The Morning Brief: Hedge Funds Gain Seats on Two Boards

Two companies said on Monday that they are adding directors to their boards who are partners at two different hedge funds.

Alliance Data Systems agreed to add a director recommended by major investorValueAct Capital. According to a regulatory filing from the hedge fund firm, on March 16 the marketer of private-label credit cards said its board unanimously recommended the nomination of Kelly Barlow as director at the company’s annual meeting. Barlow is a partner of ValueAct Holdings and ValueAct Holdings GP. ValueAct, headed by Jeffrey Ubben, also disclosed in the same filing it bought an additional 57,400 shares of Alliance Data for a little less than $220 per share, boosting its stake to 10.5 percent. Shares of Alliance Data slipped slightly on Monday, to close at $244.51.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of Tailored Brands agreed to nominateEminence Capital’sRicky Sandler to its board at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, according to a regulatory filing. Eminence, which owns 14.9 percent of the company’s shares, is the largest shareholder. Shares of the men’s clothing retailer fell 3.5 percent on Monday and are now down more than 50 percent this year alone.

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Elliott Associates, the hedge fund managed by Paul Singer’sElliott Management Corp., disclosed it owns two million shares of Matlin & Partners Acquisition Corporation, or 6.2 percent of the total outstanding. The blank check company went public on March 9 at $10 per share. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant. Each warrant enables the shareholder to buy a half share of common stock for $5.75 per half share, or $11.50 per whole share. The filing was made as a passive investment.

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Chase Coleman III’sTiger Global Managementdisclosed it owns more than 13 million shares of Apollo Global Management, or 7 percent of the total outstanding. The Tiger Seed’s stake in the private equity firm is passive, according to a regulatory filing. It did not own any shares in Apollo at year-end.

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Adage Capital Managementboosted its stake in Gemphire Therapeutics by about 70 percent, to about 620,000, or 5.85 percent of the total outstanding. The investment in the biotech company is passive.

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Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Monday fell more than 3 percent to close at $10.67, its lowest price of the year. The stock is now down nearly 27 percent in 2017. Last weekPershing Square Capital Managementunloaded its huge stake in the drug company, while ValueAct Capital significantly boosted its large position.