And as it happened, the hedge fund owned the tabloid, the National Enquirer, that he had just used to try and catch and kill stories about the future president. Its bonds rarely change hands. Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. So glad that I turned 55 last year and was able to get my 401(k) the hell out of there and roll it into the one at my current employer. John Kasichs appointeescommitted$125 million to Chatham. In the same period, it spent nearly $127 million on debt payments. Although not physically imposing, the Fortune story said, Melchiorre could be foul-mouthed and loud, and would berate fellow traders as he bopped around the trading floor in his stocking feet.. Over that time, Chatham has sunk even more money into one of its most controversial investments: National Enquirer parent American Media, which accounts for about 16%, or $400 million, of the $2.5 billion that Chatham manages in its main fund and related accounts. 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. Thanks, Tracy. From 2016 through 2018, one Chatham-advised client sold certain American Media Inc. bonds while a different Chatham-advised client purchased the same bonds through various broker-dealers, according to the SEC. Their bonds, though, havent suffered. Since Chathams takeover of Postmedia, Mr. Ratner and Mr. Schwartz have checked in regularly with its management team. Former FEC commissioner Trevor Potter, the head of the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center,last week said the situation presents a serious legal problem for AMI. If those legal troubles end up depressing the market value of AMI, teachers, firefighters, cops and other public employees also could potentially suffer losses at a time when their pension funds are alreadyfacingshortfalls. While he was wrangling with Chatham, news trucks were parked outside his house for days. Named after the leafy suburb where its based, Chatham has posted average annual returns of about 10 percent, trouncing many of its competitors. Sad. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. Melchiorre, 55, owned roughly 70 percent of the company during the relevant period and is the managing member of the general partner entity for each of the funds. During the coronavirus shutdown, Postmedia has made further cuts, laying off 80 employees and closing down 15 community papers. Their bonds, though, havent suffered. Fortress is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The SEC has increased its focus on the valuation of securities across the market, said Jacob Frenkel, a lawyer at Dickinson Wright. During the last five years, taxpayers in New Jersey, Ohio and California have owned large financial stakes in the owner of the media company that allegedly helped the Trump campaign bury negative stories, according to documents reviewed by Capital & Main and MapLight. American Media now owes debtholders in excess of $1 billion, more than the book value of its assets. Even before the pandemic, Postmedia saw a falloff in advertising, once the lifeblood of newspapers. At least five other traders whove looked at the bonds say their prices seem too good to be true. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. Long-term clients include the state pension fund of Chathams home state, New Jersey. 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. Hes a street fighter, said Mike Rankowitz, his boss at Morgan Stanley. 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. Traders have privately criticized what they see as lofty valuations of illiquid securities. Chatham Asset Management LLC and its founder Anthony Melchiorre have agreed to pay more than $19.3 million to settle charges in connection with improper . This post has been updated with additional information from Calpers and the Ohio pension system. 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. Found 4 colleagues at Chatham Asset Management. But in recent years it has increased bonuses for its top executives and added more debt, angering the news staff. In 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority opened a review of the brokerage Seaport Global Securities that, while focusing on that firm, included an examination of its relationship with Chatham, people familiar with the matter said. Aiysha Johnson will take the helm of the 13,000-plus member organization following Ralph Albert Thomas' June r[], The Englewood-based advisory firm has entered into an agreement to buy Brainard Capital Management of Austin, [], The 29-year-old and conspirators engaged USPS employees to steal the charge cards from the mail in exchange fo[], The CEO of Toorak Capital Partners offers an analysis of the current residential real estate market, the firm'[], Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Thats because they are losing to him.. Anthony Melchiorre has an ownership stake in Chatham Asset Management, LLC of between 50% and 75%. The deal happened so quietly that Postmedias own financial news site described it as a debt restructuring in a report that included a single mention of Chatham as one of the investors.. Chatham itself has been undergoing its first ever exam by the SECs inspections division, according to people familiar with the 16-year-old firm. The iPayment case thrust questions about Chathams bond-trading methods into the open. The hedge fund owns about two-thirds of the companys long-term debt. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Its boundaries differed from those of the modern department, however. Good writing. or to simply have an email sent to you whenever we receive a new Chatham engaged in these trades to address portfolio constraints such as industry or issuer fund concentration limits, meet investor redemptions, and allocate capital inflows and outflows, the SEC noted. Sanjay Wadhwa, deputy director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement that Chatham's trading in AMI bonds had the effect of "increasing the prices of those generally illiquid securities in a way that was disconnected from economic reality. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice| Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information| Ad Choices Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. I have no regrets whatsoever about going with the monthly pension. With McClatchy, the hedge fund also designed a trade aimed at reaping a windfall through credit-default swaps. A New Jersey Treasury Department spokesperson said in an email that its Division of Investment is in regular contact with its investment partners regarding underlying portfolio companies and provides feedback when appropriate. Anthony Melchiorre has served as Managing Member/Portfolio Manager of Chatham Asset Management, LLC since 2003. The investigation remains active, according to an agency representative. As a result, during the relevant period, the NAVs of Chathams clients were higher than they would have been if the subject trades were removed from the market for the AMI bonds, which, in turn, resulted in higher fees being charged to the clients. The New Jersey office building in which Chatham Asset Management has its office. It doesnt employ a lot of people, and I doubt if it sponsors arts organizations and gives to charities in Chatham. A similar story has unfolded at newspaper publisher McClatchy, which has posted annual losses since 2015. Thats exactly what happened. When Knight Ridder bought The Star and three other Disney-owned papers in 1997, Im pretty sure Knight Ridder C.E.O. 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 answer was no, and I retired on June 30, three days after the McClatchy deal closed.). (One of the people whom Chatham installed on the Postmedia board was Daniel Rotstein, a consultant for American Media.). Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors. Use of this website is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Info/Cookie Policy. Under Chatham, Postmedia has consolidated editorial operations to create what company insiders call common pages. National and political coverage is often prepared at a central site, and content from The National Post is inserted into newspapers across Postmedia. 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. Its a huge problem, and its getting to the point where its unacceptable.. Hedge Fund Tony Ridder came to the newsroom and spoke, although he was such a stone of a personality I dont specifically remember it. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. 685 Third Avenue Another McClatchy creditor, the New York hedge fund Brigade Capital Management, was named in a public filing as a partner of Chatham in the April bid. Chris Christies administrationmoved$300 millionof pension cash into the Chatham Fund, LP, which hasowneda stake in AMI, according to SEC records. The court and regulators must approve the deal. You know a little about ledes (leads) yourself. I remember that very well because by then I was hoping for a buyout and asked him, in front of the crowd, if he was planning on offering any. Those investments amounted to a bet that the companies would acquire competitors and cut costs. Chatham investment firm moves to acquire Vericast for $2.85B. --With assistance from Neil Weinberg and Matt Robinson. They make money for their clients.. Chatham Asset Management provides investment advisory services. Despite the losses, Postmedia has managed to shunt most of its cash toward paying off its heavy debt load, which ultimately will benefit Chatham. Ive received well over six figures since retiring in 2006, and I could get another six, if I live long enough and if the PBGC either makes McClatchy pay up or picks up at least two-thirds of the companys pension responsibilities. The SEC order found that these trades were executed at prices Chatham and Mr. Melchiorre proposed and had the effect of increasing the price of the AMI bonds at a significantly higher rate than the prices of similar securities. Then theres American Media. Contact. Hedge funds and private equity firms have had a growing presence in the news industry, to the chagrin of press advocates who argue that financial firms do not make civic-minded stewards of a business built largely on holding the powerful to account. 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. By Sabela Ojea. This will schedule a job to export all requested 13f holdings data for this filer. 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. Sue, Chatham lawyers warned, and well drag your family into this, according to court testimony. Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund, and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have agreed to pay a $19.3 million fine for tampering with the sale process for bonds of. Its bonds staged an improbable rally last year, charting a steady climb over 50 percent from 80 to 125 cents on the dollar. But Mr. MacLeod, the chief executive, acknowledged complaints about the cuts. Trumps former attorney, Michael Cohen, recentlypleaded guiltyto breaking campaign finance laws stemming from payments he made to women to hide affairs with the former reality TV star and real estate magnate. Hedge funds are certainly profit-oriented, Mr. Longo said. Since 2017, Postmedia has paid out over $6.2 million Canadian, or about $4.5 million, in bonuses to its five top executives, including Mr. MacLeod, the chief executive, and Paul Godfrey, the executive chairman of the board. Following the successful launch of its Newport Centre location last fall, the brand recently unveiled its newest restaurant d[], JLL secured a long-term lease for 3,400 square feet for Rubinstein Plastic Surgery Center LLC, a cosmetic surgery practice, m[], The CEO of Toorak Capital Partners offers an analysis of the current residential real estate market, the [], Video Replay: NJBIZ Leaders In Digital Technology 2023, Congratulations to the 2023 NJBIZ Leaders in Law honorees (updated), Introducing NJBIZ Connect Your Guide to New Jersey Businesses, NJBIZ unveils 2023 Leaders in Finance Lifetime Achievement Honoree, Introducing the 2023 NJBIZ Leaders in Finance honorees (updated). There are people who dont like him. The order further finds that these trades were executed at prices Chatham and Melchiorre proposed and had the effect of increasing the price of the AMI bonds at a significantly higher rate than the prices of similar securities. Chatham Asset Management . AMI executives helped Cohen purchase stories that could have hurt Trumps presidential bid, according to theWall Street Journal. While DOI plays no role in the management of a funds portfolio companies, it expects the funds to invest in good businesses with strong management teams that follow all applicable laws.. In addition to being a principal owner of American Media Inc., the parent company of The Enquirer and other tabloids, it is a major investor in Postmedia, the publisher of Canadian newspapers including The National Post, The Montreal Gazette and The Ottawa Citizen. Pressure has been building. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. All rights reserved. AMI gave$10,000 to a super PACsupporting Christies 2016 presidential bid, and Mother Jones reported that ChristieplacedPecker on his campaign leadership team. Download 13F Summary Washington D.C., April 3, 2023 The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged New Jersey-based Chatham Asset Management LLC and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, in connection with improper trading of certain fixed income securities. Michael Eisner came to the newsroom. to see more advanced email alert options such as selecting any type of , Bloomberg. I would bet, in fact, that not one Star employee not even president-publisher-secretary and head of security Mike Fannin will ever see him. Grimstad knows what its like to be under a tabloid-like glare. AMI represents a large portion of Chathams portfolio. A first French dpartement of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. 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. In 2018, Canadas Competition Bureau, a law enforcement agency that oversees commerce, opened an investigation into the transaction for possible anticompetitive conduct and has searched the offices of both Postmedia and Torstar. $5,850,800. I cannot talk on behalf of the entire SIC, but I will be doing everything in my power to convince a majority to vote the same way.. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. (The most memorable thing he said was Disney would not be selling the papers anytime soon, but they were on the block a year later.). Shortly after, Postmedia announced it would shut down all 24 newsrooms it had acquired, except for one, according to public filings. 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. A Chicago-area kid who studied economics at Northwestern and got an MBA from the University of Chicago, his high-toned education didn't reduce the intensity of the former high-school football star. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market. The sale was proposed after American Media signed a nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in which it affirmed that it had made a payment to influence the 2016 election. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. Chathams tabloid publisher possesses a treasure trove of Trumps secrets, his former fixer Cohen told Congress last month. While he was wrangling with Chatham, news trucks were parked outside his house for days. Andrew MacLeod, the chief executive of Postmedia, said that Chatham was not a day-to-day operator of the business, and that the cost cuts were all natural outcomes of a legacy business thats been in structural decline. He added that when Chatham came on board in 2016, it was one of the few financial players willing to take a risk on a newspaper business. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. There are often clauses in agreements between pension funds and hedge funds that give states certain rights and recourse if they believe retirees money has been invested in companies engaging in criminal activity, he said. As you are aware, Chatham Asset Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, "we" or "Chatham") is a New Jersey-based credit investment firm with extensive investments in the print media. There are people who dont like him. 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. Chatham is not a newcomer to the news industry. Vericast recently announced several growth initiatives, including investing in technology and hiring for more than 250 new positions across the organizationits largest investments in innovation and employees since the companys 2020 launch. There, they tried to prevent him from pursuing a lawsuit accusing Chatham-backed iPayment and its board member Pecker of ousting him unfairly. Advisor Info 13D/G Insider (Form 4) Ownership/Private Fund Data 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. Californias pension fund also has a $235 million stake in a Chatham fund. 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. Grimstad claimed in filings that Chatham had manipulated iPayment bonds to seize control of the company. Postmedia (along with its external counsel) is strongly of the view that there has been no contravention of the Competition Act with respect to this matter, Phyllise Gelfand, a Postmedia spokeswoman, said in a statement. At least one executivethe one Cohen and Pecker sparred withhas accused the New Jersey firm of market manipulation. Thats just not how bond math works, said Michael Terwilliger, a portfolio manager at Resource Credit Income Fund. [2]: During the Relevant Period, Melchiorre owned approximately 70 percent of Chatham, and is the managing member of the general partner entity for each of the Funds. Terms & Conditions. Chatham Asset Management is a hedge fund with 13 clients and discretionary assets under management (AUM) of $8,608,297,054 (Form ADV from 2022-03-30). Chatham has tried to unload The Enquirer. 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. Main Office 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. Frank Casey will take over as head of the New Jersey Resources business, effective July 1. No, I dont think hell be visiting the newsroom and talking about Chathams plans for the paper. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. 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. Chathams and Melchiorres trading in the AMI bonds accounted for the vast majority of trading in those securities and therefore over time had a material effect on their pricing. There are 8 other people named Anthony Melchiorre on AllPeople. 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 information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon. Both have had roles in Chathams other media company, American Media, the publisher of The National Enquirer and other supermarket tabloids. Thoserecordsshow the original $500 million investments are now worth as much as $692 million. 11 Beds 11 Baths 5382 sqft. Search Crunchbase.
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