WSJ : Halliburton, Baker Hughes Talks Fraught in Days Before Breaking Down

Halliburton, Baker Hughes Talks Fraught in Days Before Breaking Down
Correspondence Shows Talks Broke Down Because Halliburton Wouldn’t Budge From Its First Offer

Halliburton Co. ’s bid to buy Baker Hughes Inc., a process that unfolded over several weeks, built to an ultimatum on Wednesday: Give us an answer in four hours, or prepare for a fight.

That’s according to correspondence from Baker Hughes Chief Executive Martin Craighead to Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar. Baker Hughes released the correspondence late Friday when it said Halliburton had turned hostile in its bid to buy the company, moving to replace all members of Baker Hughes’s board with its own nominees.

Baker Hughes said Friday that Halliburton moved to overthrow its board after merger talks broke down. ENLARGE
Baker Hughes said Friday that Halliburton moved to overthrow its board after merger talks broke down. REUTERS
MORE

Halliburton Turns Hostile on Baker Hughes
Ultimately, Baker Hughes said talks broke down because Halliburton wouldn’t budge from its first offer for Baker Hughes and declined to agree not to poach Baker Hughes employees before a deal closed.

The letters released by Baker Hughes paint a picture of a negotiation that had been fraught for weeks. Other major stumbling blocks along the way included potential antitrust issues that would result from a combination of the world’s second- and third-largest oil-field services companies.

“Halliburton insists on pressuring our Board to make a decision without the full and careful consideration necessary to protect our stockholders,” Mr. Craighead wrote at one point.

A spokeswoman for Halliburton declined to comment Friday evening, and Baker Hughes didn’t release any responses Halliburton might have written.

Baker Hughes said the process began Oct. 13, when it received an unsolicited proposal from Halliburton. Mr. Craighead’s letter reveals that the companies considered a similar transaction in 2005.

On Nov. 4, Mr. Craighead complained to Mr. Lesar that Baker Hughes hadn’t been given enough time to consider what he called a complex transaction, and criticized what he characterized as relentless pressure from Halliburton. The approaching Nov. 14 nomination deadline to put directors forward for election at Baker Hughes’s annual meeting in April created a time crunch that Mr. Craighead said was a problem of Halliburton’s own making.

“After having taken the time Halliburton felt it needed to prepare its proposal, it chose to inform Baker Hughes of its intention when it would create an unrealistic timing situation,” Mr. Craighead wrote, promising an answer within the week.

Five days later, on Nov. 9, the situation was still shaky. Mr. Craighead wrote that Halliburton’s offer didn’t address the possible costs of going forward with a deal that could be blocked by antitrust regulators. He demanded a “reverse termination fee” that Halliburton would pay to Baker Hughes in the event that the deal got blocked, either by regulators or Halliburton shareholders.

On Nov. 12, the day before The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks, Mr. Craighead said Baker Hughes had offered a counterproposal, but Halliburton demanded that Baker Hughes accept its offer in four hours, on the threat of a proxy contest for control of the company. That was even as they had reached an “understanding” on how to address antitrust risk, Mr. Craighead said.

“Your intransigence is not a reasonable response,” Mr. Craighead wrote, “and your demand that we accept your offer in the next four hours, and threat to conduct a proxy contest to try to control both sides of this negotiation are entirely inappropriate.”

WSJ : Halliburton Turns Hostile on Baker Hughes

Halliburton Turns Hostile on Baker Hughes
After Merger Talks Stall, Halliburton Seeks to Oust Board at Oil-Services Rival

Halliburton Co. moved Friday to overthrow the board of rival Baker Hughes Inc., after merger talks between the oil-services companies broke down.

The impasse came on the deadline to nominate directors to Baker Hughes’s board for the company’s annual meeting in April. Baker Hughes’s directors are all up for election every year, meaning Halliburton could seize control with one fell swoop.

“Baker Hughes is disappointed that Halliburton has chosen to seek to replace the entire Baker Hughes board rather than continue the private discussions between the parties,” said Baker Hughes Chief Executive Martin Craighead. A Halliburton spokeswoman declined to comment.

Talks between the two Houston-based companies, which have a combined market value of about $70 billion, have been start and stop in recent weeks, people familiar with them have said.

Now Halliburton intends to nominate candidates to replace Baker Hughes’s full board of directors, Baker Hughes said.

