3rd Annual Hedge Fund Activism & Shareholder Value Summit

Special Discount Offered to readers of The Official Activist Investing Blog.
(see registration information below for details)

IMN’s Hedge Fund Activism and Shareholder Value Summit brings together hedge funds, private equity firms and public pension funds together with corporate executives and board members, investment banks, asset managers, securities litigation firms, corporate law firms, advisory firms, and proxy solicitors for two days of networking and learning on current trends and the future outlook for hedge fund activism.

The Summit aims to inform corporations and institutional investors on innovations and opportunities in this alternative strategy, while providing insight into how active value managers operate.

A few of the topics that will be discussed include:

• The Activist Playbook For A More Volatile Economy
• Trends in Hedge Fund Activism
• Case Study: Pershing Square vs. Target Corp. 2009 Proxy Contest
• Challenging The Poison Pill
• The Court of Public Opinion And Shareholder Activism
• Corporate Governance And Expectations From Boards
• How Investors Can Gain Access to Corporate Proxy Materials And How Companies Will Prevent It
  
• Activism In Asia
• Activist Investing In 2010 and Beyond

Confirmed Conference Speakers Include:

Damien Park, Conference Co-Chairman
Managing Partner, Hedge Fund Solutions

Michael Flaherman, Conference Co-Chairman
Managing Director, New Mountain Capital

Jared Landaw, Barington Capital Group
Rachel Posner, Georgeson Inc
Joele Frank, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Matthew Sherman, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Robert Ladd, LaddCap Value Advisors
Andrew Shapiro, Lawndale Capital Management
Timothy Brog, Locksmith Capital Management
Jeffrey Shapiro, Lowenstein Sandler
Mark Harnett, MacKenzie Partners
Clifford Press, Oliver Press Partners
Richard Lashley, PL Capital
Christopher Young, RiskMetrics Group
Marc Weingarten, Schulte Roth & Zabel
David Rosewater, Schulte Roth & Zabel
Dennis Johnson, Shamrock Activist Value Fund
Richard Moore, Fmr. Treasurer, North Carolina
Daniel Léger, Steel Partners
David Baran, Symphony Financial Partners
David Katz, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Arthur Lipson, Western Investments

Click Here to go to the Event Home Page.

Registration and SPECIAL DISCOUNT:
Email: joannajohnson@imn.org and reference "Activist Blog" to register and claim a 10% discount.

Activist Investors Eye Smaller Prey

Activist investors eye smaller prey
By Sam Jones and Lina Saigol
July 23 2009

Activist investors may have waged more battles this year than ever before, but the size of the companies they are taking on is vastly smaller, according to new research.

So far this year, there has been a 27 per cent increase in proxy battles, according to RiskMetrics, a leading shareholder consultancy. The average market capitalisation of companies being targeted by activists, however, has fallen.

In the US, the median ­target company market ­capitalisation has fallen from a high of $275m in 2008 to just $75m in 2009. In Europe, the story is the same.

“The size of targets has decreased and even adjusted for the market decline, but the amount of activity in the US has been surprising,” said Chris Young, director of mergers and acquisitions research at RiskMetrics.

Click Here to read the entire FT.com article.

June Activist Investments - 44 Companies Targeted

Below is a summary list of 44 companies targeted by 46 shareholder activists during June.

This information was extracted from Hedge Fund Solutions' Catalyst Equity Research Report, a free in-depth weekly research on activist investments.

Click Here to subscribe to the FREE report.

This report is sponsored by a number of firms with expertise in the activist investing space.


