Dutch chemicals producer OCI is to hold a strategic review of its business after Inclusive Capital Partners, the activist hedge fund firm founded by Jeff Ubben, urged the company to consider asset sales to boost value, according to a report by Bloomberg. In a telephone interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, CEO Ahmed El-Hoshy said OCI will “examine all potential suggestions” proposed by Inclusive, which holds a 5% stake in the business. In a letter seen by Bloomberg to OCI executive chairman Nassef Sawiris on Tuesday, Ubben said that he believes the €6.1 billion company is “both misunderstood and under-analyzed,” and

Global hedge funds’ exposure to US banking stocks has hit a near 10-year record low as the turmoil in the sector triggered by the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and the ‘rescue’ of Credit Suisse by rival UBS, prompted managers to sell their positions, according to a report by Reuters. The report cites Goldman Sachs’ prime services weekly report as revealing that investors have also cut their exposure to credit to the lowest level in nearly five years as concerns over a potential credit crunch have grown. “Financials were net sold in eight of the past nine

The prospect of a recession driven by tighter credit conditions following recent turmoil in the global banking sector, prompted hedge funds and other money managers to sell oil-related futures and options contracts at the fastest rate for almost six years, according to a report by Reuters. The report cites records published by ICE Futures Europe and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as revealing that traders sold the equivalent of 142 million barrels in the six most important contracts in the seven days ending on 21 March, after selling 139 million barrels in the week to 14 March, with total

Odey Asset Management is among a number of hedge fund firms that have cut back on bets against Baillie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust after a large fall in its share price, according to a report by the Financial Times. The report cites an investor update from James Hanbury, who runs Brook Absolute Return and Developed Markets at Odey, as revealing that the fund had pared back its short positions in the £13.4 billion, London-listed investment trust, despite ongoing concerns over board governance and exposure to risky private companies. The move is a sign that Hanbury, and other investors, believe

Hedge fund short-sellers are targeting Ocado after the online grocer posted a £501 million loss, with more than 6 per cent of the company’s stock now out on loan – the highest level in almost five years – according to a report by ThisIsMoney. Ocado now tops the Financial Conduct Authority’s list of the ‘most shorted’ stocks in London and the increased level of bets against the firm indicates that the salad days of the global pandemic, when the company’s share price soared as shoppers turned to online ordering, are well and truly over. The company’s shares have fallen by

TCI, the activist hedge fund founded by Chris Hohn, wants to see board-level changes at Spanish telecoms group Cellnex, including the removal of chair Bertrand Kan and two other board directors, according to a report by the Financial Times. The FT cites a letter written by Hohn to the board of Cellnex explaining that the changes are required to speed up the appointment of a new chief executive following the departure of Tobias Martínez Gimeno, who resigned from the role in January and will leave the company in June Cellnex, Spain’s largest telecoms group and Europe’s biggest mobile tower company,