March 29, 2024

DealBook: Soros Buys a 7.9% Stake in J.C. Penney

George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund investor.Ralph Orlowski/ReutersGeorge Soros, the billionaire hedge fund investor.

J. C. Penney doesn’t have many fans on Wall Street. But a big one emerged on Thursday: George Soros.

Mr. Soros, the hedge fund billionaire, on Thursday disclosed a 7.9 percent stake in Penney, with 17.4 million shares, according to a securities filing. The stake is passive, meaning Mr. Soros will not try to exert influence on the embattled retailer.

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Penney’s shares rose nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading. The stock, which has taken a beating this year, ended regular trading up 5 cents at $15.24, before the stake was disclosed.

Mr. Soros, 82, is at least the second prominent hedge fund manager to take a shine to Penney, whose chief executive, Ron Johnson, was pushed out two weeks ago after 17 months on the job.

William A. Ackman, the head of Pershing Square Capital Management, also has a sizable stake. Penney’s shares fell more than 50 percent during the tenure of Mr. Johnson, a former Apple executive Mr. Ackman supported.

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Mr. Johnson brought fresh ideas to Penney, trying to attract a new type of shopper. But those failed to improve the company’s sales. In February, Mr. Johnson admitted he made “big mistakes” in his turnaround effort after the company reported a $552 million quarterly loss.

Penney’s stock price has climbed since Mr. Johnson was replaced by the executive who had preceded him, Myron E. Ullman III, an appointment that was seen as a stopgap as the company tried to get back on its feet.

Mr. Ackman, whose firm owns a 17.8 percent stake in Penney, continues to express confidence in the company, though he seemed to lose faith in Mr. Johnson in the days before the management change was announced.

“I don’t see a scenario in which we don’t work this thing out,” Mr. Ackman said at a luncheon this month, according to a report at the time.

The move by Mr. Soros, a legend on Wall Street who stopped managing outside money several years ago, will most likely cause some investors to give Penney a second look.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Mr. Soros’s interest in the retailer. But if Mr. Ullman wanted to visit two of his largest shareholders, he won’t have far to travel. Mr. Soros and Mr. Ackman share an office building in New York.

Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/soros-takes-big-stake-in-j-c-penney/?partner=rss&emc=rss

DealBook: Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Energy Trading Inquiry

The headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, under construction in 2009.Ralph Orlowski/Getty ImagesThe headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, under construction in 2009.

Deutsche Bank has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over charges that the bank manipulated California’s energy markets in 2010.

The agreement, announced late on Tuesday, includes a $1.5 million fine against Deutsche Bank, which also must surrender around $170,000 in profit related to the energy trading activity.

The energy commission said in a statement that some of Deutsche Bank’s employees had entered into a number of transactions in early 2010 that unfairly benefited the bank.

“Deutsche Bank violated the commission’s anti-manipulation rule by engaging in a scheme in which Deutsche Bank entered into physical transactions to benefit its financial position,” the commission said.

The action is the latest effort to clamp down on market abuses by the commission, which oversees the oil, natural gas and electricity sectors.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is also levying a $470 million penalty against the British bank Barclays related to trading activity, though Barclays is challenging the accusations. The fine would be the largest ever made by the commission.

The agency has also barred JPMorgan Chase’s energy trading unit from participating in a number of American energy markets for six months after some of the firm’s employees provided false information during an investigation into market manipulation.

The commission had originally proposed the fine against Deutsche Bank in September. The statement on Tuesday said Deutsche Bank neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, adding that the bank failed to reduce the financial penalty during negotiations.

Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/deutsche-bank-settles-ferc-trading-inquiry/?partner=rss&emc=rss