Bets that US regulators would be unable to stop Amgen Inc from completing its $28bn acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics have yielded big gains for hedge funds Pentwater Capital Management, HBK Investments and Farallon Capital Management, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites data compiled by Bloomberg as showing that when the deal closed on Friday, Pentwater held a $1.8bn stake in Horizon based on its holding of 15.5m shares, making it the largest hedge fund shareholder in the business.
On 16 May, the US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the takeover, it’s first attempt to prevent a pharmaceutical sector deal since 2009 sending the value of Horizon’s stock tumbling to its lowest level the merger was first announced in December last year. Pentwater though, gambled big making a net purchase of around 2.1 million shares on the same day, paying between $91.94 to $94.08 per share compared with the deal price of $116.50, according to regulatory disclosures.
Pentwater also bought shares on 15 May when news first broke of the potential FTC lawsuit which netted a paper gain of around 25% according to analysis by Bloomberg.
The report cites legal filings as showing that Dallas-based HBK Investment and San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management were also large shareholder shine the deal completed with stakes of 8 million and 6.7 million shares, respectively.
