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. This much is sure: Chatham founder Melchiorre, 51, has a formidable reputation. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. Donnelley to $10.85 Per Share in Cash. --With assistance from Neil Weinberg and Matt Robinson. In October 2016, a New Jersey hedge fund assumed ownership of Canadas largest newspaper chain with very little fanfare. The headquarters of Chatham Asset Management in Chatham, N.J. 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. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - 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. 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. STAY CONNECTED Offers may be subject to change without notice. Two other old-line media investments, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and McClatchy Co., have become central to Chatham and its thesis that itll make money in an industry others are fleeing. After several stints at elite firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan. 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. The hedge fund is run by Anthony Melchiorre, a GOP donor whoreportedlymetwith the president and AMI CEO David Pecker at the White House soon after Trump took office. Fast Company & Inc 2023 Mansueto Ventures, LLC, State pension funds invested millions in hedge fund that controls National Enquirer parent. The guy who will be drawing the blood, Anthony Melchiorre, apparently is a piece of work. Anthony Melchiorre - Chatham Asset Management, Chatham Borough, New Jersey This story was co-published with MapLight and Capital & Main. Download 13F Summary 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. Apr 3, 2023. Those investments amounted to a bet that the companies would acquire competitors and cut costs. Chatham and Melchiorre agreed to pay . Chatham is led by Anthony Melchiorre, a Chicago-area native who has earned a reputation on Wall Street as a tough negotiator. 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. Sue, Chatham lawyers warned, and well drag your family into this, according to court testimony. Chatham Asset Management . Chatham Hedge Fund Has the Winning Bid for McClatchy Newspapers CHATHAM, N.J., Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chatham Asset Management, LLC (" Chatham "), a private investment firm which manages funds that beneficially own approximately 14.9% of the. In that same period, the editorial ranks at The National Post, its flagship paper, have been reduced by about a third, according to three of the people. Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments. The hedge fund is run by Anthony Melchiorre, a GOP donor who reportedly met with the president and AMI CEO David Pecker at the White House soon after Trump took office. Chatham is a credit investment firm with investments in the print media and marketing communications industries, including investments in R.R. The family-owned publisher of The Sacramento Bee and The Miami Herald announced the winner of its bankruptcy sale: Chatham Asset Management, the owner of The National Enquirer. A first French dpartement of Alpes-Maritimes existed in the same area from 1793 to 1814. The iPayment case thrust questions about Chathams bond-trading methods into the open. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Non-U.S. residents banned from purchasing tickets to Maple Leafs road games in Florida, Nearly one-third of Canadians worried about their vehicle getting stolen amid spike in thefts, Owe money to the CRA this tax season? That made it one of the best performing bonds in the world at the time. 5.Anthony Melchiorre, age 55, resides in Short Hills, New Jersey. You are limited to the prior 8 quarters of 13F filings. Finally, they agreed to prohibitions from serving in certain positions in the investment industry, pursuant to the Investment Company Act. Chrome Extension. They make money for their clients.. Turnover is calculated by taking the # of new holdings (initial purchases) + the # of positions sold out of (not just reduced) divided by the total # of holdings for the quarter. Chatham is led by Anthony Melchiorre, a Chicago-area native who once worked at Morgan Stanley, where he led the junk bond division. Sign up for your daily digest of New Jersey News. Chathams track record as an owner of a major newspaper chain is grim, according to 10 current and former Postmedia employees who spoke with The New York Times on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. Traders have privately criticized what they see as lofty valuations of illiquid securities. Wall Streets main regulator has been looking into opaque markets since the financial crisis, uncovering a wide swath of bad behavior from lying salespeople to bogus quotes from brokers. That's why all these financial players Chatham Asset Management here, Alden Global Capital, Fortress Investment Group, and Apollo Global Management elsewhere find newspapers such a hospitable environment. The companys C.E.O., Anthony Melchiorre, doesnt give interviews, and no photo of him is available online. We have less boots on the