WSJ : D.E. Shaw Joins Continental Grain in Pushing for Change at Bunge

D.E. Shaw Joins Continental Grain in Pushing for Change at Bunge
Funds seek operational improvements, board seats at grain trader

D.E. Shaw & Co. has boosted its stake in Bunge Ltd. BG +3.02% and is pushing the grain trader to make operational improvements or add board members, according to people familiar with the matter.

The hedge fund is working with Continental Grain Co., an agricultural-investment firm, the people said. The firms, which together own less than 5%, have been speaking to Bunge’s management in recent weeks and could reach a settlement with the company, the people said.

The investors are trying to convince the White Plains, N.Y., grain trader to make its operations more focused, improve margins, and replace board members. They aren’t pushing for a sale of the company, which in recent years has received takeover interest from Archer Daniels Midland Co. ADM +1.64% and Glencore PLC, but eventually could do so, the people said.

It isn’t clear how much of Bunge D.E. Shaw owns, but the people said it is more than the 0.06% the hedge-fund firm disclosed as of the end of June.

Continental Grain owns more than 1% of Bunge’s shares.

In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Continental Grain was preparing to push Bunge to consider strategic options. Bunge, which has a market value of about $10 billion, was then in talks to sell itself to ADM. At the time, the talks were progressing at a slow pace and they later fell apart.

Last year, Glencore, a Swiss commodity trader, made a takeover approach to Bunge, but the two sides didn’t come to a deal.

Based in White Plains, N.Y., Bunge is among the world’s biggest dealers in basic foodstuffs such as soybeans, corn and wheat. Its shares have returned 6.9% over the past 10 years including dividends, much less than the S&P 500’s 13.8% total return, according to FactSet.

Agricultural companies like Bunge and ADM have struggled with a growing glut of crops world-wide, brought on by consecutive bumper harvests in North and South America. Prospects this year have improved due partly to a drought in Argentina, which trimmed soybean stockpiles and helped lift prices.

Bunge in August surprised investors with a $12 million second-quarter loss, driven by derivatives positions designed to protect the company’s soybean-processing profits. Bunge Chief Executive Soren Schroder said the company stood by its $1.3 billion full-year profit forecast, assuring investors the company has locked in favorable profit margins over the remainder of the year.

D.E. Shaw—which has been increasing its activist practice after hiring Quentin Koffey from Elliott Management Corp.—typically prefers to work with management behind the scenes. The fund early this year shook up the board at Lowe’s Co s. after presenting the home-improvement retailer research that included an analysis of satellite imagery of the number of cars in its parking lot compared to that of rival Home Depot Inc.

(BN) U.S. Is Said to Be Concerned About Chinese Yuan’s Recent Drop

U.S. Is Said to Be Concerned About Chinese Yuan’s Recent Drop
2018-10-08 14:36:35.769 GMT


By Saleha Mohsin
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is concerned about
the Chinese yuan’s depreciation as the Treasury Department
weighs whether to name China a currency manipulator in a report
due out next week, a senior Treasury official said Monday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced pressure from
the White House to formally designate China a currency
manipulator in the report. The yuan has tumbled 9 percent
against the dollar in the last six months in one of Asia’s worst
performances, raising speculation that China has been
deliberately weakening its currency as trade tensions with the
U.S. have escalated.
Read More: Here’s How Trump Can Formally Name China a
Currency Manipulator
The senior official said the U.S. is closely monitoring the
Chinese currency and is concerned about the recent depreciation.
The official didn’t provide further elaboration.
The official was responding to a question during a briefing
ahead of a visit Mnuchin will make this week to Bali, Indonesia,
for a meeting of finance minsters and central bankers under the
auspices of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The
official briefed reporters under condition of anonymity.
Trump accused China and the European Union of manipulating
its currency in a July tweet, saying the move is “taking away
our big competitive edge.”
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
China, the European Union and others have been manipulating
their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is
raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with
each passing day - taking away our big competitive edge. As
usual, not a level playing field...
Sent via Twitter for iPhone.
View original tweet.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net
Mike Dorning, Larry Liebert

(9to5: Apple reportedly in talks with British Telecom to kick-start pay-TV plans

Apple reportedly in talks with British Telecom to kick-start pay-TV plans in UK

Apple is reported to be in talks with British Telecom (BT) to help kick-start its pay-TV plans in the UK. The Telegraph reports that the deal is designed to be a win-win for both companies.

