Third Point Limited chair steps down after activist investors
So, we’ve got a New York hedge fund boss complaining about underhand practices from activist investors. Interesting …
Third Point Investors Limited’s Steve Bates has resigned as the company’s chair after allegedly receiving personal threats from activist shareholders.
Third Point said that during private meetings between Bates, his adviser and representatives of Asset Value Investors (AVI) and Staude Capital, one of the representatives of the activist investors made it clear that were Third Point not to acquiesce to the investor’s proposals then the investor would “attack him in other business areas”, the stock market announcement from Third Point revealed.
In order to avoid his involvement with Third Point (TPIL) affecting the other companies he represents Bates has decided to step down.
“I very much regret having to leave the board but have recently been put in a position where it is impossible for me to continue as a director of TPIL,” Bates said.
“I strongly believe in the company, support the investment manager, and intend to remain a shareholder in a personal capacity,” he added.
things starting to get a bit tasty in the fight between Dan Loeb’s Third Point and Asset Value Investors: pic.twitter.com/R1DNz1JjmS
— BionicBanker (@BrokenBanker) December 23, 2021
Rupert Dorey, a director of TPIL, said he was appalled that Bates had been put in this invidious position.
”As his fellow directors will attest, Steve is a widely respected independent director, keen investor and a person of high moral character who has been an absolute pleasure to work with,” Dorey said.
Third Point is the London-listed vehicle of hedge fund luminary Dan Loeb, who was even more scathing than Dorey in his assessment of the activist investors assailing the company.
“The behaviour by these so-called ‘activists’ is a stain on institutional investors who attempt to engage constructively with boards and management teams. Being a successful activist requires moving on when shareholders reject your plans rather than resorting to underhanded tactics. These juvenile antics smack of desperation and inexperience,” Loeb said.
Shares in Third Point were up 5.6% at 28.2p on Thursday morning.
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