Ally Financial and Lion Point Capital have engaged PR counsel as the hedge fund makes a bid for two seats on the board of the former auto-lending unit of General Motors.
Sloane & Company reps New York-based Lion Point, which is pressing Ally's board over a perceived "gap between the company's intrinsic value and its stock price." Lion Point has pushed for "strategic alternatives" in addition to its nomination of two unnamed directors.
Ally, which has engaged Sard Verbinnen & Co., went public with Lion Point's previously undisclosed overtures on Jan. 4, contending stockholder value would not be enhanced by pursuing alternatives like a sale. The company called Lion Point's actions over the past two months "particularly disappointing."
Chairman Franklin Hobbs said: "Although we are troubled by Lion Point's tactics, our fundamental disagreement is with Lion Point's clear agenda to force a sale of Ally."
Ally, bailed out by the government to the tune of $17.2B in the financial crisis in 2008, went public in April 2014 in a disappointing IPO. The New York Times noted Lion Point faces an uphill climb to earn shareholder support of its agenda as it owns less than one percent of Ally.
In a statement, Lion Point said its goal is "to ensure that the voices of Ally's shareholders are heard and that policies are in place to address the significant undervaluation of the Company should such undervaluation persist."
Sloane's Elliot Sloane and Dan Zacchei rep Lion Point. Sard chairman and CEO George Sard and managing director Denise DesChenes are advising Ally in support of Gina Proia, chief communications officer at the Detroit-based company.
Ally's annual meeting is slated for May 3.
Teneo is handling the initial public offering of CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms with nearly $200B in assets under management.
Brunswick Group represents Endeavor Group Holdings as it agrees to go private via its acquisition by Silver Lake technology investment firm, which is handled by Edelman Smithfield.
Tod Donhauser, a nine-year veteran of Edelman, has joined H/Advisors Abernathy as managing director and head of its San Francisco office.
Intelligent Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial PR firm, has priced its initial public offering of 1.9M shares at $4, which is the low end of the $4 to $5 range.
Kekst CNC represents Grant Thornton as it sells a majority stake in its US arm to New Mountain Capital, which relies on Goldin Solutions, in what is billed as the largest PE investment in the accounting and advisory sector.
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