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US: ValueAct to pay record $11m to settle antitrust lawsuit

By  |  July 12, 2016

ValueAct Capital, which manages some $16 billion in assets, has agreed to pay $11 million to settle allegations that it bought large amounts of stock without notifying US authorities, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

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    The department sued ValueAct in April after it learned that the activist investment fund purchased more than $2.5 billion of shares in Baker Hughes Inc and Halliburton Co, after the companies announced they would merge, without reporting the purchases to US antitrust authorities.

    The Justice Department said the $11 million fine was a record for failing to report a stock purchase. The highest previous fine was $5.67 million, the department said.

    The department said ValueAct had purchased the shares as a passive investment and then interceded in the merger review.

    “ValueAct was not entitled to avoid the HSR requirements by claiming to be a passive investor, while at the same time injecting itself in this manner,” said Renata Hesse, who runs the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

    Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

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