Paulson Shows Stakes In Caesars, Viacom, Prestige Brands
May 15 2012 - 7:21PM
Dow Jones News
Hedge fund manager John Paulson's firm reported stakes in
Caesars Entertainment (CZR), Viacom (VIA, VIAB) and Prestige Brands
Holdings (PBH) in the first quarter and reduced stakes of Tenet
Healthcare Corp. (THC) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI)
It also reported a stake of 31.57 million shares in Genon Energy
Inc. (GEN), up from 4.7 million shares reported at the end of the
fourth quarter.
The value of Paulson's fund holdings rose 8.6% in the first
quarter, to $15 billion, after a losing streak in 2011 that shaved
52% off the value of his holdings.
The fund company reported a 12.37-million-share stake in
Caesars, along with 1 million class B shares of Viacom and 1
million shares of Prestige Brands. It reported holding 2.7 million
shares of Tenet Healthcare, down from 10 million in the fourth
quarter. The firm also reported 5.6 million shares of SunTrust,
down from 11.8 million in the fourth quarter.
Paulson launched a campaign to push for changes at Hartford
Financial Services Group (HIG) during the quarter. In March,
Hartford announced a radical overhaul of its business to satisfy
Paulson's demands for "drastic" change. The insurer agreed to stop
selling variable annuities and put its life insurance arm up for
sale, focusing on its property and casualty business.
On Monday, Paulson said in a securities filing that he had
dropped his activist stance toward Hartford. He owned 37.6 million
shares, or 8.5%, of Hartford.
Paulson also reported a 1.6 million share stake in HCA Holdings
Inc. (HCA), a 2 million share stake in Novellus Systems (NVLS), and
1 million share stake in Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (ANV) for the
first quarter.
The firm reported reduced stakes in several holdings, including
News Corp. (NWS), publisher of The Wall Street Journal and this
newswire, at 300,000 shares versus 4.9 million in the fourth
quarter, and Delphi Automotive, at 45.5 million shares versus 51.7
million in the fourth quarter.
-By Liz Moyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2512;
liz.moyer@dowjones.com; Twitter: @lizmoyer