It is understood that the two sides are in early discussions over a deal that would make BT’s mobile brand EE a major distributor of Apple TV set-top boxes. The telecoms operator would offer the technology to EE broadband customers pre-loaded with apps to ­deliver BT Sport and channels from other broadcasters.
BT would get extra customers for its own pay-TV channel, while Apple would not only benefit from extra sales of its Apple TV box, but would also have a larger audience once it’s ready to move ahead with its own subscription television service.
BT currently offers its own set-top box, but had a rethink earlier this year.
BT’s consumer chief Marc Allera set out a new strategy in May that included plans to distribute BT Sport in new ways and forge deeper partnerships with technology giants. He has questioned the wisdom of BT’s investment in its own set-top boxes in competition with Apple, Amazon and Sky.
BT’s EE subsidiary was said to have been chosen because of the brand’s demographic.
EE has a long-standing relationship with Apple in relation to the iPhone and is used by BT as a proving ground for new initiatives. Its customers are typically younger and more technologically savvy than those of the BT brand.
There has been much speculation about Apple’s long-rumored plans to launch its own pay-TV service. One recent report suggested that the company was aiming to compete head-on with Netflix, with a business that could be generating over $4B by 2025.
Apple is known to be continuing its moves into original TV content for an over-the-air pay-TV service, recent reports covering a climate change series, a comedy series based on poet Emily Dickinson, a documentary called The Elephant Queen and a miniseries Defending Jacob.
Apple was also said to be shopping for movie deals at last month’s Toronto International Film Festival.

FT : A second Brexit poll is a bigger risk than leaving

A second Brexit poll is a bigger risk than leaving
Those campaigning for a People’s Vote should be careful what they wish for

Readers may remember the now diminished internet phenomenon of Second Life, a virtual world in which people could live the lives they did not currently have. They could create exciting and unrealistically desirable avatars, hoard cryptocurrency, and build new societies. It turned out to be less transformative, with many using it for gambling and virtual sex with other exciting and unrealistic avatars.

In the increasingly unreal sphere of British politics we have Second Referendum: a virtual world in which voters get to act out the lives they do not have. In Second Referendum a grateful nation is given the chance to rethink its first vote on leaving the EU and overturns its mistake by an exciting and unrealistic margin. The pound rises, investment floods in, Emmanuel Macron pats the UK on the back for having the good sense to see things his way. National unity is restored, once angry Brexit backers return to their lives grateful to hand decisions back to the political professionals and thankful to be spared the consequences of their foolishness.

The second referendum is no longer a digital dream. It is a distinct possibility; not yet probable, but certainly possible. Labour’s recent conference moved it closer. If all other options fail, MPs may back the so-called — and excellently branded — People’s Vote. Many arguments are made for it. Voters did not know the terms on which we would leave, lies were told, younger voters were denied a say. But the truth is that its advocates do not believe in a new vote; just in a new answer. It is entirely a device to stop Brexit.

It is an irony that should another vote happen, it will be due to the intransigence of Leavers. Instead of recognising the narrowness of their win and seeking to unify the nation, they pursued the most hardline of Brexits. More generosity and the deal would already be sealed.

There are significant logistical obstacles. What would the question be? Are there two or three options with a transferable vote? How long would it take? But, these are mere details compared with — and I write this as a Remain voter — more important political objections.

The only real justifications for a second vote are a massive shift in public opinion or an unpredictable material change in circumstances. Neither has occurred. Opinion polls show a small but clear lead for Remain voters, which suggests some Leavers have changed their minds but also factors in the two years’ worth of young voters (who skew Remain by seven to one) now eligible to vote. In truth, the country is still more or less split down the middle. A close win for Remain will settle nothing. And for all the Remainer confidence — and belief in an energised youth vote — there is no guarantee they would win. Voters rarely take well to being told to try again because they got it wrong. (Another plebiscite also kills the main objection to another Scottish independence vote.)

Some argue about Leave’s tactics, but the conspiracy theories are overhyped. Some fine investigative journalism has exposed the Leave behaviour but it has not, and cannot, prove it was decisive. Dishonest campaigning was not invented by Vote Leave and one cannot rerun a vote because the other side’s ads were more effective.

