Dan Loeb’s Third Point Partners filed a lawsuit against proxy contest target Campbell Soup, alleging the company made omissions in its mailings to shareholders. The activist accused the company of failing to disclose information about the qualifications of some current board members, the departure of CEO Denise Morrison in May, the company’s strategic review, and alleged conflicts by one of the board members.
A court hearing this week could delay voting in the proxy fight or force the Dorrance family board members to resolicit some of the votes they have already collected (the founding family, which supports the incumbent board, holds 41% of the company’s stock).
Q3 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
What we'll be watching for this week
- Will Ryanair respond to the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum’s calls for its chairman’s head?
- Will Athenahealth reach a deal in two weeks’ time just as it expects?
- Will Z Capital Partners and Affinity Gaming advance another offer for Full House Resorts after their latest one was rejected last week?
Activist shorts update
Citron Research quit its short position in Tesla last week after more than five years and has gone long the stock instead. In an online report, Citron outlined Tesla’s superior position in the electric vehicles market and looked forward to the company’s introduction of its Model 3 into the European market, as well as new factories in Europe and Shanghai.
Despite praising former CEO Elon Musk for the growth and improvement of the company, the activist did not hold back on its criticism of the chairman and stated that it is still suing Tesla and Musk for his manipulation of the market with false statements on Twitter in August regarding a going-private bid for the company.
Also, Kase Learning announced that it will be hosting its second short selling conference on December 3. Readers of this newsletter can get a 10% discount on the conference – the only idea-led conference to focus exclusively on shorts – using the discount code ACTIVIST10. The code is valid whether you register to attend in-person or watch via the livestream.
To arrange an online demonstration of Activist Insight Shorts, email us or view our product brochure to find out more.
Chart of the week
The number of U.S.-based companies publicly subjected to activist demands for board representation between January 1 and October 26 in respective years.