In a detailed release late Friday, Baker Hughes said it received an unsolicited proposal from Halliburton on Oct. 13, and talks ensued. It said the companies had made “substantial progress” in analyzing the “substantial antitrust issues” that would come with the tie-up.

But it said Halliburton “refused to increase its first and only value proposal” for Baker Hughes and declined to agree not to poach Baker Hughes employees before a deal closed.

Baker Hughes also released some correspondence it had sent to Halliburton. In a memo dated Nov. 12 and addressed to Halliburton’s CEO, David Lesar, Mr. Craighead said: “My counter proposal to you yesterday was a very reasonable basis on which to reach agreement. Your intransigence is not a reasonable response and your demand that we accept your offer in the next four hours, and threat to conduct a proxy contest…are entirely inappropriate.”

Halliburton and Baker Hughes are the second- and third-largest oil-field servicers in the world by revenue. Along with No. 1 Schlumberger Ltd. , they dominate the market for equipment, tools and other services that help energy producers find and extract oil and gas.

Baker Hughes’s statement didn’t reveal price talks but said Halliburton claimed the deal “would produce $2 billion in synergies” after any divestitures.

Going hostile at all, always risky, could be particularly treacherous for a deal that is likely to face antitrust scrutiny. Skeptical regulators can be harder to win over without a willing merger partner also eager to persuade the government to bless the deal.

The companies face a world where drilling for oil and gas has become increasingly expensive and competitive—and falling crude prices are only adding to the pressures on oil-field services firms. Those trends, industry experts say, likely spurred Halliburton to approach its smaller rival.

A takeover of Baker Hughes would create a global giant better able to compete with Schlumberger for huge overseas projects. The three companies “have been in a knife fight the past few years,” analysts at Tudor, Pickering Holt & Co. wrote in a client note on Friday.

Exploration around the globe is starting to contract. Big international oil companies are dialing back spending on megaprojects including offshore deep-water drilling.

Smaller companies that hire oil-field services companies to perform hydraulic fracturing in the U.S. are also reining in their growth plans—and have more service providers to choose from because of new entrants to the market. Companies are also able to get more oil and gas out of the ground using fewer rigs.

Big or small, some energy companies are demanding lower prices from their oil-field servicers in the face of crude prices that have fallen from over $100 a barrel to under $75 and show no signs of a quick rebound.

With global companies trimming their spending and U.S. companies “about to confront a very hard landing, major consolidation in the oil service sector has become an imperative,” said Bill Herbert, managing director of Simmons & Co. International, an energy investment bank.

While Halliburton has weighed making a move for a while, Baker Hughes might not have been receptive were it not for lower oil prices, said Angie Sedita, managing director of oil services and drilling at UBS Investment Bank. It has struggled to compete even during times of high oil prices; for example, profit margins in one area key to fracking are roughly half of Halliburton’s and Schlumberger’s.

Investors embraced the deal. Shares in Baker Hughes shot up 15% on Thursday and were ahead 1.9% at Friday’s close to $59.89. Halliburton shares advanced 2.4% to $55.08 at 4 p.m. Friday. But U.S. energy companies that hire services companies to drill and frack their wells may be less enthused.

“The question is whether a customer says, ‘this is great news for me?’ I don’t think so,” said Doug Sheridan, whose EnergyPoint Research asks oil producers to rate oil-field-services providers:

Analysts expect the U.S. Department of Justice to closely scrutinize any deal for antitrust concerns.

Robert W. Baird analysts estimate that half of the combined businesses would be flagged for further government review—not necessarily a deal breaker, but something that could slow the process or require Halliburton to sell some business lines.

Halliburton and Baker Hughes would account for about 25% of the U.S. fracking market, so combining that business would probably pass muster with regulators, analysts said. But a bigger, more cost-efficient company would be profitable even with lower oil prices—bad news for smaller rivals that won’t be able to raise prices as fracking becomes a larger scale, more expensive operation, Wells Fargo analysts said.

Halliburton might not be the only company to see the logic in buying Baker Hughes. The company’s interest could spark a round of bids, and not just from oil-field services companies, said Thomas Curran, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets. Industrial conglomerates have been hunting for energy deals in the hopes of profiting from the U.S. shale revolution.

WSJ : Soros Takes Stakes in Yahoo, Alibaba

Soros Fund Management LLC purchased stakes in Yahoo Inc.YHOO +2.48% and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.BABA +0.23% in the third quarter, just a quarter after the hedge fund titan sold significant positions in several technology firms.

