The SEC has increased its focus on the valuation of securities across the market, said Jacob Frenkel, a lawyer at Dickinson Wright. Which is concerning., Under Hedge Fund Set to Own McClatchy, Canadian Newspapers Endured Big Cuts, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/business/media/hedge-fund-chatham-mcclatchy-postmedia-newspapers.html. 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. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. AMI executives helped Cohen purchase stories that could have hurt Trumps presidential bid, according to theWall Street Journal. Im always for local ownership whenever possible, and local support, said Sree Sreenivasan, professor of digital innovation at Stony Brook Universitys School of Journalism, sounding a note of caution regarding finance-industry ownership. Serving as the lead backstop investor in Vericasts multibillion dollar refinancing transactions in 2020 and 2021. Such wagers have come under increased scrutiny from regulators in the last year. Andrew MacLeod, the chief executive of Postmedia, said that Chatham was not a day-to-day operator of the business, and that the cost cuts were all natural outcomes of a legacy business thats been in structural decline. He added that when Chatham came on board in 2016, it was one of the few financial players willing to take a risk on a newspaper business. CHATHAM, NJ for Q1 2022: commodity pool operator or commodity trading advisor, Percentage of assets under management,Performance-based fees, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER/CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER, MEMBER/CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER/CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER, MEMBER/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER/CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER, LIMITED PARTNER CHATHAM ASSET PARTNERS, LP, MANAGING MEMBER CHATHAM ASSET PARTNERS GP II, LLC, CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL FUND III, LP, CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL OFFSHORE FUND III, LP, CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL FUND, LP, Other Private Fund HYBRID DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL FUND. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In October 2016, a New Jersey hedge fund assumed ownership of Canadas largest newspaper chain with very little fanfare. 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. Both have had roles in Chathams other media company, American Media, the publisher of The National Enquirer and other supermarket tabloids. And it means that a news company known for winning top journalism prizes is likely to become the property of a firm that owns The National Enquirer and other supermarket tabloids. containing a link to download the .zip file of the CSV file(s) you requested. Within weeks, the notes were back at about par. The deal happened so quietly that Postmedias own financial news site described it as a debt restructuring in a report that included a single mention of Chatham as one of the investors.. At least five other traders whove looked at the bonds say their prices seem too good to be true. Google and Facebook came to dominate the online ad market, hampering publishers attempts to generate the necessary revenue from digital advertising. 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. Over that time, Chatham has sunk even more money into one of its most controversial investments: National Enquirer parent American Media, which accounts for about 16%, or $400 million, of the $2.5 billion that Chatham manages in its main fund and related accounts. As weak as these papers are and as far as they have fallen, they still throw off lots of cash. The consultant reviewed Chatham's trading annually for compliance with applicable laws and did not alert the firm to any issues. STAY CONNECTED They make money for their clients.. JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC, Theres clarity in the St. Louis Post-Dispatchs futureFor The Star, just a bighaze. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices 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. With roots going back to 1857, McClatchy, a consistent winner of top journalism awards, was one of the last major family-run news publishers. The Ohio pension system did not respond to questions about whether it will seek to divest assets from Chatham. S&P Index data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. The SECs investigation was conducted by Daphne Downes, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Lindsay S. Moilanen, with assistance from Carina Chambarry and Raymond Wolff of the SECs Division of Economic and Risk Analysis. But just on the outside chance he does come around, would somebody please take his picture and send it to me? What asset class is best for corporate plans' growth investments when using LDI? 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. Thoserecordsshow the original $500 million investments are now worth as much as $692 million. 1 Twitter 2 Facebook 3RSS 4YouTube In addition to being a principal owner of American Media Inc., the parent company of The Enquirer and other tabloids, it is a major investor in Postmedia, the publisher of Canadian newspapers including The National Post, The Montreal Gazette and The Ottawa Citizen. 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. Fortune said Melchiorre wasnt a particularly good fit at the firm and irritated some senior executives. 