ground, Mr. Gibson said. And given the strains in the print-media business, the strong price of the debt is difficult to explain, traders say. Yet its recent focus on tough-to-trade investments has given some clients pause, and initially drove off investors such as the Ohio state pension fund. Alden Global Capital controls roughly 200 outlets through its newspaper chain, MediaNews Group. The court and regulators must approve the deal. The next year, Seaport received internal complaints that brokers there agreed to buy bonds from Chatham with the promise the hedge fund would repurchase them at higher prices, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The consultant reviewed Chatham's trading annually for compliance with applicable laws and did not alert the firm to any issues. Hedge Fund Chatham Settles SEC Case on Improper Bond Trading (1) 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. for CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, Top 20 equal-weighted holdings. An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens, The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good, Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact, Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways, New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system. It needs to be bolstered and rebuilt, not milked for whatever profit it can still produce., Chatham Hedge Fund Has the Winning Bid for McClatchy Newspapers, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/business/media/hedge-fund-mcclatchy-newspapers.html. Subscribe for access to the latest digital and special editions. In all three cases, Chatham bought most of the subordinated bonds, plus stock. 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 Currently investing in Vericasts term loan facility due 2026. The 2016 presidential campaign had just ended, and Michael Cohen was fresh off handling hush money for Donald Trump. Whalewisdom has at least 9 13F filings, 19 13D filings, 29 13G filings, and 127 Form 4 filings Summary Holdings Ind. The firm and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, have a reputation for hard-edged business. Chatham CEO Anthony Melchiorre and McClatchy CEO Craig Forman assuming Forman stays in place both believe in the . House in Cabris, Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur, France. Chatham and the Enquirers publisher, David Pecker, had turned to Trumps fixer as a mediator. Choose your news we will deliver. SEC employees have questioned the firm on subjects including its pricing of bonds and conversations with various bond dealers. Yet its junior bonds offer yields comparable to more senior securities. I wouldnt even begin to consider owning it at that level. Chatham would conduct required due diligence and documentation and is prepared to devote considerable resources to completing this transaction, Melchiorre stated. Since Chatham Asset Management took over Postmedia, Canadas largest newspaper chain, 1,600 employees have been laid off and more than 30 papers shut down. If they dont do a good job serving their community, the profits wont follow.. At least one executivethe one Cohen and Pecker sparred withhas accused the New Jersey firm of market manipulation. (The answer was no, and I retired on June 30, three days after the McClatchy deal closed.). A March 2019 Fortune magazine story said Melchiorre, who is either 51 or 52, was raised in Chicago, studied economics at Northwestern and got an MBA from the University of Chicago. Chatham had waited patiently for Thursday, and now its in the catbird seat, waiting for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to play out and then take charge. Solutions. AMI gave$10,000 to a super PACsupporting Christies 2016 presidential bid, and Mother Jones reported that ChristieplacedPecker on his campaign leadership team. What is the average price for a luxury home in Grasse, France? How fitting. When Walt Disney Co. bought The Star and its parent company, Capital Cities/ABC, in 1995, Disney C.E.O. Cohens assignment: Get Carl Grimstad, the recently fired CEO of payments processor iPayment Holdings, to the table. Position: Managing Member/Portfolio Manager, Company/Fund Name: Chatham Asset Management, LLC, Address: 26 Main Street, Suite 204, Chatham, NJ, 7928, United States. Anthony Ralph Melchiorre - Chatham Asset Management, LLC 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. Chatham investment firm moves to acquire Vericast for $2.85B Two other old-line media investments, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. and McClatchy Co., have become central to Chatham and its thesis that itll make money in an industry others are fleeing. Thats because they are losing to him.. Jay Youngdahl, a former Harvard researcher who has served as a steelworkers pension trustee, said state officials may be able to take action to try to protect retiree investments. Anthony Melchiorre has served as Managing Member/Portfolio Manager of Chatham Asset Management, LLC since 2003. Katherine Burton, Sridhar Natarajan and Shahien Nasiripour, Bloomberg News, National Enquirer tabloid newspapers. Quantifying sustainability the numbers, the data, and the people, Valuing Banks: Hidden Losses Versus Assets, Research for Institutional Money Management, Global Fixed Income: Volatility and Uncertainty Here to Stay, For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier, Gold: the most effective commodity investment, 2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios, Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors. The number of journalists at its Vancouver papers the Vancouver Sun and The Province has been cut in half, according to Mr. Gibson. 