Pirate Capital

Last updated
Pirate Capital
Company typePrivate
IndustryHedge Fund
Founded2002
HeadquartersNorwalk, CT
Key people
Thomas R. Hudson Jr (Founder)

Pirate Capital LLC was an American hedge fund. [1] The firm employed shareholder activism to push for structural changes in target companies. [1]

Contents

History

Pirate Capital was founded in 2002 by Thomas R. Hudson Jr with $2 million in savings. [2] Between 2002 and 2006, the hedge fund had joined the boards of eight companies. [3] In May 2005, Pirate had acquired nearly 2 million shares for a 14.8% stake in Cornell Companies, and subsequently nominated seven directors to the company's board. [4] In March 2006, the firm owned 5.8 million shares of Intrawest, and pressured the company to sell. Intrawest was later sold to Fortress Investment Group for $1.8 billion. [3] In June 2006, it pressured Mirant Corporation to drop its takeover bid for NRG Energy. [5] In October 2007, Pirate Capital threatened a proxy battle against Brink's unless the cash handling company adopted changes to its corporate governance. [6]

In September 2007, in the early stages of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Pirate Capital suspended redemptions on two of its four funds. [7] [1]

Investment strategy

Pirate Capital operated four funds including the Jolly Roger Activist Fund. [6] The fund purchases stakes in underperforming companies and then pushes for managerial action. [8] The company's motto is: "Surrender the Booty!" [9]

Key personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Icahn</span> American businessman and financier (born 1936)

Carl Celian Icahn is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Icahn's business model is to take large stakes in companies that he believes will appreciate from changes to corporate policy. Subsequently, Icahn then pressures management to make the changes that he believes will benefit shareholders, and him. Widely regarded as one of the most successful hedge fund managers of all time and one of the greatest investors on Wall Street, he was one of the first activist shareholders and is credited with making that investment strategy mainstream for hedge funds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkshire Hathaway</span> American multinational conglomerate holding company

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it underwent a drastic restructuring into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the leadership of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger.

The 2003 mutual fund scandal was the result of the discovery of illegal late trading and market timing practices on the part of certain hedge fund and mutual fund companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldman Sachs</span> American investment bank

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many international financial centers. Goldman Sachs is the second largest investment bank in the world by revenue and is ranked 55th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. In Forbes Global 2000 2023, Goldman Sachs ranked 34th. It is considered a systemically important financial institution by the Financial Stability Board.

GenOn Energy Holdings, formerly Mirant Corporation, was a subsidiary of GenOn Energy, and is now a part of NRG Energy.

Beyond, Inc. is an American online retailer headquartered in Midvale, Utah. Previously known as Overstock.com, Inc., the company acquired and adopted the name of bankrupt big-box retailer Bed Bath & Beyond in 2023. The company sells home decor, furniture, bedding, and many other goods that are closeout merchandise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodities Corporation</span> US financial services company

Commodities Corporation was a financial services company, based in Princeton, New Jersey, that traded actively across various commodities. The firm was noted as one of the leading commodity and futures trading firms. CC is credited for launching the careers of many notable hedge fund investors and for its influence on global macro investing.

Fortress Investment Group is an American investment management firm based in New York City. Fortress was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by Wes Edens, Rob Kauffman, and Randal Nardone. When Fortress launched on the NYSE in February 2007, it was the first large private equity firm in the US to be traded publicly. In December 2017, Fortress was fully acquired by SoftBank Group, was delisted, and returned to being a privately held company. Fortress manages $44.7 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2023, on behalf of over 1,900 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity and permanent capital investment strategies. In May 2023, Mubadala Investment Co agreed to acquire a majority stake in Fortress from Softbank for an undisclosed sum.

David M. Einhorn is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and amateur poker player. He is the founder and president of Greenlight Capital, a "long-short value-oriented hedge fund".

Philippe Jabre is the founder, CEO and CIO of Jabre Capital Partners S.A, a Geneva-based wealth and asset management firm and multi-family office, and a former managing director of GLG Partners, a UK-based hedge fund.

John Alfred Paulson is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. He leads Paulson & Co., a New York–based investment management firm he founded in 1994. He has been called "one of the most prominent names in high finance", and "a man who made one of the biggest fortunes in Wall Street history."

Allied Capital was a private equity investment firm and mezzanine capital lender providing debt and equity capital for leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and restructurings of established businesses. Allied operated as a Business Development Company, a form of publicly traded private equity company, and was among the largest BDCs. The firm was headquartered in Washington, DC with offices in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farallon Capital</span> American investment management firm

Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. is an American multi-strategy hedge fund headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded by Tom Steyer in 1986, the firm employs approximately 230 professionals in eight countries around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulson & Co.</span> American investment management firm

Paulson & Co., Inc. is a family office based in New York City. Previously, it was a hedge fund established by John Paulson in 1994. Specializing in "global mergers, event arbitrage, and credit strategies", the firm had a relatively low profile on Wall Street until its hugely successful bet against the subprime mortgage market in 2007. At one time the company had offices in London and Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nasdaq Private Market</span> Secondary market trading venue

Nasdaq Private Market (NPM) provides a secondary market trading venue for issuers, brokers, shareholders, and prospective investors of private company stock. Since inception, NPM has facilitated more than $40 billion in transactional volume and has worked with 400+ private companies and 100,000+ employees, stakeholders, and investors. NPM offers private company and investors different solutions including tender offers, auctions, block trades, and custom company marketplaces. In 2021, NPM spun-off of Nasdaq to become its own, independent company receiving strategic investments from Silicon Valley Bank, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Allen and Co.

Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice, HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History. Shaw Media consisted of the broadcasting assets of the former Canwest. Shaw Media properties were acquired in April 2016 by sister company Corus Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Novogratz</span> American businessman

Michael Edward Novogratz is an American investor, formerly of the investment firm Fortress Investment Group. He is currently CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners which focuses on investments in cryptocurrency.

Richard Cayne Perry is an American hedge fund manager whose firm, Perry Capital LLC invested in several companies and, starting in 2012, owned a controlling interest in Barneys New York. Perry sold his controlling interest in Barneys New York in August 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alden Global Capital</span> American hedge fund

Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. The company added more newspapers to its portfolio in May 2021 when it purchased Tribune Publishing and became the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oasis Management</span> Hong Kong investment firm

Oasis Management Company (Oasis), is a hedge fund management firm headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in Tokyo and Austin, Texas. It is an activist investor, that has pushed for significant change at companies. In recent times, it has been focusing on Japanese companies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Corkery, Michael (February 25, 2010). "Pirate Capital Tom Hudson Sets Sail With A New Fund". WSJ.
  2. "The Man Behind Pirate Capital". DealBook. 2 February 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Pirate scores big, hits rough water". Tampa Bay Times. No. 7 February 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  4. Greer, Jim (2 June 2005). "Cornell board surrenders to Pirate Capital". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. "Mirant ends its $8 billion bid for NRG Energy". The Denver Post. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 Davies, Megan; Hamilton, Dane (1 October 2007). "Brink's shareholder calls for board rule change" . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  7. Hamilton, Dane (11 September 2007). "Pirate Capital blocks investor exits" . Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  8. Boyd, Roddy (2006-09-29). "Staff Walks the Plank at Listing Pirate Capital". New York Post . Archived from the original on 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  9. 1 2 Effinger, Anthony; Burton, Katherine (2007-02-02). "Mutiny at Pirate Capital Roils Hudson After Worst Year Ever". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2007-05-25.