NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)–Taking advantage of opportunities created by economic and market uncertainty, Mellon Financial Corp.'s HBV Alternative Strategies subsidiary has started U.S. special situations and European event-driven portfolios.
The strategies seek to profit from corporate events such as mergers, corporate restructurings, liquidations, bankruptcies, reorganizations and government divestitures. According to Mellon HBV Managing Director Jonathan Bean, these new disciplines are an extension of the firm's core investment management capabilities and show promise in today's markets.
"Companies are looking to restructure and create shareholder value, while lower equities prices have left many cash-rich companies trading at low valuations and subject to takeover," he explained, in a statement.
A New York investment team led by Michael Hawthorne will manage the U.S. special situations vehicle. They plan to maintain a highly diversified portfolio and target 25 to 35 investments at any one time. Their mandate is to invest in the United States and Canada, with a focus on spinoffs, corporate governance events, intra-capital arbitrage, hostile takeovers, pre-announced mergers, announced restructurings and pre/post bankruptcy situations.