Concise insights on global finance. -
IMITATION GAME. Activists are trying to turn the tables on corporate agitator Dan Loeb at his London investment vehicle. Asset Value Investors, which owns 10% of Loebâs $858 million Third Point Offshore Investors (TPOGu.L), has criticised a lacklustre plan to raise the fundâs uninspiring valuation. They have a point: shares trade at a 14% markdown to net asset value, a discount which has broadly persisted over the past five years. By contrast, AVI claims the median NAV discount for comparable London-listed closed-end funds is just 4%.
Loeb at least recognises the problem. In April Third Point put forward a plan to reduce the discount to 7.5%. But measures including adding extra leverage and increasing the proportion of assets in unlisted private equity are unconvincing. And two proposed offers to buy back shares at a mere 2% discount to NAV would only take place in 2024 and 2027. Such weak suggestions would pro
By Reuters Staff
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own.)
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, attends a news conference in Tokyo, November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Concise insights on global finance. -
FLOOD GATES OPEN. Rich guy and Microsoft founder Bill Gates is, as the world knows, getting divorced. Since the announcement of the split, Gates has come under fresh scrutiny here, including over his contacts with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a prior consensual relationship with a Microsoft employee. An investigation years later into the latter by Microsoft’s board coincided with Gates’ resignation as a director in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal.