The “Mooch” is officially out of the hedge fund business. Anthony Scaramucci, the high profile, self-promoting founder of SkyBridge Capital Management who has joined the Trump administration, has sold a majority stake in his fund of funds business to RON Transatlantic EG and HNA Capital. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to a press release, SkyBridge’s management team will remain intact. As of November 30, it managed or advised about $12 billion in assets. Its very popular SALT Conference will be spun out as a standalone entity. It will be owned by Victor Oviedo and Kelly O’Connor, who have managed it since it since its inception in 2009. This year the high-profile event will take place from May 16 through 19 in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
RON Transatlantic has interests in the financial services, logistics, energy and brewing/beer sectors. HNA Capital U.S. is a subsidiary of HNA Capital, the financial services unit of HNA Group, which focuses on tourism, logistics and financial services. It owns businesses in equipment leasing, insurance, investment banking, securities and credit services.
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Elliott Associates has moved on to a new activist target. The hedge fund managed by Elliott Management Corp. said it owns 6.9 percent of power producer NRG Energy. It also said it has teamed up with private equity firm Bluescape Energy Partners, and as a group they own 9.4 percent of the shares. In a regulatory filing, the investors say NRG’s securities “are deeply undervalued” and that there are “numerous opportunities to significantly increase shareholder value,” including operational and financial improvements as well as strategic initiatives. The investors gave a vote of confidence to chairman Charles John Wilder Jr., asserting that he and his team “have directly relevant experience in effectuating such improvements and are initiating a dialogue with management and the Board of Directors to address these opportunities as well as implement appropriate Board-level oversight.” The group also said it may nominate one or two individuals to the board of directors at the 2017 annual meeting. Shares of NRG Energy rose more than 5 percent on Tuesday, to close at $15.34.
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Tiger Global Management participated in the $500 million financing for Uxin Group, a Chinese online used car auction company. Tiger Global as well as Coatue Management earlier invested in the company, according to chinamoneynetwork.com.
