US raiders all set for showdown with Pru chiefs

IF BOSSES at Prudential thought they could easily shake off their new activist stalkers, they should think again. Third Point, the powerful American firm run by Dan Loeb, took a $2 billion stake in Britain’s largest insurer on Monday and urged the board to split its Asian and US businesses.

I’m reliably informed that Third Point will try to force its way on to the board if management do not back its plan for a split.

The US raiders will fly to London after the Pru unveils its annual results on March 11 to demand backing for Third Point’s plan to spin off the American annuities business, Jackson Life. But if they don’t see eye to eye, the US hedge fund will demand a seat on the board to push through its changes.

The Pru split off its UK business, M&G, last year. And unless it fancies a high-profile dust-up, another major move could be on the way.

SHORT-SELLERS have had a field day with NMC Health and Burford Capital, among others, in the past few months.

And it looks as though another big bet has paid off in recent weeks.

Shares in Cineworld, one of the Stock Exchange’s most shorted stocks, have fallen hard amid concerns that the coronavirus outbreak will put people off going to the cinema, according to analysts at Breakout Point.

However, there is another contributing factor for the plunge, they point out.

A little-known Hong Kong research firm called Bucephalus Research, which is run by British-born accountant Robert Medd, has raised concerns about Cineworld’s accounting and its £1.6 billion deal to buy Canada’s Cineplex.

Bucephalus, which claims to have institutional investors and says it does not buy nor sell shares itself, said last month that the FTSE 250 group was ‘like a horror show’ because it was using creative accounting to obscure debt and said its deal to buy Cineplex could bankrupt the company.

Keep your eyes peeled for the sequel.