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. I can almost guarantee you there will be staff cuts at most or all of those newspapers. He set up his hedge fund in Chatham, N.J., in 2002. Journalists employed by McClatchy, as well as the mayors in Lexington, Ky.; Sacramento; and Miami three cities served by McClatchy papers pushed for local, civic-minded ownership of the chain. Products. The notes dont pay regular interest in cash, a sign of their inherent riskiness. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. SEC Charges Chatham Asset Management and Founder Anthony Melchiorre for Improper Fixed Income Securities Trading. There are people who dont like him. 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. In 2018, Canadas Competition Bureau, a law enforcement agency that oversees commerce, opened an investigation into the transaction for possible anticompetitive conduct and has searched the offices of both Postmedia and Torstar. Chatham has been restructuring their debt to give them more time. Chatham itself has been undergoing its first ever exam by the SECs inspections division, according to people familiar with the 16-year-old firm. Washington D.C., April 3, 2023 . 13 Beds 11 Baths 5920 sqft. Recent cases brought by the regulator show its trying to ensure that investors have a full and fair understanding of how instruments in the market are being priced.. Internal hedge fund records from late 2017 show that AMI investments comprised 23 percent of the Chatham Asset Partners High Yield Funds portfolio. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. A spokesman for the Ohio pension system said Thursday that the state asked for its money to be withdrawn from the Chatham fund in 2015; the money was redeemed in 2017. If the business is not profitable, theyll do what they need to to right-size it., He added: If they look at the assets they are buying, part of their core purpose is to serve their community. 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. Postmedia, where Pecker sat on the board until last August, has posted annual losses for most of the past decade. There, they tried to prevent him from pursuing a lawsuit accusing Chatham-backed iPayment and its board member Pecker of ousting him unfairly. email address below and choose 'Submit'. I was there. Here are some repayment options, Streaming giants required to contribute to Canadian content as Bill C-11 becomes law, How becoming common-law or getting hitched changes tax-filing season, {{data.symbol | reutersRICLabelFormat:group.RICS}}, {{ stock | formatPrefix }}{{ stock.netChng | formatNetChange }}, Katherine Burton, Sridhar Natarajan and Shahien Nasiripour. Within weeks, the notes were back at about par. 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. They make money for their clients.. 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. I think Ill go to Egypt, Brazil and Africa before my $891.23 monthly pension check stops coming. I would bet, in fact, that not one Star employee not even president-publisher-secretary and head of security Mike Fannin will ever see him. Chatham Asset Management provides investment advisory services. Chatham took a financial interest in McClatchy not long after its financial troubles began. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. Chatham Asset Management is based out of Chatham. Chatham and Melchiorre agreed to pay more than $19.3 million in combined disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties to settle the charges. From 2016 through 2018, one Chatham-advised client sold certain American Media Inc. bonds while a different Chatham-advised client purchased the same bonds through various broker-dealers, according to the SEC. of the acquiring company to visit the newsrooms of the papers being bought and to speak about the companys plans for the future and answer employees questions. The threat was blunt: Back off, or there will be trouble. Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. The ugly litigation with the tech executive was resolved with a less-than-remorseful apology and a multimillion-dollar payday for Grimstad. Hedge funds and private equity companies have become a force in the news industry. Many hedge funds look to acquire companies that, while they may be failing, still generate a lot of cash. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up examinations of various bond funds lately, inquiring about their relationships with brokers and how they value debt. That kind of showing helped the firm attract $300 million from investors this quarter, a person familiar with the matter said. Chatham is a credit investment firm with investments in the print media and marketing communications industries, including investments in R.R. to see more advanced email alert options such as selecting any type of Start Free Trial . But in recent years it has increased bonuses for its top executives and added more debt, angering the news staff. Californias pension fund also has a $235 million stake in a Chatham fund. Grimstad claimed Chatham artificially drove down the price of the bonds by almost 30 percent in a single trade, effectively blocking a debt-restructuring effort so it could capture control of the company. Hes a street fighter, said Mike Rankowitz, his boss at Morgan Stanley. John Longo, a professor at Rutgers Business School, said such ownership did not necessarily mean a disregard for journalism. 