Thursday, August 23, 2012

Stirring the pot: Cohen’s SAC takes new activist role




Watch out, Carl Icahn! Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital is encroaching on your turf.  Cohen’s $14 billion Stamford, Conn., hedge-fund giant is venturing into the activist-investing waters where Icahn swims, The Post has learned.

The move is being spearheaded by SAC portfolio manager David Rosen, who has been butting heads with Spokane, Wash.-based Clearwater Paper Corp. since May, sources said. In May, Rosen penned a letter to Clearwater Chairman and CEO Gordon Jones calling the stock “deeply undervalued.”  

Last week, SAC, which has a 7.1 percent stake in the papermaker, proposed to Clearwater’s board that the company split itself in two and consider selling one or both parts.
People familiar with Rosen’s plans say Clearwater won’t be the last, and that Rosen and SAC analyst Shoney Katz are scouting out more opportunities to make money through corporate cage-rattling.  The duo hopes to eventually employ tactics such as waging board proxy contests, according to another person familiar with Rosen’s plans.

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