Boaz Weinstein’s revised bid for Sculptor Capital Management Inc. includes language giving him “ultimate decision-making authority over investments.”
(Bloomberg) — Boaz Weinstein’s revised bid for Sculptor Capital Management Inc. includes language giving him “ultimate decision-making authority over investments.”
That’s among the reasons why the hedge fund firm still prefers its deal with Rithm Capital Corp. even though the Weinstein-led bid, at $12.76 a share, is $1.61 higher than Rithm’s, Sculptor said Thursday in a regulatory filing. Weinstein’s fellow bidders include billionaires Bill Ackman, Marc Lasry and Jeff Yass.
Under the revised offer, Jimmy Levin, the firm’s chief investment officer, would be just one member of the office of the CIO — if he decided to stay, according to the filing. Other members would include Weinstein, who would continue running his own firm, Saba Capital Management, along with two other unidentified people with no relation to Sculptor or the bidders.
In the case of a disagreement over investments, Weinstein would be empowered to make the final decisions as well as have the “authority to add or remove members” of the office, according to the filing.
The other members of Weinstein’s consortium might sit on the company’s board but wouldn’t be involved in day-to-day management.
Weinstein would also run a “tail hedging strategy” for New York-based Sculptor through Saba, for which he’d be paid a fee.
Client Concerns
Sculptor said “a number of clients” had already raised concerns about potential for changes to the investment team, while Rithm said it wouldn’t make any substantive alterations.
The firm also hired an asset-management consultant, which said that the departure of “key persons” was a typical reason why clients might choose to pull their money.
On Wednesday, Sculptor determined that the revised bid wasn’t superior to Rithm’s. Another reason was that Weinstein’s coalition didn’t provide a “full equity backstop” or deliver equity commitment letters that covered the full amount of the transaction, according to the filing. Instead, it relied on “the more conditional debt commitment letters” from Weinstein’s group.
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