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. (The answer was no, and I retired on June 30, three days after the McClatchy deal closed.). Then theres American Media. It has made money in an ailing business partly by cutting the number of reporters and editors at The Denver Post and other publications, moves that have angered journalists and press advocates who accuse the firm of diminishing local news coverage. 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. As part of it, Postmedia traded 17 of its papers to Torstar in exchange for 24 Torstar papers. With McClatchy, the hedge fund also designed a trade aimed at reaping a windfall through credit-default swaps. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The firms assets have doubled in the past three years. Cohens assignment: Get Carl Grimstad, the recently fired CEO of payments processor iPayment Holdings, to the table. Playing tough is the Chatham way. Grimstad claimed in filings that Chatham had manipulated iPayment bonds to seize control of the company. 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. 13F filing from CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, enter your After stints at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Goldman Sachs Group, Melchiorre landed at Morgan Stanley in 1998 where he rose to head the junk-bond trading group. 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. After Grimstad filed his suit, the Chatham camp countered, claiming Grimstad had used company money to pay a Las Vegas escort $4,000 for sexual activities and later hired her and her mother. Blue Sky Digital Outdoor Advertising Fund Fund Data, Sarasin Ie Global Equity Opportunities (Usd) Fund Data, Themelios Ventures Ii-A, L.P. Fund Data. Donnelley to $10.85 Per Share in Cash. Despite the companys financial distress, its bonds traded near par until December, and after dropping, have been climbing back. What a perfect synecdoche. The companys main office is on the second floor of a nondescript, two-story office building in Chatham, NJ, 28 miles west of the Manhattan skyscrapers. Hes a street fighter, said Mike Rankowitz, his boss at Morgan Stanley. Sign-up Chatham Asset Management LLC and its founder Anthony Melchiorre have agreed to pay more than $19.3 million to settle charges in connection with improper . The iPayment case thrust questions about Chathams bond-trading methods into the open. There are people who dont like him. This post has been updated with additional information from Calpers and the Ohio pension system. 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. Postmedia, where Pecker sat on the board until last August, has posted annual losses for most of the past decade. If they dont do a good job serving their community, the profits wont follow.. Chatham investors say that even if authorities go after the National Enquirer for allegedly extorting Bezos or for catch-and-kill tactics, American Media is a valuable company, with several magazines it could sell to raise money for creditors. A first French dpartement of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg House in Cabris, Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur, France. The New York Post put the story on its front page under the headline Frisky Business. (Grimstad has called those allegations false and meritless.). How do I update this listing? 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. During the last five years, taxpayers in New Jersey, Ohio and California have owned large financial stakes in the owner of the media company that allegedly helped the Trump campaign bury negative stories, according to documents reviewed by Capital & Main and MapLight. Chatham is not a newcomer to the news industry. Still, Chatham can elect one-third of Postmedias board, and it has debt covenants that give it huge sway over its long-term plans. CHATHAM ASSET HIGH YIELD MASTER FUND, LTD. CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL OFFSHORE FUND II, LP, CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL FUND II, LP. The state has said its exploring its options in light of Bezoss claim that American Media tried to blackmail him. After Grimstad filed his suit, the Chatham camp countered, claiming Grimstad had used company money to pay a Las Vegas escort $4,000 for sexual activities and later hired her and her mother. They wanted to kill a lawsuit by the former head of another Chatham company. In 2013 and 2014, an Ohio pension system partially controlled by Gov. 11 Beds 11 Baths 5382 sqft. Cohens involvement was detailed by people with knowledge of the talks. They give us a lowdown on how much money were losing and the need for cost cutting, but then they go and give these big bonuses. 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. Ive received well over six figures since retiring in 2006, and I could get another six, if I live long enough and if the PBGC either makes McClatchy pay up or picks up at least two-thirds of the companys pension responsibilities. Alt Turnover is calculated by taking either the total MV of new purchases or Terms & Conditions. In a statement, a Chatham spokesman said the company was pleased with the outcome of the auction, adding, Chatham is committed to preserving newsroom jobs and independent journalism that serve and inform local communities during this important time.. After sparking federal prosecutors ire for its role in burying Trumps secrets shortly before the 2016 election, the company has drawn international attention for its war with Jeff Bezos over its expos of his extramarital affair. The investigation remains active, according to an agency representative. It declined to comment further. 