Elliott Management Corp., the New York hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer, revealed a 5.1 percent stake in U.K. software group Micro Focus International Plc.
The position, built via shares and contracts-for-difference according to a U.K. regulatory filing Monday, comes after reports Elliott is planning push for changes at Micro Focus, according to people familiar with the matter.
Private equity firms could be interested in all or parts of Micro Focus, and some buyout firms have crunched the numbers and spoken to banks about the feasibility of a deal, Bloomberg previously reported.
Micro Focus has had a tough 2018. Its stock fell the most in 13 years last month after the Newbury, England-based company warned that its year-over-year revenue decline would be greater than expected and said its Chief Executive Officer Chris Hsu had stepped down.
The sales warning stemmed from complications integrating the acquisition of about $8.8 billion of software assets from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
While Micro Focus has struggled, Elliott has been busy making waves in Europe. Earlier Monday Telecom Italia SpA and its biggest investor Vivendi SA won a ruling in a Milan court after a judge upheld their claim against Elliott’s request to oust six directors at the April 24 annual general meeting, according to people familiar with the matter.
Shares in U.K. property firm Hammerson Plc rose 4 percent on Friday after Elliott disclosed a stake in the U.K. real-estate company, while shares in Whitbread Plc have also been on a tear since Elliott said last week it owns an economic interest of more than 6 percent of the company.
To contact the reporter on this story: Giles Turner in London at gturner35@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Alistair Barr
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