The prominent fund bought a total of $205.9 million of stock in Yahoo in the quarter. The purchase of the shares in the Internet portal comes as the pressure on Yahoo has intensified in recent months. In September, activist investor Starboard Value LLP said it took a position in Yahoo and pushed Chief Executive Marissa Mayer to reduce costs and consider a combination with AOL AOL -0.71%. Starboard also criticized Ms. Mayer for spending too much to acquire companies that haven’t produced a profit for Yahoo.

The firm has responded by increasing its deal-making efforts in a bid to renew advertiser interest in Yahoo, which has seen sales stagnate in Ms. Mayer’s more than two years as CEO.

Mr. Soros also bought a significant stake in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company that successfully launched a $25 billion initial public offering of stock in September. At the end of the quarter, Soros owned $390.9 million of stock in the company.

Even so, Mr. Soros’ fund continued to lower his stake in other technology companies, such as Citrix and Intel in the period ended Sept. 30. Soros also lowered stakes in Celgene CELG -3.15% and Host Hotels.

The hedge fund founded by billionaire investor George Soros is also set to become one of the largest shareholders in leading Spanish builder Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SAFCC.MC +8.37% during a $1.25 billion capital expansion aimed at reducing the company’s debt. An agreement between Mr. Soros and the company’s main shareholder, Esther Koplowitz, was announced Friday, marking the latest of several high-profile deals that have put Spain on the global investment map since its economy emerged from recession in the summer of last year.

The fund, which disclosed in 2011 it would return cash to outside investors, invests money for Mr. Soros and his family.

Investors who manage more than $100 million are required to disclose most securities holdings within a month and a half of the end of a quarter. The filings give the public a relatively fresh look at the portfolios of well-known investors. The second-quarter deadline was Friday.

WSJ : Paulson Opens New Stake in AbbVie, Nearly Triples Shire Shares

John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. opened a $750.9 million position in pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc.ABBV +0.58% and nearly tripled its shares in Dublin-based Shire SHPG +0.10% PLC in the third quarter, according to a securities filing Friday.
AbbVie’s board recently withdrew its support for the $54 billion takeover bid for Irish pharmaceutical company Shire due to new tax rules in the U.S., leaving the door open for new courses for both companies and billions in fees, including a $1.6 billion breakup free.
Paulson’s stake in Shire was valued at $2.34 billion at the end of the quarter, up $1.55 billion from the previous quarter.
The $24 billion New York firm, which bets on mergers, also pared down its stake in Allergan Inc.AGN +1.24% to 5,377,200 shares, valued at $958.2 million as of Sept. 30, and increased its position in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.'sVRX.T +0.88% to $68.3 million, according to the filing.
Mr. Paulson, who made his name during the financial crisis betting against the housing market, supports Valeant’s hostile takeover bid for Botox maker Allergan.
Paulson also took new stakes in Athlon Energy Inc., PetSmart Inc.PETM -0.01% and Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.BABA +0.23%, China’s largest e-commerce company which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in September. Paulson’s 1,902,500 shares in Alibaba were valued at $169 million at the end of the quarter.
Paulson also raised its stakes in Covidien COV +0.33%, which has struck a deal to sell itself to Medtronic Inc.MDT -0.62%, and in DirecTV DTV +0.06%, which has agreed to be bought by AT&T Inc.T +0.81%
The positions were revealed in a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each stake at the end of the quarter.

WSJ : Alibaba Has Some Big-Name Fans

Count some of the world’s most high-profile money managers as fans of this year’s stock-market sensation, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Daniel Loeb ’s Third Point LLC, David Tepper ’s Appaloosa Management LP, John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. and Soros Fund Management LLC disclosed stakes in the Chinese e-commerce giant on Friday. Alibaba is up 69%, to $115.10, since its record-breaking IPO on Sept. 18.

The disclosures are part of a quarterly filing requirement for investors who manage more than $100 million. The filings give the public its freshest possible glimpse into the portfolios of well-known money managers.

The form, known as a 13F, must be filed within 45 days of the end of each quarter and many money managers wait until the last possible moment to submit their filings. Because the forms reflect the managers’ holdings as of the third quarter, they indicate the shareholders in Alibaba bought in relatively soon after the IPO and would have sizable paper gains if they still hold the stock.

Third Point owned Alibaba shares worth $639 million as of Sept. 30, the hedge-fund firm disclosed in a filing Friday, making the Chinese firm one of its largest stock positions.

