Baupost Group (Seth Klarman) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New GTN BRBR POST positions
Highlights from 2022 Q1 filing as compared to Q4 2021:
- New positions in: GTN (~1.29 mln shares), BRBR (~0.48 mln), POST (~0.38 mln)
- Increased positions in: IS (to ~7.94 mln shares from ~4 mln shares), DBX (to ~10.57 mln from ~8.1 mln), EHC (to ~3 mln from ~0.72 mln), NUVB (to ~10.44 mln from ~8.62 mln), FISV (to ~3.99 mln from ~3.05 mln) QRVO (to ~6.65 mln from ~5.95 mln), LSXMK (to ~11.16 mln from ~10.51 mln) LSXMA (to ~5.62 mln from ~4.98 mln), GOOG (to ~0.24 mln from ~0.23 mln),
- Maintained positions in: LBTYK (~53.97 mln shares VSAT (~16.29 mln shares), TBPH (~13.64 mln shares), LBTYA (~7.66 mln shares), SSNC (~3.77 mln shares), VRTV (~3.56 mln shares), WTW (~1.23 mln shares), FB (~0.97 mln shares),
- Closed positions in: PSTH (from ~9.55 mln shares), NLOK (from ~5.78 mln)
- Decreased positions in: JOBY (to ~1.97 mln shares from ~9.62 mln shares), DBRG (to ~18.37 mln from ~22.88 mln), VRNT (to ~2.21 mln from ~3.75 mln), INTC (to ~16.59 mln from ~18.04 mln), TUMQ (to ~11.13 mln from ~11.71 mln), NXST (to ~1.15 mln from ~1.71 mln), LFG (to ~3.12 mln from ~3.5 mln), ATRA (to ~8.12 mln from ~8.48 mln), GRAB (to ~6.11 mln from ~6.4 mln), MU (to ~3.11 mln from ~3.25 mln)
Trian Fund (Nelson Peltz) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Confirms increased JHG IVZ holdings, Exited CMCSA
Highlights from 2022 Q1 filing as compared to Q4 2021:
- Increased positions in: IVZ (to ~54.03 mln shares from ~45.47 mln shares), JHG (to ~31.87 mln from ~28.27 mln)
- Maintained positions in: WEN (~25.33 mln shares), FERG (~11.4 mln shares), GE (~4.03 mln shares)
- Closed positions in: CMCSA (from ~19.99 mln shares)
- Decreased positions in: SYY (to ~11.5 mln shares from ~12.85 mln shares), PG (to ~0.01 mln from ~0.24 mln)
Soros Fund (George Soros) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New ZNGA FRSH positions
Highlights from 2022 Q1 filing as compared to Q4 2021:
- New positions in: ZNGA (~13.2 mln shares), FRSH (~1.95 mln), STRY (~1.42 mln), LCID (~0.6 mln), MGM (~0.35 mln), STEM (~0.3 mln), FLNC (~0.26 mln)
- Increased positions in: DIDI (to ~5.84 mln shares from ~2.72 mln shares), CERN (to ~2.73 mln from ~1.17 mln), FIGS (to ~2.9 mln from ~1.8 mln), INDI (to ~4.36 mln from ~3.5 mln), NKE (to ~0.3 mln from ~0.11 mln), JPM (to ~0.19 mln from ~0.01 mln), CRM (to ~0.26 mln from ~0.16 mln) APTV (to ~0.24 mln from ~0.16 mln), COLB (to ~0.24 mln from ~0.15 mln), ACN (to ~0.12 mln from ~0.05 mln)
- Maintained positions in: RIVN (~19.84 mln shares), BOWL (~9.4 mln shares), IGSB (~1.11 mln shares)
- Closed positions in: MQ (from ~1.02 mln shares), ATVI (from ~1.01 mln), AUR (from ~1 mln), GM (from ~0.86 mln), ALLY (from ~0.69 mln), UBER (from ~0.53 mln), HTZ (from ~0.4 mln), PTON (from ~0.37 mln), HAIN (from ~0.34 mln), ONB (from ~0.34 mln)
- Decreased positions in: PTRA (to ~2.92 mln shares from ~7.97 mln shares), ARMK (to ~3.62 mln from ~5.4 mln), ELAN (to ~0.83 mln from ~2.2 mln), OPEN (to ~1.86 mln from ~3.2 mln), DHI (to ~3.01 mln from ~3.63 mln), WRBY (to ~0.13 mln from ~0.33 mln), SYF (to ~0.01 mln from ~0.19 mln), ASO (to ~0.21 mln from ~0.34 mln), DIS (to ~0.03 mln from ~0.1 mln), ADI (to ~0.15 mln from ~0.21 mln)
JetBlue to Launch Tender Offer for Spirit, Urge Shareholders to Vote Against Frontier Deal
JetBlue offers Spirit investors $30 a share in bid to go around Spirit board, but says it will raise the offer if Spirit negotiates
JetBlue JBLU 5.01% Airways Corp. said it plans to launch a hostile takeover attempt for discount carrier Spirit SAVE 3.85% Airlines Inc. after Spirit rejected JetBlue’s $3.6 billion offer in favor of an existing deal with Frontier Airlines. ULCC 4.56%
JetBlue is appealing directly to Spirit’s shareholders by launching a tender offer for their shares, in hopes of pressuring Spirit’s management to re-engage in negotiations, JetBlue said Monday. At the same time, JetBlue said it is urging Spirit shareholders to vote against Spirit’s planned merger with Frontier Group Holdings Inc. on June 10 to send a message to the Spirit board.
