's roughly $3.7 trillion in assets are invested, however fared worse with a 10.4% loss, according to HFR data. Tiger Global Management lost 56% while Whale Rock Capital Management ended the year with a 43% loss and Maverick Capital lost 23%.

☆ Venator Materials' investor pushes for board change amid plummeting stock price
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

J&T wrote that it has tried to work constructively with the Venator board since May 2022 but has encountered "apparent delay tactics and gamesmanship." "We strongly urge you to immediately add myself and another independent director to be nominated by us to the Board," the letter said. Venator said it has an open dialogue with all shareholders and has worked to engage in "constructive conversations" with J&T. Venator was spun off from chemical company Huntsman Corp (HUN.N) and its share price tumbled 71% in the last 52 weeks. While Venator rivals have directors with broad experience, the Venator board's skills are focused mainly on the chemicals industry and have prevented it from creating "a go-forward strategy to restore confidence among investors," the J&T letter said.

☆ Fidelity National agrees review, adds director after D.E. Shaw pressure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Fidelity National Information Services (FIS.N) said on Thursday that it will undertake a strategic review and add a new director to its board after pressure from hedge fund D.E. Ferris and the board will lead the review which will evaluate the company's business structures and portfolio of assets as well as focus on cutting costs and improving margins. Ferris had been FIS president where she led the integration of Worldpay and steered the company's global business strategy. FIS said on Thursday it had now appointed Jeffrey Goldstein, currently lead independent director, as independent chairman instead. Shaw's calls for a strategic review that could help boost the share price, the company said.

☆ Exclusive: Hestia seeks to take control of Pitney Bowes board, oust CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Hestia, which scored big gains on a bet on GameStop (GME.N), plans to nominate more than five candidates for election to the nine-person board of Pitney Bowes early next year. Marc Lautenbach has been CEO of Pitney Bowes for a decade and Michael Roth, the chair, has served on the board since 1995. A representative for Pitney Bowes was not immediately available for comment. read moreWolf suggested that the Pitney Bowes board consider selling the company's Global Ecommerce segment if its results did not improve, Reuters reported. Hestia believes Pitney Bowes should focus on cash-generating segments such as Presort Services, its mail aggregation business, and SendTech Solutions, its postal-meter business.

[1/2] FILE PHOTO: Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, U.S., November 30, 2022. The major prize Bluebell has so far scored was at Danone, where it helped oust a chief executive. By comparison, the average activist hedge fund was down 14% for 2022 in November, according to Hedge Fund Research data. BlackRock has also not responded to Bluebell's request to shake up its board and review its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategy. Even if Bluebell does not win concessions from BlackRock, it has at least bet on a company that has performed well in the past.

Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco, Bluebell's partners, wrote to Fink, saying they want someone else to run the company. Bluebell was founded in 2019 and has taken on companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Glencore, Vivendi and Danone, where it engineered the ouster of former CEO Emmanuel Faber. "Fink clearly has political ambitions because it is not his job as chief executive of BlackRock to dictate energy policy,” Bivona told Reuters in an interview. BlackRock did not support Bluebell's campaign to oust the CEO of chemical company Solvay or at Leonardo SpA (LDOF.MI), where Bluebell wanted to promote a liability action against the CEO. A BlackRock spokesman said it did not "support Bluebell's campaigns as we did not consider them to be in the best economic interests of our clients."

☆ Pinterest reaches deal with activist Elliott; Steinberg to join board
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Pinterest on Tuesday said it reached a deal with Elliott Management, the activist investment firm that has offered up ideas on how to improve operations at the image sharing and social media service company. Marc Steinberg, a portfolio manager at Elliott, will join the board on Dec. 16, Pinterest said. Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, who took the job in June, called the deal with Elliott a "one-of-a-kind agreement" and said the company "appreciates the perspective" Steinberg, Jesse Cohn, a managing partner at Elliott, and others at the firm bring. Pinterest's stock climbed 2.5% in after hours trading on the news that Elliott, one of the company's biggest investors, was joining the board. Elliott, one of the world's busiest activist investing firms, has extensive experience in the tech and social media sector as Cohn held board seats at Twitter and eBay (EBAY.O) and worked closely with Steinberg on those investments.