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. With McClatchy, the hedge fund also designed a trade aimed at reaping a windfall through credit-default swaps. 13 Beds 11 Baths 5920 sqft. And in 2006, when McClatchy bought out Knight Ridder, McClatchy C.E.O. 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. Apr 3, 2023. But in recent years it has increased bonuses for its top executives and added more debt, angering the news staff. Cohens involvement was detailed by people with knowledge of the talks. Grimstad claimed in filings that Chatham had manipulated iPayment bonds to seize control of the company. He is the founder and principal owner of Chatham. 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. 2023 BridgeTower Media. But Melchiorre? As weak as these papers are and as far as they have fallen, they still throw off lots of cash. Internal hedge fund records from late 2017 show that AMI investments comprised 23 percent of the Chatham Asset Partners High Yield Funds portfolio. In the same period, it spent nearly $127 million on debt payments. Hes a street fighter, said Mike Rankowitz, his boss at Morgan Stanley. If the business is not profitable, theyll do what they need to to right-size it., He added: If they look at the assets they are buying, part of their core purpose is to serve their community. $5,850,800. Revenue has dropped an average of 10 percent a year since 2016. Despite the macroeconomic warnings of a recession and job[], A Cherry Hill-based financial institution is back on top of Small Business Administration lenders in New Jerse[]. /s/ Anthony Melchiorre Anthony Melchiorre Managing Member Contacts. This will schedule a job to export all requested 13f holdings data for this filer. The examination that led to the investigation was conducted by members of the Division of Examinations' Private Funds Unit, including Jennifer Duggins, Christopher Marino, and Michael Collins. In a statement, a Chatham spokesman said the company was pleased with the outcome of the auction, adding, Chatham is committed to preserving newsroom jobs and independent journalism that serve and inform local communities during this important time.. Sign-up The guy who will be drawing the blood, Anthony Melchiorre, apparently is a piece of work. The ugly litigation with the tech executive was resolved with a less-than-remorseful apology and a multimillion-dollar payday for Grimstad. Its no wonder Chathams side would enlist Cohen, long known for his doggedness on behalf of Trump. 1 Twitter 2 Facebook 3RSS 4YouTube To contact the reporters on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net;Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.net;Shahien Nasiripour in New York at snasiripour1@bloomberg.net, To contact the editors responsible for this story: Caroline Salas Gage at csalas1@bloomberg.net, ;David Gillen at dgillen3@bloomberg.net, David Scheer, Canada joins U.S., U.K. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing games, Canada's ambassador to China steps down after Huawei crisis, Trudeau weighs auto-content rules as next U.S. trade flashpoint. Im always for local ownership whenever possible, and local support, said Sree Sreenivasan, professor of digital innovation at Stony Brook Universitys School of Journalism, sounding a note of caution regarding finance-industry ownership. After sparking federal prosecutors ire for its role in burying Trumps secrets shortly before the 2016 election, the company has drawn international attention for its war with Jeff Bezos over its expos of his extramarital affair. Thats something we wrestle with, he said. Best known for its luridEnquirerheadlines (Aliens Are Living in My Toilet), AMI has been beset by a difficult environment for print publications. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg Yet its recent focus on tough-to-trade investments has given some clients pause, and initially drove off investors such as the Ohio state pension fund. Chatham and the Enquirers publisher, David Pecker, had turned to Trumps fixer as a mediator. Cohens assignment: Get Carl Grimstad, the recently fired CEO of payments processor iPayment Holdings, to the table. Chatham has never had any relationship with, spoken to or compensated Michael Cohen, a representative for the firm said in response to queries from Bloomberg. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. NJBIZ, New Jerseys leading business journal, provides 24/7 business news coverage and events honoring top business professionals. 