JetBlue is offering $30 a share in cash in its tender offer, but would be open to paying its initial offer price of $33 a share if Spirit comes to the negotiating table and provides data that JetBlue has requested, the company said. JetBlue said the tender price reflected what JetBlue called Spirit’s unwillingness to share necessary information.
“If the Spirit shareholders vote against the transaction with Frontier and compel the Spirit Board to negotiate with us in good faith, we will work towards a consensual transaction at $33 per share, subject to receiving the information to support it,” JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes wrote in an open letter to Spirit shareholders Monday.
pirit shares rose 22% in premarket trading, while JetBlue gained 2.7%.
The tender offer, earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal, is slated to commence Monday, May 16, and remain open until June 30. JetBlue has started meeting with some of Spirit’s shareholders, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Spirit and Frontier didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Spirit has been the subject of a tug of war between two rival carriers that both consider the Florida-based airline as key to their ability to grow and challenge the big airlines that dominate the industry in the U.S. Either transaction, if approved, would create the fifth-largest U.S. airline.
Both companies have accused one another of acting in bad faith.
Spirit Chief Executive Ted Christie has questioned whether JetBlue actually intends to buy Spirit, saying that it “stretches any sort of common sense” to believe antitrust regulators would sign off on that merger while JetBlue faces regulatory scrutiny over a separate partnership with American Airlines Group Inc.
“I have wondered whether blocking our deal with Frontier is, in fact, their goal,” Mr. Christie said during an earnings conference call earlier this month.
JetBlue said Monday that Spirit’s regulatory concerns are a “smokescreen,” and that Spirit has played down the risks of its Frontier deal while hyping concerns about the JetBlue merger. Mr. Hayes said Monday that Spirit never seriously considered JetBlue’s bid, despite being what he described as a more certain and more valuable transaction, and he said that Spirit has refused to engage with JetBlue.
“The Spirit Board failed to provide us the necessary diligence information they had provided Frontier and then summarily rejected our proposal, which addressed their regulatory concerns, without asking us even a single question about it,” JetBlue’s Mr. Hayes wrote in the Monday letter to Spirit investors.
Mr. Hayes cited what he called a long history and relationships between several Spirit board members and Frontier’s chairman as factors that he said influenced Spirit to reject what Mr. Hayes deemed a superior offer from JetBlue.
William Franke, Frontier’s chairman, once served in the same role at Spirit and served with some of Spirit’s current board members, including Mac Gardner, Spirit’s current chairman.
Mr. Franke left Spirit in 2013 when the company declined to invest in Frontier alongside his investment firm. Later that year, his firm bought Denver-based Frontier and began transforming it to an ultra-low-cost model similar to Spirit.
Spirit agreed in February to be acquired by Frontier in a cash-and-stock transaction originally valued at $2.9 billion. Both are part of a niche of fast-growing airlines that cater to budget-conscious travelers, with low base fares and fees for everything else, from bottled water to carry-on bags. The two companies had been discussing a deal for months.
JetBlue later swooped in with a higher offer, arguing that a tie-up between JetBlue and Spirit would create an even more powerful competitor.
Spirit spurned that bid earlier this month and said it would stick with Frontier. Spirit’s board said it believed there was too much risk that regulators would bar a combination with JetBlue, even after JetBlue pledged to shed assets to win regulatory approval and to pay a $200 million breakup fee if it was unable to complete the proposed acquisition for antitrust reasons.
Spirit has said its review of JetBlue’s offer was rigorous. Spirit raised concerns that JetBlue’s plans would eliminate a low-fare competitor and result in higher prices for consumers—something that it said could draw regulators’ objection.
