Elliott Management has upped its stake in Alcatel-Lucent, raising the possibility that the activist investor hedge fund plans to dispute the terms of Nokia‘s agreement to buy the France-based telecom equipment maker.
New York-based Elliot disclosed in French regulatory filings that it has gained control over 1.3 percent of AlcaLu stock gained through equity swaps, the Financial Times reports.
The move comes two months after Nokia agreed to acquire AlcaLu for $16.6 billion (€15.6 billion). Though the terms of the deal have been finalized with the blessing of the French government, Elliott has a history of disputing M&A terms as unfair to shareholders.
The hedge fund is pursuing a suit contesting Vodafone‘s 2013 acquisition of Kabel Deutschland, and was recently accused of declaring “war” on Samsung Group after opposing a merger of two of the South Korean firm’s subsidiaries.
Elliott previously pressured Juniper Networks to sell Junos Pulse and is pushing Riverbed to go private. The hedge fund has also campaigned extensively for EMC to spin off its subsidiary VMware.
Whatever Elliott’s plans for its new stake in AlcaLu, which the fund declined to discuss with the Financial Times, the move seems unlikely to derail the massive tie-up with Nokia, which requires the approval only of Nokia shareholders and the hand-over of half of AlcaLu’s outstanding shares.
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