(Bloomberg) -- The threat was blunt: Back off, or there will be trouble. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. Yet its recent focus on tough-to-trade investments has given some clients pause, and initially drove off investors such as the Ohio state pension fund. In recent months it put together the bid that has been declared the winner in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction supervised by Judge Michael E. Wiles, a McClatchy spokeswoman said on Sunday. Since 2017, Postmedia has paid out over $6.2 million Canadian, or about $4.5 million, in bonuses to its five top executives, including Mr. MacLeod, the chief executive, and Paul Godfrey, the executive chairman of the board. John Kasichs appointeescommitted$125 million to Chatham. . Yet its junior bonds offer yields comparable to more senior securities. State officials are well-positioned and duty-bound to investigate allegations of potential wrongdoing in hedge fund portfolios, said former Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Edward Siedle. Hedge funds and private equity companies have become a force in the news industry. Apr 3, 2023 11:40 AM PDT. Chatham already owns about half of the outstanding indebtedness of the marketing company, explaining that the purchase price is the value of outstanding indebtedness. Were not even covering some City Hall things, which we miss., Postmedia said in a statement that it did not share specific numbers on staffing. All rights reserved. And given the strains in the print-media business, the strong price of the debt is difficult to explain, traders say. Hedge funds are certainly profit-oriented, Mr. Longo said. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Melchiorre also served as the. Its no wonder Chathams side would enlist Cohen, long known for his doggedness on behalf of Trump. A Chicago-area kid who studied economics at Northwestern and got an MBA from the University of Chicago, his high-toned education didnt reduce the intensity of the former high-school football star. Over time, Chatham has increased its investment (and sunk its teeth?) Thats just not how bond math works, said Michael Terwilliger, a portfolio manager at Resource Credit Income Fund. AMI executives helped Cohen purchase stories that could have hurt Trumps presidential bid, according to theWall Street Journal. Alden controls roughly 200 outlets through its newspaper chain, MediaNews Group. SEC Charges Chatham Asset Management and Founder Anthony Melchiorre for They make money for their clients.. In recent months, Postmedia closed approximately 15 community publications and laid off 120 employees in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Toronto Star reported. Thats just not how bond math works, said Michael Terwilliger, a portfolio manager at Resource Credit Income Fund. Anthony is Managing Member/Portfolio Manager and has served as Managing Member/Portfolio Manager since 09/01/2003. State pension funds invested millions in hedge fund that controls An SEC spokesman declined to comment. After several stints at elite firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan. The consultant reviewed Chatham's trading annually for compliance with applicable laws and did not alert the firm to any issues. During the Relevant Period, Melchiorre owned approximately 70 percent of Chatham, and is the managing member of the general partner entity for each of the Funds. Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement that Chatham's trading in AMI bonds had the effect of "increasing the prices of those generally illiquid securities in a way that was disconnected from economic reality. The private equity fund Fortress Investment Group controls the largest American newspaper chain, Gannett, which publishes USA Today, The Arizona Republic and 250 other dailies. Thoserecordsshow the original $500 million investments are now worth as much as $692 million. That deal still has not closed. The finance industry is also a key component of the largest American newspaper chain, Gannett, which publishes USA Today, The Arizona Republic and 250 other dailies. Earlier this month, Alden secured a third seat out of seven on the Tribune Publishing board as it seemed to inch closer to taking control of that company. This story was co-published with MapLight and Capital & Main. Chatham Asset Management Sends Letter to R.R. Donnelley Board of The deal was partly financed by one private equity fund, Apollo Global Management, and Gannett is now controlled by another private equity fund, Fortress Investment Group, which is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. $5,850,800. Austin Weinstein Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, agreed to pay more than $19 million to settle US allegations that the firm improperly traded. That may worry McClatchy journalists, who are wondering how Chatham would run the business at a time when Google and Facebook dominate the online ad market and fewer readers are willing to pay for news, challenges that have been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. 130 E. Randolph St. Californias pension fund also has a $235 million stake in a Chatham fund. Frank Casey will take over as head of the New Jersey Resources business, effective July 1. The announcement, which signals an end to 163 years of family ownership, underlines the growing influence of the finance industry on American newspapers. Chatham, which manages about $4 billion in assets on behalf of its clients, is expected to become the majority owner in the third quarter of the year, McClatchy said, and the publicly traded newspaper company will go private. Chatham and Mr. Melchiorre consented to the SEC's order without admitting or denying its findings. Chatham did not respond to questions about how exposed taxpayers and pension systems might be to AMI and any financial consequences of its legal entanglements. As part of it, Postmedia traded 17 of its papers to Torstar in exchange for 24 Torstar papers. Fortress is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. Start Free Trial . the MV of securities sold, whichever is less, Melchiorre and his wife have donated more than $100,000 to Republican candidates and party committees since 2010. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. Apr 3, 2023. Clearly, the writing is on the digital wall. Its bonds rarely change hands. Grimstad knows what its like to be under a tabloid-like glare. And your word synedoche drove me to the online dictionary. Along with the public pension funds, four other private pension fundsincluding those for Ford and Toyota Motors employeeshave had investments with Chatham, according to financial research firm Preqin. email address below and choose 'Submit'. The headquarters of Chatham Asset Management in Chatham, N.J. Thats because they are losing to him.. Chatham investment firm moves to acquire Vericast for $2.85B. (The most memorable thing he said was Disney would not be selling the papers anytime soon, but they were on the block a year later.). Those zero-coupon bonds maturing in 2024 offered lower yields than five-year U.S. government bonds over several months last year. Chatham Asset Management . Products. Main Office Solutions. Something other than fundamentals are playing a huge factor in those bonds., In response to questions about the prices, Melchiorre sent a statement through a representative: We have tremendous conviction in our fundamental thesis on late stage media consolidation in North America and competitors are free to express opposing views.. Marian Needham, the executive vice president of the NewsGuild, the union that represents employees at some McClatchy newspapers, said in a statement that McClatchy needed to adopt existing collective bargaining agreements. Chatham took a financial interest in McClatchy not long after its financial troubles began. The new, supersize version of Gannett resulted from a merger last year between Gannett and the parent of GateHouse Media. Advisor Info 13D/G Insider (Form 4) Ownership/Private Fund Data The Securities and Exchange Commission said the trades were executed at prices that lifted the value of American Media Inc. bonds at a significantly higher rate than . His behavior infuriated some senior executives, according to former colleagues. In 2013, former New Jersey Gov. Chatham hasnt been accused of wrongdoing by authorities, and the fund had no comment on its interactions with federal inspectors. CHATHAM, NJ After working at investment banking firms Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Goldman Sachs, he went to Morgan Stanley in 1998, where he worked his way up to heading the firms junk-bond trading group. Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund, and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have agreed to pay a $19.3 million fine for tampering with the sale process for bonds of. We are deeply concerned that this venerable newspaper chain which has won 54 Pulitzer Prizes will now transfer to the ownership of a hedge fund more known for its drive to maximize profits than for its commitment to producing quality journalism, said Ms. Needham, who is a member of the committee of unsecured creditors in McClatchys bankruptcy case. New York, NY 10017-4036, Chicago Office Found 4 colleagues at Chatham Asset Management. No, I dont think hell be visiting the newsroom and talking about Chathams plans for the paper. "We remain vigilant in rooting out such misconduct in the marketplace, including in the fixed income sector, where investments can be less liquid.". Many hedge funds look to acquire companies that, while they may be failing, still generate a lot of cash. While he was wrangling with Chatham, news trucks were parked outside his house for days. Despite the losses, Postmedia has managed to shunt most of its cash toward paying off its heavy debt load, which ultimately will benefit Chatham. in McClatchy, to the point where it became not only the companys largest shareholder but also its biggest creditor. Another McClatchy creditor, the New York hedge fund Brigade Capital Management, was named in a public filing as a partner of Chatham in the April bid. Postmedia is under investigation by Canadian regulators over a deal with a rival publisher, Torstar, the owner of The Toronto Star, that resulted in the closing of 36 newspapers and the loss of nearly 300 jobs. Before long, the Chatham camp would make good on its threat against that executive, unleashing a tale of sex and money worthy of the Enquirer. Something other than fundamentals are playing a huge factor in those bonds., In response to questions about the prices, Melchiorre sent a statement through a representative: We have tremendous conviction in our fundamental thesis on late stage media consolidation in North America and competitors are free to express opposing views.. The order further finds that these trades were executed at prices Chatham and Melchiorre proposed and had the effect of increasing the price of the AMI bonds at a significantly higher rate than the prices of similar securities. For the sake of McClatchys approximately 2,800 employees (for comparisons sake, The Star alone had more than 2,000 employees about 20 years ago), Im sorry to say things could get a lot worse before theres any chance of getting better. Non-U.S. residents banned from purchasing tickets to Maple Leafs road games in Florida, Nearly one-third of Canadians worried about their vehicle getting stolen amid spike in thefts, Owe money to the CRA this tax season? The iPayment case thrust questions about Chathams bond-trading methods into the open. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. "As a result, during the relevant period, the NAVs of Chatham's clients were higher than they would have been if the subject trades were removed from the market for the AMI bonds, which, in turn, resulted in higher fees being charged to the clients," the SEC said. Thats exactly what happened. Use of this website is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Info/Cookie Policy. McClatchy, the publisher of The Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer and its flagship publication, The Sacramento Bee, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. Price swings on the trades described in the lawsuit marked the biggest-ever percentage changes in those securities, data reviewed by Bloomberg show. A first French dpartement of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. Aiysha Johnson will take the helm of the 13,000-plus member organization following Ralph Albert Thomas' June r[], The Englewood-based advisory firm has entered into an agreement to buy Brainard Capital Management of Austin, [], The 29-year-old and conspirators engaged USPS employees to steal the charge cards from the mail in exchange fo[], The CEO of Toorak Capital Partners offers an analysis of the current residential real estate market, the firm'[], Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon. Long-term clients include the state pension fund of Chathams home state, New Jersey. Chatham, which manages about $4 billion in assets on behalf of its clients, is expected to become the majority owner in the third quarter of the year, McClatchy said, and the publicly traded. Long-term clients include the state pension fund of Chathams home state, New Jersey. The $1.4 billion pension plan, created 75 years ago, was intended to provide money to more than 24,000 current and future retirees. They are scrappy, and they arent afraid of litigation to defend their investments, said Leon Cooperman, a recently retired hedge fund mogul who is a Chatham investor and part owner of American Media, the Enquirers publisher. What is the average price for a luxury home in Grasse, France? Cohens involvement was detailed by people with knowledge of the talks. --With assistance from Neil Weinberg and Matt Robinson. Traders have privately criticized what they see as lofty valuations of illiquid securities. Yet, over the years questions have swirled around Chatham. Chatham is led by Anthony Melchiorre, a Chicago-area native who once worked at Morgan Stanley, where he led the junk bond division. The 2016 presidential campaign had just ended, and Michael Cohen was fresh off handling hush money for Donald Trump. Donnelley & Sons, McClatchy, Postmedia and Accelerate360. With McClatchy, the hedge fund also designed a trade aimed at reaping a windfall through credit-default swaps. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. In an April 3 announcement, the Securities and Exchange Commission said that Chatham Asset Management LLC and founder Anthony Melchiorre agreed to pay more than $19.3 million in combined . . While DOI plays no role in the management of a funds portfolio companies, it expects the funds to invest in good businesses with strong management teams that follow all applicable laws.. The threat was blunt: Back off, or there will be trouble. Whalewisdom has at least 9 13F filings, 19 13D filings, 29 13G filings, and 127 Form 4 filings. The two parties also agreed jointly and severally to pay $11 million in disgorgement and about $3.4 million in prejudgment interest, and civil penalties of $4.4 million and $600,000, respectively. Now he was working on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, a $4.3 billion hedge fund that owns the National Enquirer. Homes for sale in Grasse, France have an average listing price of $1,650,490 and range in price between $498,470 and $19,828,038. The family-owned publisher of The Sacramento Bee and The Miami Herald announced the winner of its bankruptcy sale: Chatham Asset Management, the owner of The National Enquirer. The hedge fund also has officials who serve as directors at AMI. How fitting. And as it happened, the hedge fund owned the tabloid, the National Enquirer, that he had just used to try and catch and kill stories about the future president. So glad that I turned 55 last year and was able to get my 401(k) the hell out of there and roll it into the one at my current employer. Now he was working on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, a $4.3 billion hedge fund that owns the National Enquirer. Chatham Asset Management is a hedge fund with 13 clients and discretionary assets under management (AUM) of $8,608,297,054 (Form ADV from 2022-03-30). Chatham and the Enquirers publisher, David Pecker, had turned to Trumps fixer as a mediator. Hedge Fund Chatham Settles SEC Case on Improper Bond Trading (1) Wall Streets main regulator has been looking into opaque markets since the financial crisis, uncovering a wide swath of bad behavior from lying salespeople to bogus quotes from brokers. He set up his hedge fund in Chatham, N.J., in 2002. Despite the companys financial distress, its bonds traded near par until December, and after dropping, have been climbing back. The hedge fund owns about two-thirds of the companys long-term debt. Under Hedge Fund Set to Own McClatchy, Canadian Newspapers Endured Big I wouldnt even begin to consider owning it at that level. Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. During that time, it invested relatively little, about $5.4 million, to try to improve the business. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. From 2004 to 2019, roughly half of all newspaper jobs in the United States were eliminated, according to a University of North Carolina study. An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens, The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good, Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact, Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways, New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system. Those investments amounted to a bet that the companies would acquire competitors and cut costs. Chatham Asset Management to Pay $19.3M to Settle SEC Charges Within weeks, the notes were back at about par. Shadowy and scaryThat's the prospective new owner of The Star and the Two other old-line media investments, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and McClatchy Co., have become central to Chatham and its thesis that itll make money in an industry others are fleeing. Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors. Chatham Asset Management to Pay $19.3M to Settle SEC Charges. Newsonomics: Six takeaways from McClatchy's bankruptcy The California state pension system has been planning to exit all of its hedge fund investments and has been asking Chatham to sell holdings so it can return about $200 million. That kind of showing helped the firm attract $300 million from investors this quarter, a person familiar with the matter said. Chatham engaged in these trades to address portfolio constraints such as industry or issuer fund concentration limits, meet investor redemptions, and allocate capital inflows and outflows, the SEC noted. The number of journalists at its Vancouver papers the Vancouver Sun and The Province has been cut in half, according to Mr. Gibson. SEC Charges Chatham Asset Management and Founder Anthony Melchiorre for McClatchy did not disclose terms. If they dont do a good job serving their community, the profits wont follow.. When Walt Disney Co. bought The Star and its parent company, Capital Cities/ABC, in 1995, Disney C.E.O. Now he was working on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, a $4.3 billion hedge fund that owns the National Enquirer. Chatham took on more American Media debt in recent months, getting Seaport to arrange a deal after Credit Suisse Group AG got cold feet amid public furor over the publishers antics in the 2016 presidential election. Chathams trading has drawn scrutiny before. ", A representative for Chatham said in an email that "Chatham sought, received and followed advice from an independent compliance consultant about the manner of executing the trading in question. Under Republican governors, the two states committed at least $625 million of pension cash into Chatham Asset Management, a high-risk hedge fund that has taken control of theNational Enquirers parent company, American Media Inc., which is at the center of the federal investigation into President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign. Although not physically imposing, the Fortune story said, Melchiorre could be foul-mouthed and loud, and would berate fellow traders as he bopped around the trading floor in his stocking feet.. for CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, Top 20 equal-weighted holdings. A March 2019 Fortune magazine story said Melchiorre, who is either 51 or 52, was raised in Chicago, studied economics at