FT : Drew Gillanders to join Steven Cohen’s Point72

Drew Gillanders, a top European hedge fund manager, is set to join the London arm of Point72 Asset Management, the family office of Steven Cohen, the billionaire trader who founded SAC Capital.

According to people familiar with the move, Mr Gillanders will start work at the firm after a six-month gardening leave. He is expected to be a portfolio manager focused on the healthcare and consumer sector, these people added.

Until recently, Mr Gillanders was working as a merger arbitrageur at Och-Ziff Capital Management, a rival to Point72, where he was frequently identified as one of the top traders in his field. Och-Ziff has suffered a decline in assets under management and suffered a net loss in 2016 after getting hit by a record US fine for paying bribes in Africa.

Och-Ziff and Point72 declined to comment. Mr Gillanders did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him. Bloomberg earlier reported on Mr Gillanders’ departure from Och-Ziff.

Mr Gillanders previously worked with Mr Cohen at SAC Capital before he joined Och-Ziff. Steven Cohen has attempted to rebuild his image with Point72, which exclusively manages his money since it cannot expand by accepting money from external investors because of the insider trading conviction in 2013 of SAC Capital. Mr Cohen was not charged with any offence, but he is banned until 2018 from overseeing client money

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:
  • GES -13.6%, ARTX -13.4%, TROV -8.6%, INO -6.8%, PLX -6.3%, CNAT -5.3%, CVRS -2.9%, INSY -2.8%
  • KPTI -2.7%, TTNP -2.5%, BCEI -1.7%, GV -1.7%, KNDI -1.2%
Other news:
  • IPI -12% (prices a 43.54 mln share underwritten public offering of common stock for gross proceeds of about $52.3 mln)
  • AVID -6.5% (Postpones conference call to discuss Q4 financial results)
  • PEN -4.1% (Commences an underwritten public offering of 1.3 mln shares of its common stock)
  • ELF -1.3% (Files for $175 mln offering of common stock by selling stockholders)
Analyst comments:
  • BIIB -2.3% (downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley)
  • CIEN -1.6% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman; removed from Conviction Buy List)
  • SIRI -1.5% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich)
  • MASI -1.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray)
  • UTHR -1% (initiated with a Underperform at Credit Suisse)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:
  • XCO +17.2%, GALE +15.3%, PRTO +11.8%, FRSH +11.7%, IDRA +11.5%,ALRM +10.3%, GPRO +10.2%, SKLN +8.2%, ITEK +7.2%
  • JASO +6.6%, CLRB +6.2%, ORCL +6.2%, SAEX +5.8%, MCRB +5.2%, SNOA +4.8%, RMTI +3.6%, CPRX +3.2%, SYNC +3.2%
  • WSM +3.1%, RTK +2.7%, CALL +1.9%, YRD +1.4%, EVOK +1.3%, BTG +1%
M&A news:
  • KGC +1.2% (Confirms that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Virtu Financial (VIRT) for $18.50-$20.00 per share in cash)
Select EU financial related names showing strength:
  • BBVA +4.3%, SAN +4.2%, ING +2.6%, DB +2.3%, CS +1.8%
Select metals/mining stocks trading higher:
  • SWC +2.7%, AG +2.6%, BBL +1.8%, FCX +1.6%, BHP +1.5%, VALE +1.5%
  • SSRI +1.4%, PAAS +1.4%, CLF +1.3%, GOLD +1%, AEM +1%
Other news:
  • HTBX +13% (receivse a 3 year, $982k grant from the Florida Department of Health 2016-17 Zika Research Grant Initiative to further develop and test gp96-based Zika vaccine)
  • MCRB +5.2% (Seres Therapeutics and FDA reach agreement on key design elements of a new SER-109 Phase 2 study)
  • CTSO +3.9% (enters into a partnership with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) for the South African market)
  • TLND +3.2% (upsizes and prices offering by selling shareholders of 3,289,662 ADSs at $28.50 per share)
  • TSLA +3% (Announces offerings of $250 mln of common stock and $750 mln aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due in 2022 in concurrent underwritten registered public offerings)
  • DO +2.3% (Updates on injunction vs. Petrobras (PBR) regarding the Ocean Valor)
  • EXK +2.3% (announces that exploration drilling on the Terronera property)
  • AMRN +2.2% (reports REDUCE-IT Cardiovascular outcomes study remains on schedule to reach onset of target final primary major adverse cardiovascular event near the end of 2017)
  • BKS +1.7% (Board authorizes new stock repurchase program of up to $50 mln of its common shares)
  • SPWR +1.7% (Enters into a Project Supply Agreement with Next Era Energy Resources
  • SAP +1.4% (in sympathy with ORCL earnings)
  • EQC +1.3% (Board adds $150 mln to buyback program)
Analyst comments:
  • LC +3.2% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim)
  • GBT +2.6% (Initiated with an Overweight at Cantor)
  • ABX +1.6% (upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts)
  • GG +1.6% (upgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts)
  • DAL +1.3% (upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI)
  • LITE +1.2% (upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman)

WSJ : Volvo Cars Seeks Around $1 Billion Share Sale

Volvo Cars Seeks Around $1 Billion Share Sale
Swedish car company has approached a number of Chinese investors about the share purchase

Swedish car company Volvo Car Corp. is seeking to raise around $1 billion through the sale of preferred shares ahead of a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the situation.

Volvo, which China’s Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group bought for $1.8 billion in 2010, has approached a number of Chinese investors about the share purchase, including sovereign-wealth funds and private-equity firms, the people said.

Volvo told the potential investors it could be seeking an initial public offering, the people said. The listing venue could be either Europe or Hong Kong, but the company hasn’t yet decided on a location or timetable, according to one of the people.

Geely is always talking with investors, said communications manager Ashley Sutcliffe. He added Geely has no plan for a Volvo IPO in the short term.

A spokesman for Volvo said an IPO is an option for the firm but said there are no current plans. He declined to comment on a share sale, saying it was “market speculation.”

Volvo said in late December that it had raised 5 billion kronor ($564 million) in a similar preferred-share sale to a group of Swedish institutional investors, including two pension funds and a local insurer. The sale was “another step towards Volvo Cars’ long-expressed ambition to act as a listed company,” Volvo said at the time.

Geely has plowed $11 billion into Volvo since the purchase, sprucing up Volvo’s model lineup, and boosting sales sharply in the U.S. and China. Volvo has slashed costs, in part by manufacturing some models in China for global export, and has embarked on a massive investment program to help it compete better with BMW AG, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen AG’s Audi.

Volvo reported a 67% increase in net profit to 7.5 billion kronor in 2016 on revenue of 180.7 billion kronor, up 10% from the previous year. The Swedish company’s global sales grew 6% to 534,332 vehicles last year, on track for its sales target of 800,000 vehicles by 2020.