☆ Citadel celebrates banner year at Disney as Wall Street nurses losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - For much of Wall Street, trading this year has been like riding a wild roller coaster. For thousands of employees of Citadel and Citadel Securities, the hedge fund and trading business founded by Ken Griffin, last weekend was spent riding the real things. This year is shaping up to be a record for Citadel and Citadel Securities, Ahmed confirmed. Across Wall Street, firms are preparing for leaner times by cutting jobs and bonuses, while many Americans are struggling with rising prices for food, gasoline and rents. After the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street firms that were criticized for their excesses have sometimes shied away from lavish gatherings or held them in private.

☆ Citadel celebrates banner year at Disney while Wall Street nurses losses
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - For much of Wall Street, trading this year has been akin to riding a wild roller coaster. This year is shaping up to be a record for Citadel and Citadel Securities, the spokesman confirmed. The Citadel Global Fixed Income Fund is up 28.1% for the year, while Citadel Tactical Trading is up 22.4% and Citadel Equities Fund is up 17.8%, an investor said. Across Wall Street, firms are preparing for leaner times by cutting jobs and bonuses. After the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street firms that were criticized for their excesses have sometimes shied away from lavish gatherings or held them in private.

Sale-leasebacks allow retailers to raise capital without shedding stores by selling the underlying real estate and turning them from landlords into tenants. They also point out that companies often spend the money on share buybacks and dividends rather than investing in their business. Spokespeople for Kohl's, Macellum and Ancora declined to comment. It is not clear how many of Kohl's 1,100 stores would have been involved in any deal. Reuters GraphicsRENT EXPENSESIn a letter to shareholders in March defending its strategy against criticism from hedge fund Macellum Capital Management LLC, Kohl's said that a "large" sale-leaseback would "negatively impact margins by adding unnecessary rent expenses in perpetuity and risk Kohl's investment-grade rating".

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☆ Activist investor Cevian takes axe to Thyssenkrupp stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Christoph Steitz | Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Cevian cuts stake by more than 5.6%Thyssenkrupp turnaround failed to boost share priceCevian first disclosed stake in 2013FRANKFURT, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Activist fund Cevian has cut its stake in Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) to less than 1%, it said on Tuesday, effectively ending its loss-making engagement with the German industrial group after years of restructuring that failed to boost its share price. Cevian, which first disclosed a stake in Thyssenkrupp in 2013, had nearly halved its stake to 7.9% a year ago after a far-reaching overhaul it had long demanded arrived too late. Shares in Thyssenkrupp fell 4.7% lower on the news, making them the second-biggest decliners in Germany's mid-cap index and valuing the stake Cevian has sold at more than 180 million euros ($185 million). Refinitiv news service IFR earlier reported that Cevian sold shares at 5.15-5.40 euros apiece in a process run by UBS, indicating the fund took a loss, given Thyssenkrupp stock traded around 17-19 euros when the fund disclosed holdings. The share sale also highlights Cevian's sobering track record in Germany, which includes a 26.67% stake in Bilfinger (GBFG.DE) that has fallen in value since the fund first disclosed a stake in 2011.

☆ Trump-Tied SPAC DWAC wins shareholder support for one year extension
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DWAC shares jumped on news of the approval and were trading at $23.42, up 8.60% after the meeting was ended. Tuesday's meeting was scheduled after Orlando extended the Nov. 3 meeting to give investors more time. On Sept. 26, DWAC had only 43% of shareholders' approval, according to a document seen by Reuters. At stake is a $1.3 billion cash infusion that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) which operates Trump's Truth Social app, stands to receive from DWAC. Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss with additional reporting by Echo Wang Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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