Posted on 11/21/2015 1:34:28 AM PST by RC one
Cabela’s has hired a communications firm that advertises itself as a “defender†of companies against activist investors as the retailer could be looking to put itself up for sale.
"No one has defended more companies against the big-name activist shareholders," the firm, Joele Frank, says on its website
Cabela’s hasn’t commented publicly on the activist’s stake, but the hiring of Joele Frank suggests the Sidney-based company isn’t rolling over in the face of the big shareholder agitating for change.
Cabela’s is under pressure to make big changes after the New York-based activist investor announced earlier this month a big stake in the company. The company employs 2,000 in its hometown of Sidney, population 6,800.
The activist investor, Elliott Management, said when it announced its stake that it would do what it took to "unlock" Cabela’s value, including pushing for the company to sell itself in whole or in part.
Elliott on Thursday didn’t return calls for comment.
Activist investors, which in the 1980s were known as "corporate raiders," take big stakes in companies and then agitate for those companies to make changes that will boost their stock prices. Typically, the activists then sell the shares for a tidy profit.
The buyout firms that Bloomberg reported are interested in a deal could value Cabela’s in the mid- to high- $50s a share, Bloomberg said.
(Excerpt) Read more at omaha.com ...
The Activist investor, Elliot Managment Corporation is interesting primarily because of its founder and CEO Paul Singer.
Here's a few tid bits about Paul Singer:
Paul Elliott Singer (born August 22, 1944) is an American hedge fund manager, investor, philanthropist, and political activist. He is the founder and CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation, a political activist and activist investor, and (via his Paul E. Singer Foundation) a prominent New York based philanthropist. In 2014, Forbes rated Singer's net worth as $1.9 billion. In 2015, Singer was 327th on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, 1006th among the world's billionaires, 350th of American billionaires, and the 16th highest earning hedge fund manager. Singer's business practices have been described by detractors as having the characteristics of a vulture fund, a characterization which Singer rejects Singer is active in Republican Party politics and is a supporter of gay rights.
Elliott is considered a pioneer in the business plan of buying distressed debts and then seeking payment at full face value.
Peru.
In 1996, Elliott bought defaulted Peruvian debt for $11.4 million. In 1998, a U.S. court ruled that one could not buy debt with the sole purpose of suing the debtor. Elliott won a $58 million judgement when the ruling was overturned in 2000. When former president of Peru Alberto Fujimori was attempting to flee the country due to facing legal proceedings over human rights abuses and corruption, Singer ordered the confiscation of his jet and offered to let him leave the country in exchange for the $58 million payment from the treasury, an offer which Fujimori accepted.
The money was transferred to an Elliott account in the Cayman Islands tax haven, after being approved by a Peruvian Congress undergoing an institutional crisis due to the fall of Fujimori, who declined to take the matter to the United States Supreme Court as a result.[26] A subsequent 2002 investigation by the Government of Peru into the incident and subsequent congressional report, uncovered instances of corruption since Elliott was not legally authorized to purchase the Peruvian debt from Swiss Bank Corporation without the prior approval of the Peruvian government, and thus the purchase had occurred in breach of contract. At the same time, the fund's representative, Jaime Pinto, had been formerly employed by the Peruvian Economic Ministry and had contact with senior officials.
Argentina
After Argentina defaulted on its debt in 2002, NML Capital Limited, a Cayman Islands-based offshore unit of Elliott Management Corporation, refused to accept the Argentine offer to pay less than 30 cents per dollar of debt. These are bonds with a face value of $630 million, for which NML reportedly bought for $48 million,[24] but that Elliott assessed were then worth $2.3 billion with accrued interest.
In early October 2012, NML arranged for the seizure of an Argentine naval training vessel in Ghana, the ARA Libertad, in an effort to force Argentina to pay the debt.[31] Argentina, however, refused to pay the debt, and shortly thereafter regained control of the ship and removed it from Ghanaian waters after its seizure was deemed illegal by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.[32][33][34] After the release of the vessel, the director of Tema Harbour in Ghana stated that $7.6 million losses sustained by the port as a result of the incident should be covered by NML, whilst legal action against the hedge fund was being considered.
In February 2013, the U.S. appeals court heard Argentina's appeal in the NML case.[36] In March 2013, Argentina offered a new plan that was judged unlikely to be acceptable to the New York court.[37] On August 23, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the lower court's verdict and dismissed said plan.[38] In June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Argentina's appeal of the ruling.
In March 2014, attempting to satisfy court awards, NML Capital sued SpaceX seeking the rights to two satellite-launch contracts bought by Argentina valued at $113 million.In March 2015, the suit was dismissed in a U.S. district court in California.
