Accentuating the caveat emptor perspective with critical commentary on financial disclosure. I adopt a skeptical persona and look for chinks in the teflon coating of financial disclosure. My job is to identify financial warts. Perhaps a Black Swan. Disclosure: I do not hold positions in stocks mentioned for three trading days before or after blog post.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Shareholder Activist Brawl Over Sears Canada
When are shareholder activists pirates and when are they servants of the shareholder. Two very big hedge fund names are punching it out over the assets of Sears Canada. Eddie Lampert took over Sears by way of K-Mart. He then needed to deal with Sears Canada whose shares traded publicly on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Bill Ackman who built a large position in Sears Canada of course wants a higher valuation. Buy low sell high. Ackman seemed to be getting somewhere keeping the shares valued more highly than Lampert wanted. Ackman may have lost voting control over his shares through a complex hedge agreement. The punch up continues. Opportunistic bare knuckle capitalism at its worst and best. The legal manouvers continue. Will there be anything left in the store once this settles down.