How two boutique funds made a killing from an ASX cotton bidding war
It was the most contested takeover on the ASX this year. And two quite different fund managers — Samuel Terry and M&A arbitrage fund Harvest Lane — both played it beautifully.
French conglomerate Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) may have finally emerged as the winning bidder for Namoi Cotton, but the two boutique fund managers at the centre of the drawn out takeover tussle may prove to be the real victors.
Namoi shareholders Samuel Terry Asset Management and Harvest Lane Asset Management have realised significant profits as LDC and Singapore-listed Olam International duelled it out in ever increasing bids for the ASX-listed cotton processor.
"We felt that Namoi was a very strategic asset that both bidders would be willing to pay full value for and that's essentially how it played out,” Harvest Lane managing director Luke Cummings told Capital Brief.
Harvest Lane describes itself as as Australia’s only dedicated M&A arbitrage fund, and it looks to profit by building stakes in officially announced takeover targets, and by trading in companies involved in acquisitions, divestitures and other corporate activity.