But most fundamental is the damage it will do to democracy. If Remain were to nick it back, where do the former 52 per cent turn next? The phenomena of populism cannot be wished away and one of its causes was the sense of a political class that does not listen. It is a lesson EU leaders are still failing to learn. Leavers will view a second referendum as a plot by the political class to frustrate their decision. They will not be wrong.

If the previous campaign was ugly and divisive, imagine the next: a full assault on every institution of political stability with added venom for foreigners. From there a descent into pure populism is a small step and the next group of leaders will be less loveable than Nigel Farage.

For all this, Remainers are uniting in a way that Brexiters are not. Parliamentary paralysis may leave another referendum the only option and many Remainers are thus invested in maintaining deadlock.

A better alternative even at this stage would be for Remainers to work together to thwart the hardliners and deliver the most manageable deal in line with the 2016 vote. Customs union, single market, Theresa May’s Chequers plan — all are sub-optimal, but none are the worst outcome. This requires Remainers to accept that they lost and the second vote campaign shows them unready to do so.

Such a vote may halt Brexit, but the price will be higher than many assume. The virtual nirvana of Second Life had unpleasant unexpected consequences. Second Ref may be the same.

(BFW) Lannett Explores Capital Structure Options with Kirkland, Lazard

PRN 10/08 13:31 Lannett Engages Advisors To Explore And Evaluate Debt And Capital Structure Alternatives
BN 10/08 13:32 *LCI EXPECTS TO REMAIN IN COMPLIANCE W COVENANTS THROUGH FY19
BN 10/08 13:31 *LANNETT TO EXPLORE & EVALUATE DEBT & CAPITAL STRUCTURE OPTIONS
BN 10/08 13:31 *LANNETT ENGAGES ADVISORS TO EXPLORE & EVALUATE DEBT & CAPITAL S
BN 10/08 13:31 *LANNETT ENGAGES ADVISORS TO EXPLORE, EVALUATE DEBT, CAPITAL
Lannett Explores Capital Structure Options with Kirkland, Lazard
2018-10-08 13:36:31.443 GMT


By Nick Lichtenberg
(Bloomberg) -- Lannett Company looks to add revenues,
reduce costs and more closely analyze financing options, CEO Tim
Crew said.
* Kirkland & Ellis and Lazard mandated as advisors
* Crew says TCI continues to expect co. will remain in
compliance with debt covenants through at least end of FY19
* NOTE: Oct. 5, Lannett to take charge for full impairment of
goodwill
* NOTE: Aug. 20, Lannett shares plunge as Amneal walks off with
key supplier

Link to Statement: Lannett Engages Advisors To Explore And
Evaluate Debt And Capital Structure Alternatives

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nick Lichtenberg in New York at nlichtenberg@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Chakradhar Adusumilli at cadusumilli@bloomberg.net

>>> US Select Premarket Movers

Select Premarket Movers
Upside:
- CIG +16% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- GOL +15% (guides Q3 operational cash flow BRL450-500M; EBITDA Margin 11.0-11.5%)
- PBR +15% (multiple broker upgrades)
- BBD +11% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- TTPH +11% (announces presentation of positive data from Phase 3 trials of XERAVA (eravacycline) and Multiple-Ascending dose trial of TP-6076 at IDWeek 2018)
- ITUB +10% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- SBS +10% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- EWZ +9.5% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- PYX +9.1% (momentum) - GGB +6.4% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- MTEM +4.9% (initiated with Buy at Laidlaw)
- ARNC +3.6% (said that Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Onex Corp and CPPIB form consortium for joint bid) - GE +2.4% (Barclays broker upgrade)
- VALE +2.4% (strength attributed to increased potential for conservative, pro-business/market friendly administration in Brazil)
- TRI +1.5% (outlines steps to complete the return of $10B to Shareholders; Raises Quarterly dividend 1.4% to $0.35 from $0.345 (indicated yield 3%))

Downside:
- BECN -4.0% (Williams Blair broker downgrade)
- IRBT -3.1% (Piper Jaffray/Simmons broker downgrade)
- ESV -2.2% (RDC to merge with ESV in all-stock deal valued at $3.9B)
- RDC -1.5% (RDC to merge with ESV in all-stock deal valued at $3.9B)