After hitting a speed bump in its battle against Samsung’s founding family, Elliott Management is returning to its long-standing match against another Asian business dynasty.
Nikkei Asia Review reports that Elliott Management, the scrappy, New York-based activist fund, has lifted its shareholdings in the Bank of East Asia (BEA), raising the stakes so to speak in its bout against the banks’ founding Li family.
Similar to their squabble with the Samsung’s Lee’s, Elliott has taken issue with BEA’s $795 million, dilutive share placement to the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, calling the move “inappropriate” to minority shareholders and filing a suit in Hong Kong’s High Court in an effort to force the bank to reveal board deliberations over the placement.
They’ve won that case, and now have access to confidential documents regarding the issuance.
While the Nikkei Asian Review adds that market participants posit that the firm might team up with the Malaysia-based Guoco Group, a 14.15% owner of BEA, to what end however is still unclear. Elliott has never spoken about their end game in this battle, so what their next move would be remains – as before – a matter of speculation.
Photo: Canadian Pacific