Northwestern and got an MBA from the University of Chicago. Ex-99.1 - Sec Wall Streets main regulator has been looking into opaque markets since the financial crisis, uncovering a wide swath of bad behavior from lying salespeople to bogus quotes from brokers. I am personally appalled by the Enquirer being an accessory to Cohens criminal behavior on behalf of the candidate, said Tom Bruno, a state union representative who is the chairman of the pensions board of trustees and serves on New Jerseys State Investment Council, which oversees the pension systems investments. Yet, over the years questions have swirled around Chatham. Chatham had waited patiently for Thursday, and now its in the catbird seat, waiting for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to play out and then take charge. After several stints at elite firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, he was let go from Morgan Stanley in 2002 as part of a sweeping round of layoffs. Since Chatham Asset Management took over Postmedia, Canadas largest newspaper chain, 1,600 employees have been laid off and more than 30 papers shut down. Like Warren Buffett, Wall Street traders and just about everyone else, Chatham has no illusions about where the newspaper industry is headed; it just wants to bleed them of cash, or, perhaps, sell them at a nice profit to another chain. After sinking their claws into such companies, they suck out the cash and invest the money elsewhere, where they can get better, surer returns. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. There are people who dont like him. The regulator declined to comment. Last week, that kind of financial maneuvering reappeared in another major newspaper deal, when Chatham emerged as the winning bidder in a bankruptcy auction for the McClatchy Company, a chain with 30 media outlets including The Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and The Sacramento Bee. They wanted to kill a lawsuit by the former head of another Chatham company. Chatham was the favorite in the McClatchy auction, but the New York hedge fund Alden Global Capital expressed strong interest last week, when a lawyer representing the firm said at a bankruptcy hearing that Alden was prepared to top any other bid. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wiped out over $10 million in student loans for an entire graduating class. The 2016 presidential campaign had just ended, and Michael Cohen was fresh off handling hush money for Donald Trump. Shortly after, Postmedia announced it would shut down all 24 newsrooms it had acquired, except for one, according to public filings. The SECs order also finds that Chatham and Melchiorre calculated the net asset values, or NAVs, of their client funds holdings using pricing data that was based, in part, on the trading prices of the securities. The next year, Seaport received internal complaints that brokers there agreed to buy bonds from Chatham with the promise the hedge fund would repurchase them at higher prices, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Best known for its luridEnquirerheadlines (Aliens Are Living in My Toilet), AMI has been beset by a difficult environment for print publications. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. New Jersey hedge fund, founder settle SEC charges over improper trades The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged New Jersey-based Chatham Asset Management LLC and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, in connection with improper trading of certain fixed income securities. In October 2016, a New Jersey hedge fund assumed ownership of Canadas largest newspaper chain with very little fanfare. In 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority opened a review of the brokerage Seaport Global Securities that, while focusing on that firm, included an examination of its relationship with Chatham, people familiar with the matter said. The hedge fund has become a major player in the news industry. Under Chatham, Postmedia has consolidated editorial operations to create what company insiders call common pages. National and political coverage is often prepared at a central site, and content from The National Post is inserted into newspapers across Postmedia. Chatham Asset Management LLC, a private investment firm headquartered in Chatham, on May 16 submitted a letter of interest to acquire San Antonio-based Vericast from MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. for roughly $2.85 billion. Performance numbers calculated through 2022-05-16. , Bloomberg. Melchiorre and his. The Christie administrations shift of $500 million into Chatham makes New Jersey retirees a substantial investor in the hedge fund, which manages $3.2 billion in assets, according tostate records. (One of the people whom Chatham installed on the Postmedia board was Daniel Rotstein, a consultant for American Media.). The firms assets have doubled in the past three years. John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School, said such ownership did not necessarily mean a disregard for journalism.
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