St. Louis Business Journal – Pirate Capital is making waves at CKE Restaurants Inc., parent company of St. Louis-based Hardee’s.
The Norwalk, Conn.-based hedge fund spent about $58.7 million since early December acquiring a 7 percent stake in CKE, making it the restaurant holding company’s largest shareholder.
The CKE deal marks at least the second time Pirate Capital took aim at a local company. The hedge fund paid nearly $20 million last year for an 8.3 percent stake in Angelica Corp., a Chesterfield company that provides hospital linen services. Angelica already was battling shareholder Steel Partners II, which currently is seeking more control of Angelica.
Investing through its Jolly Roger funds, Pirate Capital is in the business of rattling corporate cages.
Since the beginning of the year, Pirate Capital has boosted its stake in GenCorp, an aerospace and defense contracting company based near Sacramento, where it holds 7.5 percent of the shares. Pirate Capital sent a letter Jan. 27 to GenCorp demanding to inspect the company’s books and records so it can solicit support for a proxy fight to elect its own directors. Pirate Capital paid about $70.8 million for its stake in GenCorp.