Mr. Loeb’s firm has been enthusiastic about Alibaba for several years and has played Alibaba through other trades, such as a large position in SoftBank Corp. Alibaba is “a compelling potential multi-year investment,” Third Point wrote in its third-quarter letter to investors late last month where it announced the position, but not its size.

Appaloosa owned a smaller position as of Sept. 30, valued at $64.4 million. Paulson’s Alibaba stake was valued at $169 million at the end of the third quarter, according to a filing.

The Soros firm, which manages the fortune of billionaire financier George Soros , said it held a $390.9 million Alibaba stake as of Sept. 30. Soros also bought a total of $205.9 million of stock in Yahoo Inc. in the third quarter. The purchase comes as the pressure on Yahoo has intensified in recent months by other investors.

Carl Icahn , the famed activist investor, bulked up on eBay Inc. and sold some of his winning Netflix Inc. stake in the third quarter, according to his filing.

Mr. Icahn owned nearly 46 million shares of eBay as of the end of September, up from 31 million at the end of June, the filing showed. Mr. Icahn had early this year fought to get the online marketplace to separate its payments operator PayPal. While eBay rejected him at the time, it announced in September it would indeed separate PayPal. Mr. Icahn’s eBay stake would be worth about $2.5 billion as of Friday’s close. It would be about 3.7% of the outstanding shares.

During the quarter, Mr. Icahn also pared his stake in Netflix, the online-video provider, selling 352,981 shares and ending the quarter with 1.4 million shares. The investor has been selling off his stake in that company after making about $2 billion on the investment, first disclosed in October 2012.

The filings showed only modest additions to the U.S. stocks portfolio of Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., valued at $108 billion as of Sept. 30. The Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate bought a $32 million stake in Express Scripts Holding Co. , the nation’s largest pharmacy-benefits manager. It also more than doubled its position in Charter Communications Inc. and owned $750 million worth of shares in the cable company as of Sept. 30.

Berkshire also added more than 7 million shares of General Motors Co. , and owned a stake of about $1.3 billion in the car maker as of Sept. 30.

In its filing, Berkshire said it has omitted information from the public record that it has filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The move indicates Berkshire could be building or selling a large position in a stock. In 2011, Berkshire built up a $10 billion stake in International Business Machines Corp. confidentially under the cover of SEC guidelines that allow some investors to make big moves without alerting the market and other investors.

WSJ : Hasbro, DreamWorks Takeover Talks Cool

Hasbro, DreamWorks Takeover Talks Cool
Negotiations Between Toy Maker, Studio Appear Unlikely to Resume

Acquisition talks between Hasbro Inc. and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. have cooled, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking the second time in as many months that a potential takeover of the family entertainment studio has faded.

Talks, which were at a very early stage, appear unlikely to resume, this person said.

News earlier this week that the toy maker was in early acquisition talks with the film studio drove the two companies’ stocks in opposite directions. Hasbro investors sent the toy company’s share price down more than 4% on Thursday and nearly 2% on Friday, when they settled at $54.02 on Nasdaq.

Investors in DreamWorks cheered the possible exit, sending the stock price up more than 14% on Thursday and up nearly 2% more on Friday. DreamWorks shares ended regular trading Friday at $26.02.

DreamWorks Animation is known for hits like “Shrek” and “Madagascar.” But its share price has taken a hit in recent years thanks to its spottier recent record at the box office.

News that the talks had broken down was reported earlier by the Hollywood Reporter.

DreamWorks shares used to rise and fall primarily on the performance of its theatrical releases; more recently, fluctuations have come on news the faltering company could be acquired.

DreamWorks was in acquisition talks with the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corp. in late September—sending the studio’s shares up sharply before news soon emerged that those negotiations had cooled.

Hasbro analysts were skeptical about a DreamWorks tie-up, saying buying the studio would represent an expensive expansion into the entertainment business. Some DreamWorks analysts were more amenable to the idea, seeing synergies in the two companies’ film, television and consumer-product divisions.

Hasbro has been a significant presence in Hollywood in recent years, with movies like “Transformers” and “Ouija” based on its toys and games. It also already works with DreamWorks’ chief competitor, Walt Disney Co. , through a licensing deal to make toys based on some Disney movies.

DreamWorks offered Hasbro more valuable intellectual property that could be mined for toys—in addition to its own stable of characters, the company owns the Classic Media library, which includes figures like Lassie and Casper the Friendly Ghost. DreamWorks has also ramped up its own consumer-product division, touting it to investors as an important additional revenue stream for upcoming releases.

