Activist Hedge Fund Holdings in Focus

Activist Holdings

Alight

Starboard Value

Starboard Value has acquired 39,807,000 shares, or 7.8% of shares outstanding, of Alight, a benefit-services provider. The firm has nominated a slate of four directors and considers the company’s stock to be “undervalued.” Starboard Value intends to engage in discussions with Alight’s management and board of directors. The firm paid $356,186,092 to acquire its stake, including over-the-counter forward purchase contracts.

Among the board nominees are Gavin Molinelli, senior partner and portfolio co-manager at Starboard Value, and Keith Dorsey, former executive vice president, global head of sales at Alight from 2017 to 2019.

Alight stock has seen a 4% increase so far this year.

Decreases in Holdings

Peabody Energy

Elliott Management

Elliott Management decreased its holding in Peabody Energy, a coal miner, to 9,630,000 shares, representing a 7.3% stake. The firm sold 1,525,000 shares at prices ranging from $24.55 to $25.47 between Feb. 12 and Feb. 16. Elliott Management has been a shareholder of Peabody Energy since the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2017. Engagement Capital Reduces Stake in PRA Group

Engaged Capital has lowered its stake in the acquirer of nonperforming loans, PRA Group, to 1,950,364 shares. This reduction was achieved through the net sale of 60,386 PRA Group shares on Feb. 16 at prices ranging from $27.95 to $30.77 each. Following these latest sales, Engaged now holds 4.9% of PRA Group’s tradable stock, just below the 5.0% reporting threshold. Shares of PRA Group have seen a decrease of about 4% this year.

MAK Capital Trims Holding in Agilysys

MAK Capital has reduced its stake in enterprise technology company Agilysys to 2,060,458 shares. The reduction was carried out through the sale of 1,015,969 Agilysys shares from Jan. 16 through Feb. 14 at prices ranging from $75.07 to $82.59 per share.

Within these sales, 867,729 Agilysys shares were sold pursuant to an underwriting agreement at a price of $82.59 on Feb. 14. MAK Capital had entered into a 10b5-1 sales plan with BTIG to sell up to 867,728 Agilysys shares from Aug. 1, 2023, through May 1, 2024, with the plan ending on Jan. 19, 2024, upon completion.

MAK Capital has now adopted a similar trading plan with BTIG on Jan. 25, which will begin on April 25 and allows for the sale of the same number of shares through Nov. 1, 2024. Following these sales, MAK Capital holds 7.5% of Agilysys’ outstanding stock.

Coliseum Capital Management Reduces Stake in Universal Technical Institute

Coliseum Capital Management recently decreased its stake in Universal Technical Institute to 9,334,215 shares. Through a block trade on Feb. 15, Coliseum and an affiliate sold a total of 3,956,427 shares at a price of $15.05 per share. This transaction included 3,279,979 shares sold by Coliseum and an additional 676,448 shares sold by an investment advisory client of Coliseum’s affiliate. As a result of these sales, Coliseum now holds 17.4% of Universal Technical’s outstanding stock.