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These disclosures are from 13Ds filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 13Ds are filed within 10 days of an entity’s attaining more than 5% in any class of a company’s securities. Subsequent changes in holdings or intentions must be reported in amended filings. This material is from March 17 through March 23, 2022. Source: Verity (verityplatform.com).
Activist Holdings
Nielsen Holdings (NLSN)
WindAcre Partnership chose to file as an active investor last week when it revealed a stake of 34,555,300 shares in the audience-analytics company. WindAcre Partnership noted that it has a long-term relationship with Nielsen Holdings and has been in talks with the company regarding a number of topics.
Of note, WindAcre Partnership revealed at the time that it was interested in “transactions in which it may seek to participate and potentially engage in, or oppose….” On March 22, WindAcre disclosed that it supported the decision by Nielsen’s board to reject a consortium’s $24.50 per share takeover offer led by Elliott Management. WindAcre believes that the offer fails to properly value Nielsen’s data assets and “its strategic position as critical measurement infrastructure” that supports digital advertising.
WindAcre disclosed that “it intended to accumulate the shares required to block the acquisition.” WindAcre’s 9.6% stake in Nielsen is bolstered by a separate, 14.4% interest in Nielsen’s shares through cash-settled swaps.
Increases in Holdings
Navient (NAVI)
Sherborne Investors Management reported a higher stake in the student-loan servicer to 14,076,326 shares. Sherborne purchased a total of 1,650,041 Navient shares at prices ranging from $16.72 to $17.31 each from March 4 through March 18. Sherborne now holds a 9.3% interest in Navient. That figure essentially doubles to 18.7% when accounting for swaps that boost Sherborne’s Navient exposure by 14,431,084 additional shares.
Freshworks (FRSH)
Sequoia Capital filed as an active investor on March 11 as it disclosed the purchase of 5,482,075 A shares of the experience-management firm. All of those Freshworks shares were purchased from March 11 through March 15 at prices ranging from $16.46 to $18 apiece. The Class A stock plus 30,631,270 Class B shares give Sequoia Capital a 35.3% stake of Freshworks’ total outstanding stock. Though Sequoia took an activist stance with Freshworks, it has no plans or proposals in place.
Decreases in Holdings
iTeos Therapeutics (ITOS)
Boxer Capital cut its position in the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm by nearly 16%, to 3,142,058 shares. That figure includes 9,687 shares underlying exercisable options. Boxer Capital sold 575,201 iTeos Therapeutics shares on March 17 at a price of $35.25 apiece. Boxer now owns an 8.9% stake in iTeos Therapeutics. The company reported fourth-quarter numbers on March 23, after which H.C. Wainwright analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth maintained a Buy rating and 12-month price target of $54. Ramakanth noted that iTeos Therapeutics has sufficient cash and cash equivalents “to fund operations into 2026.”
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