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☆ Opinion: Investing in oil and gas doesn’t make sense anymore
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Opinion Tom Steyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some might think that, questions of morality aside, fossil fuel investments are just too good to pass up. Even in the United States, where President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is making historic investments in clean energy, oil exports are at an all-time high. On closer examination, the simplest argument against funding new oil, gas and coal projects is not that they’re immoral. What should be even more concerning to investors is that fossil fuel companies’ challenges go beyond supply and demand. Finally, there is perhaps the greatest risk fossil fuel investors face: the industry’s massive profits are largely dependent on special treatment by governments.

Persons: Tom Steyer, Pimco, Vladimir Putin’s, Joe Biden’s, I’ve, —, there’s, Morgan Stanley, persuasively, Herbert Stein Organizations: Solutions, CNN, JPMorgan Chase, State Street, Global Energy Monitor, Farallon Capital, ” Locations: BlackRock, Ukraine, United States, Texas, Farallon

☆ 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

Zambia was the first African country to default in the COVID-19 era, in late 2020, but its restructuring process has been beset by delays. International bondholders also complained they were left out of the process, which started with drawn-out negotiations with bilateral creditors including China. Zambia's three international bonds rose sharply after the announcement, adding as much as 3.9 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb and MarketAxess data showed. The committee of bondholders owns or controls 40% of the outstanding bonds, Zambia's finance ministry added. Earlier this month, Zambia agreed a memorandum of understanding with its official creditors, including China and members of the Paris Club of creditor nations, to restructure about $6.3 billion of debt.

Persons: Situmbeko Musokotwane, Susana Vera, amortization, Rachel Savage, Karin Strohecker, Bhargav Acharya, David Holmes Organizations: Zambia's, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, REUTERS, IMF, Bondholder, Amia, Amundi, RBC BlueBay Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Greylock Capital Management, Paris Club, Thomson Locations: Marrakech, Morocco, JOHANNESBURG, Zambia, China, Rosario

☆ Toshiba's top investor to sell stake in JIP offer, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Makiko Yamazaki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsTOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Toshiba's (6502.T) largest shareholder Effissimo Capital Management has decided to tender its 9.9% stake in the $14 billion takeover offer by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), a source said on Friday, raising the odds of the bid succeeding. The offer, which will end on Sept. 20, needs at least two-thirds of shareholders to tender their shares for it to succeed. Other major shareholders, Elliott Management and Farallon Capital Management, both have their executives on Toshiba's board which has unanimously approved the JIP takeover. Singapore-based fund 3D Investment Partners, previously Toshiba's second-largest shareholder, revealed in a filing in March that it had cut its stake to 4.90% from 7.20%. Sources have said top activist shareholders were eager to exit, even though the offer price was unsatisfactory.

Persons: Androniki, JIP, Effissimo, Elliott, Makiko Yamazaki, Kantaro Komiya, Neil Fullick Organizations: Toshiba Corporation, REUTERS, Rights, Effissimo Capital Management, Japan Industrial Partners, Toshiba, Elliott Management, Farallon Capital Management, Major Toshiba, Partners, Investment Partners, Westinghouse, Thomson Locations: Kawasaki, Japan, Singapore

☆ 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

"We first need to see Zambia's updated macroeconomic package, which is in part why we have to get restricted," one of the sources said. There will be a restriction period of two weeks, with the option to extend it if both sides agree, two sources added. Amia Capital, Amundi, BlueBay Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Greylock Capital and T. Rowe Price comprise the steering committee. Besides net present value (NPV) reductions, talks will focus on how to incorporate the impact of a potential improvement of Zambia's debt carrying capacity, or its ability to handle debt payments. Including in the overhaul a mechanism that would allow for higher payments through coupon payments, debt maturities or a combination of both if Zambia's debt capacity improves was "sacrosanct", one of the sources said.

Persons: Weil, Rowe Price, Jorgelina, Rodrigo Campos, Karin Strohecker Organizations: Paris Club, Newstate Partners, BlueBay Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Greylock, Monetary Fund, Bank, IMF, World Bank, Thomson Locations: China, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Zambia, U.S, Amia, Rosario, London, New York, Lincoln

☆ Toshiba gives shareholder management masterclass
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its limited visibility on the value of the memory-chip specialist was one reason it cited for its earlier restraint. Follow @ugalani on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSToshiba said on June 8 that its board has decided to recommend shareholders accept a tender offer from a group led by Japan Industrial Partners. The tender offer is expected to be launched some time from late July. Among other factors, it cited limited visibility into the value of chipmaker Kioxia, of which Toshiba owns around 40%. In recommending the offer, Toshiba noted the book value of Kioxia’s shares had fallen since its March announcement.