WSJ : Petrobras Scandal Widens, Earnings Delayed

Petrobras Scandal Widens, Earnings Delayed
Former Engineering Director at Brazil’s Oil Firm Arrested Along With 17 Others; Shares Plunge

RIO DE JANEIRO—A widening probe into alleged corruption at Brazilian oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA has ensnared another former executive and touched some of the most powerful construction firms in the country, in a controversy that threatens to upend the second term of recently re-elected President Dilma Rousseff .

Federal police on Friday arrested 18 people, including Renato Duque, former director of engineering and services at Petrobras. Authorities allege he and others were part of a bribery and money-laundering scheme that has siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from the state-owned oil firm into the pockets of employees, contractors and politicians.

Police also served dozens of search warrants and raided the offices of 11 companies they suspect of participating in a scam. The companies, which include Brazilian multinationals Odebrecht SA, Camargo Corrêa SA, Construtora OAS SA and others, are suspected of colluding to inflate the costs of work performed for Petrobras.

Prosecutors allege some of the resulting profits were funneled to Petrobras executives and high-level politicians, including some members of the president’s ruling Workers’ Party, a charge the party has repeatedly denied.

The long-simmering probe has exploded just weeks after a tight presidential race that left Brazil deeply divided. Analysts said the fast-moving events could prove a major distraction for Ms. Rousseff, who faces an emboldened opposition and is trying to assemble a new economic team to resuscitate Brazil’s moribund economy.

The web of alleged wrongdoers is growing so fast that it could delay Ms. Rousseff’s announcement of her new cabinet, said Thiago Aragão, a political analyst with Arko Advice in Brasília.

Former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa testified at a Brazilian congressional committee in September. ENLARGE
Former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa testified at a Brazilian congressional committee in September. REUTERS
“What if she names a new minister just to have to fire him the next day after finding out he is also involved in the scandal?” Mr. Aragão said.

Ms. Rousseff, who is in Australia for a summit of the G-20 group of nations, didn’t make any public remarks on the new arrests. A spokesman for Ms. Rousseff had no comment. Ms. Rousseff has admitted there was wrongdoing at Petrobras and vowed to get to the bottom of it.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Car Wash,” is also bad news for Petrobras. The most indebted oil major in the world, with some $170 billion in debt, the majority of its exploration efforts are in expensive, deep-water areas off the coast of Brazil at a time when global oil prices are plunging.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is carrying out a civil investigation into alleged wrongdoing at Petrobras and has been cooperating with the task force of Brazilian prosecutors working on the case for the past month, according to Brazilian federal prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima. The SEC is involved because Petrobras shares are also traded in the U.S. The SEC declined to comment.

Petrobras said late Thursday it would miss a Friday deadline to report its audited third-quarter earnings due to the corruption investigation. Instead, the company plans to report “information relating to its third-quarter results” on Monday.

ENLARGE
The company has hired two independent law firms to find out, among other things, whether it may have to adjust its financial information as a result of the investigation. Petrobras expects to have word from those firms by Dec. 12.

Shares of Petrobras fell 2.5% Friday in New York. The shares are down about 30% since Oct. 1. The Brazilian real on Friday hit its lowest level in nine years.

As part of Friday’s operation, Brazilian courts froze 720 million Brazilian reais ($277 million) in assets belonging to people under investigation. The construction firms being probed have around 59 billion reias (US $22.6 billion) in contracts with Petrobras, according to Igor Romário de Paula, a regional federal police chief.

Among those for whom police have arrest warrants were Dalton dos Santos Avancini, chief executive of Camargo Corrêa’s construction unit, Construções e Comércio Camargo Corrêa SA, and the unit’s vice president, Eduardo Hermelino Leite, and a board member, João Ricardo Auler. Police also carried out a search warrant at the house of Marcio Faria, chief executive of Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s industrial-engineering group, but he wasn’t arrested.

A spokeswoman for Camargo Corrêa said the company has been cooperating with authorities and rejects the “coercive actions” of the police. An Odebrecht spokeswoman confirmed that the police raided one of its offices Friday and, earlier this week, “vehemently denied” allegations that it had ever paid Petrobras executives. An OAS spokeswoman confirmed that police visited its São Paulo headquarters but wouldn’t say if any of its staff had been arrested.

Lawmakers in Brasília are already conducting their own probe of Petrobras, a lingering process that, along with the recent police actions, has been generating a steady stream of embarrassing headlines for the government.