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. Since it was founded in 2001, Seaport Global has been in full compliance with all laws and regulations governing our industry, the company said in a statement. All rights reserved. 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. In that sense, they are perfect victims for scavengers. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Soon after, he crossed the Hudson River to set up his own hedge fund in Chatham, N.J. Mr. Melchiorre manages over $4 billion in assets for clients through various funds, including some listed under a Cayman Islands address, where more favorable tax rates apply. Contact. (Another Postmedia creditor, the hedge fund Canso Investment Counsel, is being paid back more quickly based on an earlier agreement.). We give you the access and tools to invest like a Wall Street money manager at a Main Street price. Suite 3200 Price swings on the trades described in the lawsuit marked the biggest-ever percentage changes in those securities, data reviewed by Bloomberg show. In recent months, Postmedia closed approximately 15 community publications and laid off 120 employees in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Toronto Star reported. For the low-profile Chatham, American Media has become a high-profile headache. 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. 11 Beds 11 Baths 5382 sqft. There, they tried to prevent him from pursuing a lawsuit accusing Chatham-backed iPayment and its board member Pecker of ousting him unfairly. Fortress is owned by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. Such wagers have come under increased scrutiny from regulators in the last year. Frank Casey will take over as head of the New Jersey Resources business, effective July 1. Which is concerning., Under Hedge Fund Set to Own McClatchy, Canadian Newspapers Endured Big Cuts, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/business/media/hedge-fund-chatham-mcclatchy-postmedia-newspapers.html. Although not physically imposing, Melchiorre could be foul-mouthed and loud, and would berate fellow traders as he bopped around the trading floor in his stocking feet. Chatham Asset Management provides investment advisory services. Chatham itself has been undergoing its first ever exam by the SECs inspections division, according to people familiar with the 16-year-old firm. containing a link to download the .zip file of the CSV file(s) you requested. View Last Form Adv Compilation Report on Record, LIMIT THE USE OF MY SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION, % of top 20 holdings the same as top 20 most commonly held by all managers. Seaport Global defended its practices. Its bonds staged an improbable rally last year, charting a steady climb over 50 percent from 80 to 125 cents on the dollar. CHATHAM ASSET HIGH YIELD MASTER FUND, LTD. CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL OFFSHORE FUND II, LP, CHATHAM ASSET PRIVATE DEBT AND STRATEGIC CAPITAL FUND II, LP. 13F filing from CHATHAM ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC, enter your Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Chatham, which manages about $4 billion in assets on behalf of its clients, is expected to become the majority owner in the third quarter of the year, McClatchy said, and the publicly traded. Grimstad knows what its like to be under a tabloid-like glare. Now he was working on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, a $4.3 billion hedge fund that owns the National Enquirer. Create Email Alert, ***Log In or Anthony Ralph Melchiorre is an employee with Chatham Asset Management, LLC, a hedge fund company. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, agreed to pay more than $19 million to settle US allegations that the firm improperly traded bonds in a media company that owned the National Enquirer.. Grimstad claimed in filings that Chatham had manipulated iPayment bonds to seize control of the company. Melchiorre and his wife have donated more than $100,000 to Republican candidates and party committees since 2010. Whalewisdom has at least 9 13F filings, 19 13D filings, 29 13G filings, and 127 Form 4 filings. In recent months it put together the bid that has been declared the winner in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction supervised by Judge Michael E. Wiles, a McClatchy spokeswoman said on Sunday. Donnelley & Sons, McClatchy, Postmedia and Accelerate360. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. SEC employees have questioned the firm on subjects including its pricing of bonds and conversations with various bond dealers. Chatham has been restructuring their debt to give them more time. What a perfect synecdoche. Chatham took on more American Media debt in recent months, getting Seaport to arrange a deal after Credit Suisse Group AG got cold feet amid public furor over the publishers antics in the 2016 presidential election. The notes dont pay regular interest in cash, a sign of their inherent riskiness. It declined to comment further.

Devon Live Cyclist Accident, Police Incident In Evesham Today, Harris County Democratic Party Judicial Candidates 2022, Articles A