BusinessWeek- t’s no longer surprising when hedge funds do battle with a company’s management, agitating for everything from a board seat to the outright sale of the business. Shareholder activism isa staple investment strategy for a growing list of hedge funds.<\/p>\n
It’s not every day, though, that an activist hedge takes on one of its peers. Yet that’s what’s about to happen in the proposed $3 billion buyout of Acxiom (ACXM<\/a>), a Little Rock business data processing company.<\/p>\n BusinessWeek has learned that Acxiom’s second-biggest shareholder, Millbrook Capital Management<\/a>, is going to oppose a proposed buyout of the company by the activist hedge fund ValueAct Capital<\/a> and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners<\/a>, arguing the $27.10-a-share purchase price is too low. The company’s management agreed to the buyout on May 16, and as part of the deal, Charles Morgan<\/a>, Acxiom’s chief executive, will continue on in his post.<\/p>\n In an interview on May 18, Clay B. Lifflander, Millbrook’s president, said the $700 million hedge fund, which has an 8% equity stake in Acxiom, will soon voice its objections to the deal in a regulatory filing and a letter to management. Lifflander says if Acxiom’s financial projections are accurate, the stock should be trading north of $35 a share a year from now. “We’re solid in our view,” says Lifflander.<\/p>\n