Quentin Koffey a year ago left N.Y.-based hedge fund Senator Investment Group, where he spearheaded the firm’s activist investor strategy.
Senator’s efforts to buy Irvine’s CoreLogic, which began in 2020, ended up being very profitable, when the property data and analytics firm was taken private last year for $6 billion by a pair of PE firms. Filings indicate that Senator-backed funds saw a nearly $200 million gain from its initial CoreLogic investment, and a return of well over 20%.
Koffey is back to investing in OC firms, via newly established Politan Capital Management. SEC filings last week showed N.Y.-based Politan having an 8.4% stake in healthcare device maker Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI).
Politan started investing in the Irvine-based company after Masimo’s poorly received buy of audio firm Sound United, a $1 billion deal announced in February that immediately knocked nearly $5 billion off the valuation of OC’s fifth-most valuable company.
Politan’s stake is nearly the same size as that of Masimo founder, chair and CEO Joe Kiani, the $8.2 billion-valued company’s largest individual shareholder. BlackRock is Masimo’s biggest institutional investor, with a 16% stake, according to the company’s latest proxy statement.
Filings show Politan paying between $123 and $159 a share for its Masimo shares; that investment’s already been a winner as the company’s stock was trading close to $160 late last week after a solid earnings report, and news of Koffey’s investment pushed shares higher.
See Peter J. Brennan’s front-page story for more on Masimo’s plans to grow its business via more consumer-oriented offerings.
Joe Kiani expresses optimism in his company’s ongoing litigation with tech titan Apple, taking place on various fronts, over allegedly stolen intellectual property pertaining to each company’s smartwatches.
An initial decision from the International Trade Commission on one matter is due in about a month, with other cases expected to be taken up next year.
“I was in the ITC case for about half of it. For about half of it, I was asked to leave because of Apple confidential documents that were going to be disclosed. The portion I was in, I felt very good about our case,” Kiani told analysts during the company’s latest earnings call.
“From what I understand, the documents that I couldn’t see were not favorable to Apple,” he said. “We feel good about it. And hopefully we’ll have some news September 15.” See page 55 for more.
Ross Pangilinan, the Business Journal’s Chef of the Year in 2019—whose Mix Mix Kitchen Bar in Santa Ana has received a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award—continues to see his star rise in OC’s Arts District.
Already counting the Terrace by Mix Mix restaurant at South Coast Plaza, Pangilinan and colleague Chef Nick Weber this year opened a new restaurant, Populaire, at SCP; it took over the Lawry’s Carvery spot.
Next up for Pangilinan and Weber: Verdant, a café located at the new Orange County Museum of Art across the street from the shopping center.
Alyssa McDiarmid is Verdant’s GM; Pangilinan will also oversee catering services for events at the museum, which opens Oct. 8.
