Elliott Associates disclosed in a regulatory filing that it owns 7.6 percent of CDK Global, a software company that serves the auto industry and was spun off from Automatic Data Processing last October. The company was already a target of at least two other New York-based activist hedge funds, Sachem Head Capital Management and Fir Tree Partners. In its filing, New York-based Elliott said it currently does not have a “plan or proposal” for the company. The presence of more than one hedge fund activist in the same stock is a growing trend, suggesting that as the amount of capital invested with activists has exploded in recent years, the funds are starting to run out of fresh ideas or see piggybacking other activist targets as another good strategy.
___
Finally! Today is the scheduled annual meeting for DuPont, so we should know by the end of the day whether New York activist Trian Management won its proxy fight with the chemical giant. The battle has been nasty and Trian’s Nelson Peltz went on CNBC Monday to press his case one more time for his firm’s nominees. A short time later, DuPont fired off a press release rebutting Peltz, asserting that Trian “shifted its narrative, mischaracterizing DuPont’s outperformance and making erroneous statements.” DuPont then added, “These types of misstatements are an attempt to distract from the strong growth of the ongoing business that will comprise the next generation DuPont.” Trian has four dissident director nominees, including Peltz. The firm argued in a recent press release they “will bring relevant skill sets and operating experience to the DuPont boardroom, along with strong track records leading high-performance organizations, fresh perspectives and an openness to exploring ideas to create long-term value.”
___
Kenneth Griffin’s Chicago-based Citadel has filed amended 13F’s for earlier periods to include several sizable positions in high-profile takeover targets that the firm only now has disclosed. Citadel now seems to have had stakes in Time Warner Cable, whose pending acquisition was recently broken off by Comcast, and Allergan, which fended off a hostile bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, as early as June 2014. In the amended filings, Citadel notes that in the third quarter it boosted its stake in Allergan by more than 2½ times to more than 1.1 million shares compared to its stake revealed in its revised second quarter report, and lifted its investment in Time Warner Cable by about two-thirds to about 1.18 million shares. However, when it initially filed its third-quarter 13F, Citadel only reported owning some 14,000 shares of Allergan plus put and call options. It also only reported holding 9,830 shares of Time Warner Cable, plus put and call options. In its year-end filing, Citadel disclosed owning fewer than 139,000 shares of Time Warner Cable plus the options. It also only disclosed owning put and call options of Allergan. However, also last week it amended the year-end report to disclose owning 708,000 common shares of Allergan. It also said it had stakes in PetSmart, which in December agreed to a buyout by a group led by European private equity firm BC Partners, and Carefusion, which in October agreed to an acquisition by CD, a medical technology company.
___
Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners has liquidated its entire stake in Ashland, a specialty chemical maker and a major holding in recent quarters. It sold more than 5 million shares on May 11 for $126.26 per share, and the rest from March 19 through May 5, according to a regulatory filing.
___
David Harding’s Winton Capital Group, which held up better than most other commodity trading advisors (CTAs) and other computer-generated hedge funds in 2012 and 2013 due to its sizable position in equities, has heavily boosted its exposure to stocks in the first quarter. According to a new 13F filing, at the end of the first quarter the London firm had about $12.6 billion invested in U.S.-related equities, up more than 50 percent from nearly $8.1 billion at year-end.
