Now that’s special!
Activist investor finds ‘Value’ in Kravis’ KKR
The Barbarians now have someone at their gate.
San Francisco-based activist investor ValueAct said Thursday that it had taken a nearly 5 percent stake in Henry Kravis’ KKR & Co. — whose aggressive investment stance was made famous in the 1989 book, “Barbarians at the Gate.”
At first, the positioning of an activist at Kravis’ front door was intriguing — but unlike its activist peers, ValueAct is not seeking changes to KKR’s operations and management.
ValueAct, the $16 billion hedge fund run by Jeff Ubben, says KKR is misunderstood by the market and that its future is “quite bright.”
KKR is “one of the oldest and most storied [leveraged buyout] firms that has operated through market cycles has built up a tremendous brand,” ValueAct President Mason Morfit said Thursday morning at 13D Monitor’s Active Passive Investor Summit in New York kicked off.
KKR responded to news of ValueAct’s stake with the same amount of hearts and flowers, saying, “We like having smart, long-term investors as shareholders and welcome ValueAct’s ownership.”
KKR shares popped 5.4 percent on the ValueAct news, closing at a 12-month high of $18.73.
It’s not the first time ValueAct has taken a friendly stake in a company.
Last August the hedge fund revealed a $1.1 billion investment in Morgan Stanley, believing that the investment banking giant was being misunderstood by the market.
That bet paid off as Morgan Stanley shares have climbed nearly 50 percent since the Ubben move was disclosed.
On the other end of the spectrum at Thursday’s conference was Marcato Capital, which has been sharpening its teeth on chicken wings since announcing a stake in Buffalo Wild Wings last July.
But shares of the wings and beer chain have climbed only 5 percent since then.
The two companies have been embroiled in a bitter proxy fight that has involved dueling press releases and a Web site in which Marcato’s Mick McGuire has pushed for changes to the board, the resignation of Chief Executive Sally Smith and more franchised locations.
“In reality it’s just about leadership and board oversight,” McGuire told The Post following a Thursday afternoon session.
Buffalo Wild Wings has been hurt in recent quarters by declining traffic and higher wing costs.
The chain’s first quarter earnings, which were announced Wednesday evening, missed analyst targets and sent shares down 3.7 percent, to $156.40 — wiping out almost all of their 2017 gain.
Meanwhile, outside of the confab, Dan Loeb’s Third Point Capital pushed for industrial giant Honeywell to spin off its aerospace business in a letter to investors.
Honeywell shares jumped nearly 5 percent in afterhours trades in the wake of Loeb’s suggestion.
The industrial conglomerate responded that it would take time to conduct “comprehensive, informed and objective review of the potential separation of the aerospace business.”