Corvex Management pushes for Kindred sale

The activist investor has built up a 10 per cent stake in the Swedish gambling operator.

Sweden.- The New York hedge fund Corvex Management is pushing Kindred Group‘s board to investigate selling the company after it reported that it now owns 10 per cent of the group’s shares and voting rights. The activist investor, which is run by Keith Arlyn Meister, made a statement disclosing its stake to comply with Swedish regulations.

The fund said in a statement: “We are excited to be large shareholders of Kindred. To date, we have had constructive conversations with both the chairman of the board and senior management of Kindred. We believe Kindred has built a strategic position in the rapidly growing global online gaming space.

Corvex said Kindred should retain an advisor to investigate sale opportunities.

It said: “Given recent developments, we believe the Kindred Board should immediately retain a leading, global financial advisor to evaluate strategic alternatives, including the potential value that could be achieved through a sale or business combination.

“A fully informed board will be in the best position to weigh any strategic alternatives, compared with Kindred’s stand-alone business plan. While we have not pre-judged any path for Kindred, we believe the board should possess all relevant market information and let the data drive the decision-making process. We look forward to continuing to work with the Kindred team.”

However, Kindred’s chairman Evert Carlsson said the company was confident in its existing strategy.

He said: “We are confident about the long-term opportunities for the company and value creation potential for all our shareholders. We welcome and look forward to continuing a constructive dialogue with all our shareholders going forward.”

Kindred has said that it remains optimistic despite a 30.2 per cent drop in revenue for the first quarter of the year following its blocking of players in the Netherlands last October.