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. 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. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Chatham investment firm moves to acquire Vericast for $2.85B. It doesnt employ a lot of people, and I doubt if it sponsors arts organizations and gives to charities in Chatham. New York, NY 10017-4036, Chicago Office SEC employees have questioned the firm on subjects including its pricing of bonds and conversations with various bond dealers. The guy who will be drawing the blood, Anthony Melchiorre, apparently is a piece of work. We give you the access and tools to invest like a Wall Street money manager at a Main Street price. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. Finra, the brokerage industrys main watchdog, subsequently concluded its review, and its unclear what if anything resulted from it. Indications are hes been with Chatham more than 15 years. Even before the pandemic, Postmedia saw a falloff in advertising, once the lifeblood of newspapers. Melchiorre and his. Chatham has been restructuring their debt to give them more time. Chatham is led by Anthony Melchiorre, a Chicago-area native who once worked at Morgan Stanley, where he led the junk bond division. The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up examinations of various bond funds lately, inquiring about their relationships with brokers and how they value debt. The hedge fund has become a major player in the news industry. Thats exactly what happened. How fitting. 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. for CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, Top 20 equal-weighted holdings. The hedge fundfinalized its dealto buy an ownership stake in AMI in the summer of 2014. In the same period, it spent nearly $127 million on debt payments. 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. 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.. Fortress is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. 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 . This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. In the newspaper industry, it is typical after an ownership change for the C.E.O. All rights reserved. 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 bonds in a media company that owned the National Enquirer.. Bob Hepburn, a Torstar spokesman, said, Torstar continues to cooperate with the bureau in its investigation.. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The hedge fund also has officials who serve as directors at AMI. 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. Activist Investor His behavior infuriated some senior executives, according to former colleagues. That's why all these financial players Chatham Asset Management here, Alden Global Capital, Fortress Investment Group, and Apollo Global Management elsewhere find newspapers such a hospitable environment. 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 hasnt been accused of wrongdoing by authorities, and the fund had no comment on its interactions with federal inspectors. 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. Its bonds rarely change hands. Just sad. With this significant deleveraging and potential additional synergies to be realized with other Chatham portfolio companies, we would anticipate to refinance the capital structure at more favorable rates and lower the companys cash interest payments by approximately $100 million to $150 million per year on a pro forma basis, thereby substantially enhancing the companys financial flexibility.. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. Advisor Info 13D/G Insider (Form 4) Ownership/Private Fund Data All rights reserved. Shortly after, Postmedia announced it would shut down all 24 newsrooms it had acquired, except for one, according to public filings. What it does, apparently, is make its clients lots of money. Grimstad claimed in filings that Chatham had manipulated iPayment bonds to seize control of the company. 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. Thanks, Tracy. The hedge fund is run by Anthony Melchiorre, a GOP donor whoreportedlymetwith the president and AMI CEO David Pecker at the White House soon after Trump took office. Investment Advisor Anthony Melchiorre, Chatham Asset Management, LLC: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Bloomberg Terminal Demo Request Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of. In that same period, the editorial ranks at The National Post, its flagship paper, have been reduced by about a third, according to three of the people. Managers Inv. The new, supersize version of Gannett resulted from a merger last year between Gannett and the parent of GateHouse Media. Chatham hasnt been accused of wrongdoing by authorities, and the fund had no comment on its interactions with federal inspectors. 685 Third Avenue That deal still has not closed. Importantly, the trading occurred more than four years ago in funds that have since been closed. At least one executive - the one Cohen and Pecker sparred with -- has accused the New Jersey firm of market manipulation. It was a lucrative move. What a great word! 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