Congo
A case involving another Cayman Islands based subsidiary of Elliott, Kensington International, saw the president of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso accuse Singer of undermining a United Nations backed effort to lift developing nations out of debt. "Our disputes have always been with sovereigns who can pay but refuse to do so," Singer wrote in an e-mail to The Nation
Political activity
Singer is an active participant in Republican Party politics. According to the New York Times, he supports "like-minded candidates who often share his distaste for what they view as governmental over-meddling in the financial industry."Singer has attended seminars hosted by Charles Koch, David Koch, and Freedom Partners and has contributed more than $1 million to the political efforts of the Koch brothers. In 2014, Singer led a group of major Republican donors to form the American Opportunity Alliance, a group that brings together wealthy Republican donors who share Singer’s support for gay rights, immigration reform and Israel. In 2015, he supported Marco Rubio for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Singer was a major contributor to George W. Bush's presidential campaigns. On March 14, 2008 Singer hosted a Republican National Committee luncheon in his home for 70 guests that raised $1.4 million for Bush. President George W. Bush appointed Singer to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
So Singer is a major league slime ball and a big Bush cheerleader.
Snakes and other vermin do tend to run with other snakes and vermin.
Thank you RC one for helping me advance my edumacation.
Singer also donated a cool million to “Restore Our Future”, a Super PAC created to support Mitt Romney, in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. he’s just one slimeball Bush Cheerleader out of many slimeball Bush cheerleaders. If Donald Trump can beat these guys, he can beat anybody but I have a feeling this fight is going to be brutal. Singer held the Presdient of Peru hostage and blackmailed him for $58 million dollars and got away with it! And he likely orchestrated the events that led to Fujimori’s vulnerability in the first place. This guy is a shark.
I have family that worked for Cabeleas, that company is in the process of going straight to hell ever since they become a publicly traded country.
They are now outsource-ing and laying people off, and making all sorts of short term decisions that in the long run are going to screw over the company.
They should have never become a publicly traded company.
I’m reasonably sure Trump can handle Singer and his group. He does business in NYC so he’s used to swimming with sharks.
Albeit these are the great whites of the species.
CRUZ would have a harder time against them due to his lack of business knowledge. But I have faith Cruz would give better than he got.
So all the big guns are lining up against Trump, and CRUZ by extension.
I say good!
Let the enemies show themselves so they can be dispatched back to the hell hole they crawled out of.
I buy a lot of stuff from Cabelas and use their credit card regularly. I really love that store. I love Bass Pro too.
[ I buy a lot of stuff from Cabelas and use their credit card regularly. I really love that store. I love Bass Pro too. ]
I love the store too, but it is sad hearing some of the things going on inside of the company and how the company is being hollowed out due to the inane decisions for short term stock gains vs. long term strategic thinking that got it where it is now, being discarded for the ADD thinking.
Seems to me the sporting goods mega store market is fairly well saturated right now. There is nothing special about going to a Cabela’s or BassPro anymore. Dick’s just built a megastore which includes a Field and Stream in our town. There is also a Gander Mountain. Another regional sports store called Scheel’s is within spitting distance. Seems to me there will be some carnage in this sector during the next down turn.
Dicks buckled and took AR15s off their shelf. i haven’t been in their store since. I go to cabelas and Gander Mountain all the time, bass Pro less frequently though it’s quite close.
It was all about access to capital in order to finance the increase in stores and entry into new markets. Of course, it comes with the downside of demand by the market to hit quarterly numbers, leading to the decisions you've decried here. It was the ultimate siren song and now it seems they're about to hit the rocks.
Gander Mountain in Peoria went all guns a few years ago. They didn’t want to compete in the fishing equipment with a BassPro across the river. Not sure if they still setup that way. Gander Mountain seems to be able to configure there stores for the local market.
Cabelas doesn’t seem like a distressed asset to me. The guy is a pirate- a gay, Jewish, pro-amnesty pirate from the sounds of things. When Trump talks about hedge fund guys as being “killers” this is a prime example of who he is talking about. And I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m just saying that these are REALLY BIG sharks and anyone who can swim in their waters and antagonize them without getting eaten is a damn strong swimmer.
Cabelas doesn’t seem like a distressed asset to me. The guy is a pirate- a gay, Jewish, pro-amnesty pirate from the sounds of things. When Trump talks about hedge fund guys as being “killers” this is a prime example of who he is talking about. And I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m just saying that these are REALLY BIG sharks and anyone who can swim in their waters and antagonize them without getting eaten is a damn strong swimmer.
Delightful. Another big-government globalist who is financing the Beltway GOP.
I suppose if he were a “good” Christian and straight you would have no objection to his actions.
my thoughts exactly, thanks
Whatever else they may be, Cabela’s has been a reliable source for ammunition, even he elusive .22 LR.
I have no particular love/hate for Cabela’s since their stores are too far from me to purchase from. Their catalog prices are OK but again it’s not like I can’t purchase similar products at competitive prices elsewhere.
If they decide to run the company into the ground, that’s the fault of the senior management and the board of directors. Let them have at it, someone else will step into the void left when the company goes bankrupt.
The Tiffany's of Sporting Goods.
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