STOCK WATCH: US raiders all set for showdown with Pru chiefs; Cineworld and Finablr in focus

STOCK WATCH: US raiders all set for showdown with Pru chiefs; Cineworld and Finablr in focus

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 $2billion 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.

Third Point took a $2bn stake in the Pru and urged the board to split its Asian and US divisions

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.

Cineworld 

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 £1.6billion 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.

Finablr 

All eyes this week will be on Finablr, the London-listed owner of Travelex which has kept the billionaire protagonists of the NMC saga on its board, even though NMC booted them out.

Finablr had promised to give investors an update on the actual shareholdings of these tycoons by the end of February – so that should now come this week. But judging by the share price since then – it has more than halved – it seems people aren’t hanging around to find out.

Additional reporting: Helen Cahill 

 

Source link