‘The scandal weakens [Ms. Rousseff] considerably, just as she faces a revitalized opposition’
—Matthew Taylor, a professor at American University
“The scandal weakens [Ms. Rousseff] considerably, just as she faces a revitalized opposition, a restive group of political allies, the economy grinding to a near halt, and the very real possibility that her administration will see Brazilian debt downgraded to junk status,” said Matthew Taylor, a professor at American University who studies corruption in Brazil.

Mr. Duque, the former Petrobras executive arrested on Friday, left Petrobras in 2012 as part of a management shake-up by the company’s then-incoming chief executive, Maria das Gracas Foster. A spokeswoman for Mr. Duque confirmed the arrest, which she called “unjustified and inappropriate.”

He is the second top former Petrobras executive arrested this year. In March federal police arrested Paulo Roberto Costa, former director of downstream operations at Petrobras, who subsequently gave hours of testimony as part of a plea deal with authorities and is now under house arrest in Rio de Janeiro.

In Mr. Costa’s testimony, parts of which were made public by a Brazilian court, Mr. Costa laid out the details of the alleged kickback scheme and mentioned Mr. Duque by name as someone who received bribes. Mr. Costa couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

“Operation Car Wash” started eight months ago, but the pace of investigations didn't pick up speed until Mr. Costa made the plea deal after his arrest. The groups under investigation moved more than 10 billion reais (roughly US $3.8 billion) in “atypical financial operations,” federal police said.

Investors will be eager to know how much of that missing money affected Petrobras operations.

“Given that Petrobras is the crown jewel of Brazilian state capitalism, this is a ticking time bomb, and is going to be the leading headline for the foreseeable future,” said Mr. Taylor, the American University professor.

>>> Maverick Capital - 13F

Maverick Capital discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New position in BABA, CBS; increased position in QIHU, ABBV; decreased position in CCI, RDN; closed positions in NYRT, CTRP, WAG

Highlights from 2014 Q3 filing as compared to 2014 Q2 filing:

* New positions in: BABA (~2.2 mln shares), CBS (~4.8 mln), CTSH (~3.4 mln), NRF (~2.6 mln), PTC (~1.9 mln) * Increased positions in: QIHU (to ~3.7 mln shares from ~1.1 mln shares), AER (to ~4.5 mln from ~1.8 mln), ABBV (to ~4.7 mln from ~3.2 mln) * Decreased positions in: CCI (to ~1.1 mln shares from ~4.5 mln shares), RDN (to ~16.6 mln from ~27.8 mln), FTNT (to ~1.2 mln from ~4.4 mln), HCA (to ~4.2 mln from ~6 mln) * Closed positions in: NYRT (from ~3 mln shares), SFUN (from ~2.2 mln), ABEV (from ~1.7 mln), CTRP (from ~1.1 mln), WAG (from ~1.3 mln)

>>> Tiger Global - 13F

Tiger Global discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New positions in BITA, VNET, GPRO; increased position in ATHM and MA; closed position in DG, FIS, NFLX

Highlights from 2014 Q3 filing as compared to 2014 Q2 filing:

* New positions in: BITA (~6.6 mln shares), TSL (~2.6 mln), VNET (~2 mln), GLUU (~2 mln), GPRO (~0.5 mln) * Increased positions in: ATHM (to ~6.7 mln shares from ~0.3 mln shares), SFUN (to ~14 mln from ~0.9 mln), MA (to ~7.6 mln from ~3.4 mln), KING (to ~4.7 mln from ~1.3 mln), HTZ (to ~15.9 mln from ~3 mln) * Closed positions in: DG (from ~7.9 mln shares), FIS (from ~3.8 mln), CMCSA (from ~3.6 mln), EXAS (from ~2 mln), QIHU (from ~1 mln), NFLX (from ~0.4 mln)

>>> Soros fund Management - 13F

Soros Fund Mgmt discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing

Highlights from 2014 Q3 filing as compared to 2014 Q2 filing:

* New positions in: YHOO (~5.0 mln shares); BABA (4.4 mln); TVPT (~2.8 mln shares); SIRI (~3.75 mln shares); PMCS (~3.6 mln shares) * Closed positions in: AGNC (from ~2.0 mln shares);  HAL (from ~2.3 mln shares);  HST (from ~2.0 mln shares);  ODP (from ~3.1 mln shares);  RAD (from ~2.3 mln shares)