As those of you’ve been paying very careful attention may have noticed, Wall Street is pretty into tech these days. Morgan Stanley is underwriting every single IPO available, Goldman Sachs has money in Mark Zuckerberg’s poking machine and LinkedIn is making Jim Cramer’s head explode. Hedge funds, however, want more. While Peter Thiel famously invested in Facebook way back when, and Tiger Global has poured cash into a whole bunch of sites, the industry as a whole wants a piece of these companies and not just after they become (alleged) successes.
A handful of hedge funds already had a history of such investments, but the activity has increased recently as investors try to cash in on the surging valuations of Facebook Inc., LinkedIn Corp., Zynga Inc., Groupon Inc. and a smattering of smaller companies…In the past 12 to 18 months, firms including D.E. Shaw & Co., Maverick Capital, Brookside Capital and Tudor Ventures, as well as hedge-fund investor James Pallotta, have joined Tiger in putting more money into promising yet risky tech companies. Starting last summer, Tiger began ramping up its investments in private companies in India, China, Brazil, Russia and other emerging markets. This year alone, it has invested in six Indian start-ups, including consumer electronics retailer LetsBuy.com, online fashion site Exclusively.in, and online bookseller Flipkart…Edward Lampert, the hedge-fund investor who controls Sears Holdings Corp., has become interested in private tech companies too. He recently assigned Daniel Levine, an analyst at his hedge fund, ESL Investments, to look for opportunities.
Sounds great, right? Well it would be except for the fact that some people are apparently too good for hedge fund money. Despite the fact that the firms are willing to throw hundreds of millions at them and open doors to sophisticated investors, these people are “suspicious” and skeptical of what hedge funds want and what their intentions are and whether or not they are literally the devil. Continue reading »
In 2009, the 25 best paid hedge fund managers made a combined $25.33 billion. To score a place on the list, you had to make at least $350 million. This time around? The group took home a collective pool of $22.07 billion (down 13 percent) and a mere $210 million got you access to the VIP lounge. We’re not mad, we’re just…disappointed. And hope game will be upped next year, whether it’s through improved performance, increased fees, or a trimmed staff. Here’s the Top 10, as ranked by AR Magazine: Continue reading »
Bill Ackman has finally persuaded his fellow hedgie Eddie Lampert to buy him out of Sears Canada for nearly double what he last offered. Bill has been calling Eddie a cheap SOB for over four years.
In 2006, Ackman successfully blocked Lampert’s attempt to buy his stake in Sears Canada on the cheap. At the time, Lampert, who controls the larger Sears Holdings, offered the measly sum of $18 a share (Canadian Dollars.)
Now, Lampert’s shelling out $30 a share (still in loonies,) or $560 million, for Ackman’s 17.3 percent stake.
ESL founder and Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert released his annual letter to shareholders yesterday, in which he unloaded a year’s worth of angst. First, the rating agencies. While Eddie understands that they sometimes err on the side of caution, he just doesn’t agree “with all of the critical qualitative conclusions.” Next, business leaders, regulators, public officials and journalists- they’re all the same. They “have become an echo chamber of self-support and self-congratulation, whether on TV, in print or at numerous conferences. Their words and their actions are often self-serving and they are typically regarded and reported on as if they were obvious and selfless.”
Continue reading »
Economic upheavals often end up shuffling around a lot of names. One stadium sponsor slips beneath the dark, frigid waves, another brands its logo on the same spot without a second thought. One endorsement drops off, another endorsement steps up (but for a lot less dough). The tallest building in North America starts to see a lull in lease renewals and… it changes its name from “The Sears Tower” to “The Willis Tower.”
This shouldn’t be surprising, really. Sears moved their headquarters from the building in the 1990s. The terms of this most recent change, however, are surprising.
The Sears Tower has just shy of four million square feet available for tenants. How much of this is UK insurer Willis Group Holdings leasing to capture naming rights for the massive structure? About 3.5%. If it occurred to you that this might tell us quite a lot about who was in control of the negotiations, you aren’t alone.
“233 S. Wacker Drive LLC,” a group including, among others, Joseph Chetrit and American Landmark Properties, bought the 110 story building in 2004 for just under $850 million. It was then refinanced for about $780 million in 2007, when things were, shall we say, a bit more optimistic. The picture starts to fill out when you realize that Ernst & Young, a long-time Sears Tower tenant, reportedly declined to avail themselves of their 2012 option to renew their lease. At 380,000 square feet, their aversion to offices in the tallest building on the horizon comes as something of a blow. Naming rights? Sure thing! How soon can you move in?
Of course, we tried to reach Eddie (“ESL”) Lampert to ask him why Sears would permit themselves to lose title to the highest restrooms above street level in the world (they are on the 103rd floor), but no one would return our calls.
