No wiretaps. No smoking-gun emails. And a star witness who was testifying to avoid prison.
All that, and yet a federal jury convicted Michael S. Steinberg, a former top trader at SAC Capital, of five counts of insider trading. It was the biggest victory yet in the government’s crackdown on some of Wall Street’s most vaunted hedge funds, DealBook’s Ben Protess, Matthew Goldstein and Alexandra Stevenson write.
The conviction of Mr. Steinberg will likely mean that his former boss, the SAC founder Steven A. Cohen, will continue to face scrutiny after avoiding criminal charges for years.
It will also probably add pressure on others facing insider trading charges, like Mathew Martoma, another former SAC trader.
Meanwhile, more employees of the hedge fund have left in recent months and landed at other firms, Mr. Goldstein reports. BlueCrest Capital Management, a firm based in London, has hired several employees from SAC’s soon-to-be-shuttered British offices.
The departures come as SAC transitions into a family office, part of the firm’s settlement with federal prosecutors over insider trading charges.
A FLURRY OF DRUG DEALS Pharmaceutical companies announced more than $6 billion worth of transactions on Thursday, in a seeming effort to load up on last-minute stocking stuffers.
AstraZeneca said it would pay up to $4.1 billion to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb’s stake in a venture to develop diabetes drugs like Onglyza and Byetta, DealBook’s Chad Bray writes. AstraZeneca will pay $2.7 billion up front, as well as up to an additional $1.4 billion in related payments.
Bayer of Germany also agreed to raise its bid for Algeta of Norway, a cancer drug maker, by 20 percent, to $2.9 billion, Mr. Bray writes. Under the terms of the bid, Bayer will offer 362 Norwegian kroner, or $59.13, a share.
DARDEN TO SPIN OUT RED LOBSTER Under pressure from an activist hedge fund, Darden Restaurants is planning to bid its Red Lobster brand goodbye.
The restaurant operator disclosed on Thursday that it planned to spin out the seafood chain as part of a series of cost-reduction efforts and strategic shifts, according to DealBook. Other elements of the plan include halting expansion of the Olive Garden chain and making more cost reductions, while increasing dividends and share repurchases.
Darden had been facing a campaign by the Barington Capital Group, which had called for a breakup of the company into three companies and a bigger cost-reduction effort to help bolster its stock price.
CARLYLE SHOWS OFF FOUNDERS’ CHILDHOODS Some companies send out holiday cards. But the Carlyle Group is taking a different tack this year: humorous video greetings.
In a short video posted to YouTube on Thursday, the private equity firm’s management - its chairman, Daniel A. D’Aniello, and its co-chief executives, David M. Rubenstein and William E. Conway Jr. - reminisce about the “early starts†to their investment careers.
How quirky were said childhoods? Here is what the younger version of Mr. Conway tells a schoolmate asked to trade her apple for a chocolate bar: “Bridget, take the trade. There’s a drought and apple production is down this year. That thing could be worth its weight in chocolate soon.â€
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Wall Street Using Legal Means to Seek Nonpublic Information  | In an effort to increase profits, Wall Street traders are increasingly turning to a growing industry of companies that use legal means to uncover nonpublic information, such as retail traffic and oil production numbers, The Wall Street Journal writes. Wall Street Journal
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Mehlman to Lead Private Equity Lobbying Group  | The Private Equity Growth Capital Council, the main lobbying group for the leveraged buyout industry, named Kenneth Mehlman as its chairman on Wednesday, making him one of its most visible faces as it argues on behalf of its members. DealBook »
UBS’s Employee Share-Management Unit Is Sold  | Montagu Private Equity said on Thursday that it had acquired the Swiss bank UBS’s business of administering employee share participation programs for corporations in Europe and Asia. DealBook »
K.K.R. and Carlyle Advance in Transpacific Industries Auction  | Several private equity firms, including K.K.R. and the Carlyle Group, have advanced in an auction for Transpacific Industries Group’s New Zealand waste management business, a deal that could be worth as much as $725 million, Reuters reports. Reuters
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Funds Keep Rents Sky-High in London’s West End  | London’s West End now has the world’s most expensive office space, driven in part by building restrictions on high rises and a push for office space by hedge funds in the area, Bloomberg News reports. Central Hong Kong was previously the most expensive office space market. Bloomberg
Fidelity Starts Two ‘Event-Driven’ Funds  | The Wall Street Journal reports: “Fidelity Investments launched two ‘event-driven’ mutual funds, the latest foray by the firm into a sector traditionally dominated by hedge funds.†Wall Street Journal
Facebook and Zuckerberg to Sell More Shares  | Facebook disclosed on Thursday that it planned to sell 70 million shares in a secondary offering. Nearly 41.4 million of them will be sold by Mark Zuckerberg, mostly to cover taxes on exercised stock options. DealBook »
Thai Telecom Firm Completes $1.8 Billion Offering  | The True Corporation, the largest full-service telecommunications company in Thailand, has completed the $1.8 billion sale of a fund housing its infrastructure assets, “skirting a market slide to land the second-biggest Thai initial public offering of 2013,†Reuters reports. Reuters
S.E.C. Proposes Higher Limit for Small Company Offerings  | The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a higher limit for the amount of money smaller companies can raise in a public offering as part of a push to increase investments in those companies, Bloomberg News writes. Bloomberg
Bitcoin, a Nationless Currency, Still Feels Government’s Pinch  | A recent succession of moves by governments around the world has cast doubts on the legitimacy of the virtual currency Bitcoin. DealBook »
Venture Capital Investments Up 45% in Florida  | Venture capital investments are up 45 percent in Florida this year, but still behind other states on a per-capita basis, The Miami Herald reports. Miami Herald
What a Budding Entrepreneur Needs  | Forbes writes that entrepreneurs hoping for venture capital need to have a scalable business plan and real operating leverage in their sector. Forbes
British Lawmakers Criticize Tax Authorities on Prosecutions  | British lawmakers are criticizing tax authorities, The Financial Times writes, saying they fail to pursue prosecutions of multinational companies. Financial Times
3 Charged in Fraud Tied to Anglo Irish Bank  | Three former bankers have been charged with conspiracy to defraud in connection with a 7.2 billion euro transaction that prosecutors say was designed to make Anglo Irish Bank appear financially stronger during the financial crisis, The Financial Times reports. Financial Times
Brokerage Firm Sues S.E.C. for Harassment  | A small New York brokerage firm, Arjent, is suing the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that the agency had asked investors “leading and alarming questions†in a two-and-a-half year investigation, but has taken no action against the company, Bloomberg News reports. Bloomberg