JetBlue’s alliance with American in New York and Boston was of particular concern, Spirit said earlier this month. The Justice Department has challenged that partnership and is suing to block it. Spirit asked JetBlue to agree to abandon that American partnership if needed to gain regulatory approval for a Spirit acquisition.
In its revised proposal in late April, JetBlue offered to divest itself of all of Spirit’s assets in New York and Boston to avoid increasing its presence in markets where the Justice Department has flagged concerns about the partnership with American, but stopped short of saying it was willing to exit that deal altogether.
Mr. Hayes reiterated Monday that he doesn’t believe that JetBlue’s partnership with American, dubbed the Northeast Alliance, is a regulatory obstacle. He said that JetBlue has offered to pay Spirit shareholders a fee if the merger fails due to antitrust issues, while Frontier hasn’t.
Mr. Christie, Spirit’s CEO, said earlier this month that Spirit had talked “constructively” with JetBlue and provided a “well-populated virtual data room.” But the board decided the regulatory hurdle was so high that it couldn't evaluate whether JetBlue’s offer was economically superior.
North Rhine-Westphalia result deals blow to Olaf Scholz
Losses in Germany’s most populous state come amid criticism of chancellor’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
German chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered a major setback on Sunday when his Social Democrats slumped to their worst-ever electoral result in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state and once an SPD stronghold.
According to preliminary results, the SPD won 26.7 per cent of the vote, down more than 4 points on the last election in 2017. The two big winners were the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), who won with 35.7 per cent, up nearly 3 points on 2017, and the Greens, whose share of the vote nearly tripled to 18.2 per cent. It is the Greens’ best ever result in the state.
North Rhine-Westphalia is currently governed by the CDU in a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), but the two parties will probably no longer command a majority in the regional parliament. The CDU is now widely expected to govern instead with the Greens.
The early results suggest such a “black-green” coalition would control 115 of the regional parliament’s 199 seats.
The result is bad news for Scholz, whose poll ratings have declined in recent weeks amid mounting criticism of his policies on the war in Ukraine.
He has been accused of being too restrained in his public support for the authorities in Kyiv and being slow to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine, at a time when it is facing a big Russian offensive in the east of the country.
North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Germany’s largest states and an important bellwether for the whole of the country. Sunday’s election was seen as a litmus test for Scholz and his government, an unprecedented three-way tie-up between the SPD, FDP and Greens.
The chancellor had campaigned hard for the Social Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia and appeared with the party’s leading candidate Thomas Kutschaty on hundreds of electoral posters across the state.
The birthplace of German heavy industry, North Rhine-Westphalia is home to 18mn people and would be Europe’s sixth-largest economy if it were an independent country.
It was long seen as the “beating heart” of the German Social Democratic movement, but the SPD’s hold on the state weakened as traditional smokestack industries went into decline and the coal mines of the Ruhr valley shut down.
Sunday’s election was a big victory for Hendrik Wüst, the Christian Democrat state premier, who only assumed the role last October and will now be seen as one of the rising stars in Germany’s main opposition party.
The lawyer succeeded Armin Laschet, who stood down as CDU leader and North Rhine-Westphalia’s prime minister after last year’s Bundestag election when the party fell to the worst result in its postwar history.
“Voters have given us the job to form and to lead [North Rhine-Westphalia’s] future government,” Wüst told cheering supporters on Sunday evening, calling the result a “clear vote of confidence” in the CDU.
The strong vote for the CDU came a week after the party scored a decisive victory in another regional election, in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.
For the SPD, the one consolation was that the CDU-FDP coalition that has governed since 2017 lacks the votes to form a majority. “Black-yellow [the party colours for CDU and FDP] has no majority in North Rhine-Westphalia,” Kutschaty told supporters.
The SPD has also not given up hope of forming a government in the state. “Most people in North Rhine-Westphalia want a red-green government — all the polls show that,” said SPD chair Lars Klingbeil.