Persons: Paul Singer’s Elliott, Daniel Loeb’s, Jerry Black, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Toshiba, Japan Industrial Partners, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, Farallon Capital, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Kioxia, Japan

☆ Farallon steps up activism at biotech company Exelixis. Here’s what could happen next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Farallon is not an activist investor but will pursue an activist agenda when it feels forced to do so. As the strategy of shareholder activism has become more mainstream, it has been utilized by a larger breadth of investors. The firm has been a shareholder of Exelixis since 2018 and is just now going public with their concerns. Farallon would also like to see Exelixis commit to a much larger share repurchase program than the $550 million it has announced. Farallon is nominating only three directors to this board, and it befuddles us as to how Exelixis does not see this as a gift.

☆ Farallon Capital to Wage Proxy Battle at Biotech Firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Hedge fund Farallon Capital Management is planning to wage a proxy battle at biotech company Exelixis Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Farallon has nominated three director candidates that it flagged in a late-March securities filing, the people said. At the time, the firm hadn’t decided to move forward with a proxy fight and was still trying to work with the company. The window to nominate directors ran from Feb. 24 to March 26, according to proxy materials.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, Zions and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A FedEx delivery man is seen on Chestnut Street in San Francisco on January 11, 2023 as atmospheric river storms hit California, United States. Zions Bancorporation — Shares of Zions Bancorporation rose 3.2% after Baird upgraded the regional bank stock to an outperform rating. Lamb Weston — Shares of the potato processing giant were up about 1% ahead of the company's scheduled earnings release on Thursday. FedEx — Shares of the shipping company gained 3.1% in premarket trading after FedEx announced a dividend hike and a corporate reorganization. FedEx said it will raise its dividend by 10%, consolidate its different business divisions and change its executive compensation packages.

Other investors who have held Toshiba longer may not be so lucky: the offer price represents a 15% discount from a December 2014 high. Some were introduced to JIP by Toshiba's management, some of the people said, declining to be identified because the information is not public. Toshiba's management, including CEO Taro Shimada, will stay on, while the government keeps Toshiba's sensitive defence and nuclear technologies in Japanese hands. Toshiba felt stable shareholders were desirable to end the tumult, unlike current shareholders "with many differing views", it said. JIP does not see the need for big strategy adjustments, Toshiba said.

☆ How universities became giant piggy banks for hedge-fund billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Catherine Liu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The move also marked the beginning of a new way to manage endowment funds. The arrangement has been a boon for the hedge-fund managers who received university endowment cash, but the benefits for the schools are trickier to parse. As Eaton put it in his book, universities directed funds to "wherever those allocations would generate the largest further investment returns." Eaton estimated in 2017 that tax breaks for university endowments cost federal coffers up to $19 billion a year. As the influence of billionaires and hedge-fund managers has grown, universities have moved further away from their ultimate goal: educating people.

☆ Adani in talks for $400 mln debt against Australian coal port assets - ET
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - India's Adani Group is in talks with global credit funds to raise up to $400 million in debt against a key Australian coal port assets that make up a large portion of its exports of the fossil fuel from Carmichael mine, the Economic Times reported. Adani Group and Farallon Capital did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. Reuters recently reported Australia's corporate regulator said it would review a short-seller report that had flagged a wide range of concerns about the Adani Group. In Australia, the conglomerate operates the Carmichael coal mine and a related rail line, the North Queensland Export Terminal, which is a major port for Queensland coal exports, as well as a solar farm. Reporting by Sneha Bhowmik in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Burry was featured in the 2010 nonfiction book "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis which was made into a popular movie five years later. Farallon, meanwhile, added 2,197,000 shares of Alibaba, while Coatue added 4,796,186 shares of Alibaba and 1,221,551 shares of JD.com. China began taking steps to end its zero-COVID policy, which was among the world's strictest anti-coronavirus regimes, in December. Hedge fund managers' positions were revealed in 13F filings that show what fund managers owned at the end of the quarter. While they are backward-looking, these filings are one of the few public disclosures of hedge fund portfolios.

☆ Toshiba buyout heralds a big step back for Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

MUMBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The end of a long battle to wring some value from Toshiba (6502.T) is finally within reach. Such an outcome won’t encourage private equity firms, and big policy shifts underway may stifle the industry just as it hits a new high. Instead, after an accounting scandal in 2015, Toshiba came to epitomise Japan Inc’s pervasive value destruction. Japan typically outperforms private equity deals in other developed markets, partly because existing incentive structures for company bosses are so poor. The country’s private equity industry is only just finding its feet.

Hedge fund Farallon Capital, for instance, bought nearly 7.8 million shares of Twitter during the quarter that ended Sept. 30, while Franklin Resources, the parent company of mutual fund firm Franklin Templeton, added nearly 2.6 million shares to an existing position of less than 100,000 shares. Shares of Twitter fell to as low as $33 during the third quarter before ending September near $44. The value of Twitter shares jumped 23.2% in October when Musk completed the deal on Oct. 27 by paying $54.20 per share. While some funds reaped short-term rewards, other investors left some potential gains on the table by selling before the October rally in Twitter shares. Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) sold 3.7 million shares of the company, while ClearBridge Investments LLC sold 1.9 million shares.

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