A spokesman for the Ohio pension system said Thursday that the state asked for its money to be withdrawn from the Chatham fund in 2015; the money was redeemed in 2017. The investigation remains active, according to an agency representative. The guy who will be drawing the blood, Anthony Melchiorre, apparently is a piece of work. 130 E. Randolph St. And in 2006, when McClatchy bought out Knight Ridder, McClatchy C.E.O. Products. 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. 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. Chatham said at the time that the allegations were baseless and without merit. 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. Like most newspaper companies, including McClatchy, which struggled for more than a decade before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, Postmedia has suffered falling revenues, making cost cuts all but inevitable. Chatham CEO Anthony Melchiorre and McClatchy CEO Craig Forman assuming Forman stays in place both believe in the . CHATHAM ASSET HIGH YIELD OFFSHORE FUND, LTD. CHATHAM ASSET PARTNERS HIGH YIELD FUND, L.P. Price swings on the trades described in the lawsuit marked the biggest-ever percentage changes in those securities, data reviewed by Bloomberg show. Managers Inv. Chatham haswarnedthat its investments are risky and that a client may lose its entire investment in a troubled company. In early 2018, private equity giant BlackstoneremovedChatham from one of its major investment funds. 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. 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. Melchiorre also served as the. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. 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. 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited. The state has said its exploring its options in light of Bezoss claim that American Media tried to blackmail him. 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. 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. AMI represents a large portion of Chathams portfolio. Sign up for your daily digest of New Jersey News. Chatham and Mr. Melchiorre consented to the SEC's order without admitting or denying its findings. 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. 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. The ugly litigation with the tech executive was resolved with a less-than-remorseful apology and a multimillion-dollar payday for Grimstad. The fund, Chatham Asset Management, acquired two-thirds of Postmedia, the publisher of The National Post, The Vancouver Sun and several other major Canadian papers, by trading a portion of the money it was owed for the majority ownership stake. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. All rights reserved. The SEC has increased its focus on the valuation of securities across the market, said Jacob Frenkel, a lawyer at Dickinson Wright. And given the strains in the print-media business, the strong price of the debt is difficult to explain, traders say. Chathams tabloid publisher possesses a treasure trove of Trumps secrets, his former fixer Cohen told Congress last month. Whalewisdom has at least 9 13F filings, 19 13D filings, 29 13G filings, and 127 Form 4 filings. The firms assets have doubled in the past three years. 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. 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. At least five other traders whove looked at the bonds say their prices seem too good to be true. Alpes-Maritimes, France Genealogy FamilySearch At least one executive - the one Cohen and Pecker sparred with -- has accused the New Jersey firm of market manipulation. 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. 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. Anthony Melchiorre has an ownership stake in Chatham Asset Management, LLC of between 50% and 75%. Anthony Melchiorre is the Founder & Managing Member of Chatham Asset Management. With roots going back to 1857, McClatchy, a consistent winner of top journalism awards, was one of the last major family-run news publishers. /s/ Anthony Melchiorre Anthony Melchiorre Managing Member Contacts. With a strategy that led to deep layoffs at The Denver Post and other publications, it has made money in an ailing business while angering journalists and press advocates who accuse the firm of diminishing local news publications and doing a disservice to the communities they cover. Melchiorre and his wife have donated more than $100,000 to Republican candidates and party committees since 2010. Position: Managing Member/Portfolio Manager, Company/Fund Name: Chatham Asset Management, LLC, Address: 26 Main Street, Suite 204, Chatham, NJ, 7928, United States. Chatham already owns about half of the outstanding indebtedness of the marketing company, explaining that the purchase price is the value of outstanding indebtedness. Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Such wagers have come under increased scrutiny from regulators in the last year. Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments. Thats because they are losing to him.. All rights reserved. Currently investing in Vericasts term loan facility due 2026. Those investments amounted to a bet that the companies would acquire competitors and cut costs. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Those zero-coupon bonds maturing in 2024 offered lower yields than five-year U.S. government bonds over several months last year. 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 firms assets have doubled in the past three years. For the low-profile Chatham, American Media has become a high-profile headache. It declined to comment further. Chathams media interests are led by two of its partners, Evan Ratner, a longtime Wall Street investor and a former analyst with Goldman Sachs, and Barry Schwartz, who has specialized in debt investments. The notes dont pay regular interest in cash, a sign of their inherent riskiness. Subscribe for access to the latest digital and special editions. They wanted to kill a lawsuit by the former head of another Chatham company. Yet, over the years questions have swirled around Chatham. SEC employees have questioned the firm on subjects including its pricing of bonds and conversations with various bond dealers. We have less boots on the ground, Mr. Gibson said. . In the interest letter to Vericast CEO John OMalley, Chantham Managing Member Anthony Melchiorre detailed CAMs longstanding investments in the company, including: We are prepared to support any financing requirements for this transaction by subordinating some of our debt interests into subordinated notes or equity, thereby reducing the companys net leverage by up to 2.0x, Melchiorre wrote. The company that is poised to take control of McClatchy and its 29 daily papers doesnt have a website. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Indications are hes been with Chatham more than 15 years. Few people noticed, including some of the chains employees. Chatham has tried to unload The Enquirer. Any McClatchy employees hoping that Chatham might not be as bad as the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which has decimated the Denver Post and other papers in its stranglehold, should consider this: Chatham is the majority owner of American Media, which owns the tabloid National Enquirer which hardly recommends Chatham as a potential restorer of the 29-paper chain to the newspaper industrys top ranks. In 2018, American Media announced the sale of the tabloid to the family that founded the Hudson News chain of newspaper and magazine shops. Donnelley to $10.85 Per Share in Cash. Anyone can read what you share. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. His behavior infuriated some senior executives, according to former colleagues. 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. 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. 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 . CHATHAM, N.J., Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chatham Asset Management, LLC (" Chatham "), a private investment firm which manages funds that beneficially own approximately 14.9% of the. SEC Charges Chatham Asset Management and Founder Anthony Melchiorre for Clearly, the writing is on the digital wall. $19.3M Penalty For Chatham-Based Hedge Fund For Bond Trading - MSN Sue, Chatham lawyers warned, and well drag your family into this, according to court testimony. AMI executives helped Cohen purchase stories that could have hurt Trumps presidential bid, according to theWall Street Journal. 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. I was there. During that time, it invested relatively little, about $5.4 million, to try to improve the business. 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. Grimstad knows what its like to be under a tabloid-like glare. 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. Within weeks, the notes were back at about par. 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. AMIhas deniedit helped Trumps campaign, although Pecker was recently granted immunity as part of the Cohen probe. . 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. Freelance budgets have shrunk at Postmedia, and travel expenses have been severely curtailed, the people said. 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. How fitting. AMI gave$10,000 to a super PACsupporting Christies 2016 presidential bid, and Mother Jones reported that ChristieplacedPecker on his campaign leadership team. The iPayment case thrust questions about Chathams bond-trading methods into the open. In the fall, Alden took a 32 percent stake in Tribune Publishing, the owner of The Chicago Tribune and several other major papers. 5.Anthony Melchiorre, age 55, resides in Short Hills, New Jersey. Donnelley & Sons, McClatchy, Postmedia and Accelerate360. It even offered lower yields than some blue-chip companies. After he departed amid a round of layoffs, Melchiorre quit Manhattan to join the Jersey Boys, a clique of hedge funders across the Hudson River that included billionaires Cooperman and David Tepper. Chatham Asset Management, LLC Anthony Melchiorre Managing Member Dear Mr. Melchiorre, We are writing to follow up on our discussions with regards to your non-binding, conditional indication of interest to acquire R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. Use the CB Insights Platform to explore Chatham Asset Management's full profile. Advisor Info 13D/G Insider (Form 4) Ownership/Private Fund Data In all, the two companies closed 36 of the 41 newspapers that were part of the unusual deal, resulting in 291 job losses. Both have had roles in Chathams other media company, American Media, the publisher of The National Enquirer and other supermarket tabloids. American Media now owes debtholders in excess of $1 billion, more than the book value of its assets. divided by the total MV of the fund. Finra, the brokerage industrys main watchdog, subsequently concluded its review, and its unclear what if anything resulted from it. Search Crunchbase. 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. Those investments amounted to a bet that the companies would acquire competitors and cut costs. 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 regulator declined to comment. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. The merger took place in November 2017, about a year after Chatham took majority ownership. 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. Chatham itself has been undergoing its first ever exam by the SECs inspections division, according to people familiar with the 16-year-old firm. House in Cabris, Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur, France. Its a fair question.". 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 hedge fund has become a major player in the news industry. Postmedia, where Pecker sat on the board until last August, has posted annual losses for most of the past decade. When Knight Ridder bought The Star and three other Disney-owned papers in 1997, Im pretty sure Knight Ridder C.E.O. Many hedge funds look to acquire companies that, while they may be failing, still generate a lot of cash. Behind the salacious headlines was an issue thats drawing scrutiny from regulators: bond prices.
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