>>> Up
* Barclays PT Raised to 316 pence from 269 pence at Jefferies
* Benchmark Holdings Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 60 pence
* Carl Zeiss Meditec Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 149 euros
* GFT Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 48 euros
* Hyatt Raised to Hold at Berenberg; PT $85
* Inter Parfums Raised at Citi on Valuation, Favorable Tailwinds
* Interpump Raised to Buy at Banca Akros (ESN); PT 57 euros (+)
* MARR SpA Raised to Accumulate at Banca Akros (ESN); PT 17 euros (+)
* Phoenix Group Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 857 pence
* Reply Raised to Buy at Banca Akros (ESN); PT 157 euros (+)
* Sartorius Raised to Buy at UBS (+)
>>> Down
* Atlas Copco Cut to Reduce at AlphaValue/Baader
* Aviva Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT 500 pence
* Boohoo Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; PT 80 pence (+)
* Glenveagh Cut to Reduce at Numis; PT 80 euro cents
* Michelin Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 140 euros
* MorphoSys Cut to Neutral at Kempen & Co; PT 25 euros (+)
* Quantafuel Cut to Sell at Nordea; PT 9 kroner (+)
>>> Initiation
* Genovis Rated New Buy at Nordea; PT 75 kronor (+)
* Prudential Rated New Buy at Orient Finance
>>> Call
* Casino GreenYellow Sale Not an Outright Positive: Bryan Garnier (+)
* Goldman Raises Europe 2022 Profit Forecast on Stronger Growth (+)
* GFT Upgraded to Buy at Berenberg as Better Outlook Surprises
* Hyatt Loses Only Sell as Berenberg Upgrades on Improving Outlook
* JPM Strategists See Equities Recovering on Peak Fed Hawkishness (+)
* Kainos Down to Hold at Berenberg on Risk to Margins From Costs
- Vodafone (VODI TH) +2.4%
- Vodafone Draws $4.4 Billion Investment From UAE Telecom Firm e&
- Nibe (NJB TH) +1.5%
- DSV (DS81 TH) +1.5%
- Kongsberg (KOZ TH) +1.4%
- Kongsberg To Buy Back $51 Million Of Shares
- Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFX TH) +1.3%
- Carl Zeiss Meditec Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 149 euros
- Orsted (D2G TH) +1.3%
- Greencoat UK Wind Buys 12.5% of Hornsea 1 Wind Farm for £400m
- Tomra (TMR TH) +0.9%
- Coloplast (CBHD TH) +0.9%
- Vestas (VWSB TH) +0.8%
- Equinor (DNQ TH) +0.8%
- HeidelbergCement (HEI TH) -1.4%
- Signify (G14 TH) -1.5%
- Stellantis (8TI TH) -1.5%
- ABN AMRO (AB2 TH) -1.6%
- Evotec SE (EVT TH) -1.6%
- National Grid (NNGF TH) -1.8%
- Market Chatter: National Grid To Accept Fewer LNG Deliveries
- Siemens Healthineers (SHL TH) -1.9%
- Norsk Hydro (NOH1 TH) -2.1%
- Michelin (MCH TH) -2.1%
- Michelin Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 140 euros
DAX:
- HelloFresh (HFG TH) +1.1%
- Fresenius Medical (FME TH) -1.1%
- Siemens Healthineers (SHL TH) -1.1%
- Infineon (IFX TH) -1.2%
MDAX:
- Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFX TH) +2.2%
- Carl Zeiss Meditec Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 149 euros
- Rheinmetall (RHM TH) +1%
- Kion (KGX TH) +0.8%
- RTL (RRTL TH) +0.8%
- Siltronic (WAF TH) +0.8%
- Evotec SE (EVT TH) -1%
SDAX:
- GFT (GFT TH) +2.6%
- GFT Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 48 euros
- Takkt (TTK TH) +1.5%
- Deutsche PBB (PBB TH) +1.4%
- Deutz (DEZ TH) +1.4%
- Metro (B4B TH) -1.2%
- VERBIO Vereinigte (VBK TH) -1.5%
- SMA Solar (S92 TH) -1.9%
>>> Up
* Barclays PT Raised to 316 pence from 269 pence at Jefferies
* Benchmark Holdings Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 60 pence
* Carl Zeiss Meditec Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 149 euros
* GFT Raised to Buy at Berenberg; PT 48 euros
* Hyatt Raised to Hold at Berenberg; PT $85
* Inter Parfums Raised at Citi on Valuation, Favorable Tailwinds
* Phoenix Group Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 857 pence
>>> Down
* Atlas Copco Cut to Reduce at AlphaValue/Baader
* Aviva Cut to Neutral at Goldman; PT 500 pence
* Glenveagh Cut to Reduce at Numis; PT 80 euro cents
* Michelin Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 140 euros
>>> Initiation
* Prudential Rated New Buy at Orient Finance
>>> Call
* GFT Upgraded to Buy at Berenberg as Better Outlook Surprises
* Hyatt Loses Only Sell as Berenberg Upgrades on Improving Outlook
* Kainos Down to Hold at Berenberg on Risk to Margins From Costs