A U.S. court rejected activist hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb's bid to force auction house Sotheby's to remove its shareholder rights plan, which limits the amount of stock he can buy. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Donald Parsons ruled late on Friday that he would not overturn Sotheby's so-called poison pill, which blocks activist investors from buying more than 10 percent of the company's stock while passive investors can purchase 20 percent.The ruling ensures that Sotheby's annual meeting will go ahead as scheduled on May 6 in New York. It may also be seen as a blow to activist investors who have increasingly been prohibited from crossing the 10 percent ownership threshold in companies where they want to push for change.Loeb's $14.3 billion hedge fund Third Point, the 270-year old auction house's biggest investor, this week argued in court that the poison pill hurt its chances to get its three dissident shareholder candidates elected to the board.Loeb, a prominent art collector, has long criticized Sotheby's for spending too much and not being properly positioned in the modern art market. Last year he sought to remove chief executive William Ruprecht, prompting Sotheby's to put in the shareholder rights plan.
Sotheby?s is a global auctioneer of authenticated fine art, decorative art, and jewelry. Shares of BID traded higher by 2.6% or $1.1/share to $43.39. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $34.10 and as high as $54.00. On average, 1369510 shares of BID exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1957940.
Source