Legal Advisors:
Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig & Wolosky;
Schulte Roth & Zabel;
Lowenstein Sandler

Proxy Solicitors:
Georgeson;
Innisfree M&A;
MacKenzie Partners;
Laurel Hill Advisory Group;
The Altman Group

Download the Weekly Reports:
Week Ending June 5 2009
Week Ending June 12 2009
Week Ending June 19 2009
Week Ending June 26 2009

Ticker	Company	Investor
ACMR	A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts, Inc.	Glenhill Advisors
ADF	ACM Managed Dollar Income Fund	Bulldog Investors
ASUR	Asure Software	Red Oak Partners
ATGN	AltiGen Communications	Wanger Investment Management
AXC	Advanced Technology Acquisition Corp	Bulldog Investors
BASI	Bioanalytical Systems	Peter Kissinger
BASI	Bioanalytical Systems	Thomas Harenburg
CAMD	California Micro Devices	Gamco Investors
CFW	Cano Petroleum	Carlson Capital
COHM.PK	Coachmen Industries Inc	Gamco Investors
CTO	Consolidated Tomoka Land Co	Wintergreen Advisers
CWLZ	Cowlitz Bancorporation	Crescent Capital
DCS	Dreman/Claymore Dividend & Income Fund	Bulldog Investors
DITC	Ditech Networks	Lloyd Miller
ENTU	Entrust Inc.	Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder Advisers
FMMH.OB	Fremont Michigan Insurance Corp	Harry Long
FPU	Florida Public Utilities Co	Energy West
FTGX	Fibernet Telecom Group	Carlson Capital
GGP	General Growth Properties	Pershing Square Capital
HBRF.OB	Highbury Financial	Peerless Systems
HDIX	Home Diagnostics	Discovery Group
HEOP	Heritage Oaks Bancorp	Patriot Financial Partners
IPAS	iPass, Inc.	Foxhill Capital
JTX	Jackson Hewitt Tax Service	Shamrock Activist Value Fund
KANA.OB	Kana Software	KVO Capital Management
KONA	Kona Grill	BBS Capital Management
LGF	Lions Gate Entertainment	Carl Icahn
MZF	MBIA Capital Claymore Man Dur Inv Grd Muni Fund	Western Investment
NUF	Nuveen Florida Quality Income Municipal Fund	Western Investment
OPTV	OpenTV Corp	Kudelski SA
OPTV	OpenTV Corp	Discovery Capital
PHH	PHH Corporation	Pennant Capital
PLCE	The Childrens Place Retail Stores, Inc.	Ezra Dabah
PTSG.OB	Petrosearch Energy Corp	Tiberius Capital
PYMX.OB	PolyMedix, Inc.	Target Capital Management
QGLY	Quigley Corp	Ted Karkus
SLRY	Salary.com	Raging Capital Management
SNG	Canadian Superior Energy Inc.	Palo Alto Investors
STAA	Staar Surgical Co	Broadwood Partners
SUAI	Specialty Underwriters Alliance	Hallmark Financial Services
TICC	TICC Capital Corp	Raging Capital Management
TLX	Trans Lux Corp	Gamco Investors
TTSP.OB	TransTech Services Partners	Bulldog Investors
TXI	Texas Industries	Shamrock Activist Value Fund
UAHC	United American Healthcare Corp.	Strategic Turnaround Equity Partners
VXGN.OB	Vaxgen Inc	Steven Bronson

Catalyst Investment Research: Steel Partners Portfolio

This investment catalyst has been building since January 8 2009 when Steel Partners II first announced their intention to convert their hedge fund into a publicly-traded holding company. Following months of litigation with several investors seeking to block the restructuring, Steel was granted Court approval to move forward with the plan on June 19. As a result, on July 15, Steel Partners distributed approximately half of the economic value of their fund via cash and a pro rata in-kind distribution of securities to those investors seeking to exit the fund immediately. Following the distribution, a number of smaller, illiquid securities observed enormous selloffs – causing a massive imbalance in supply and demand, and resulting in a precipitous decline in the market value of certain companies. We believe the dramatic reduction in value at a few of these companies is a short-term phenomenon and not correlated with the fundamental value intrinsic to the company.

Click here to download a complimentary copy of Hedge Fund Solutions' Catalyst Investment Research report for Steel Partners II Portfolio.

Also, take a look at some of our previous research on companies where activist investors have made sizeable investments and are pressing management to unlock hidden pockets of value.

TIER, AVGN, CTO, TECUA, CHE, PPCO, ENZN, LGF

Hedge Fund Solutions, LLC is not an investment, legal, or tax advisor, and none of the information available through the Firm is intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice.