Keith Meister's Corvex Management bets on media companies, cuts big tech and biotech holdings

Published Wed, Feb 15 20231:44 PM ESTUpdated Wed, Feb 15 20231:59 PM EST

Corvex Management increased its stakes in media-related companies while slashing technology and biotech investments, according to its latest quarterly 13F filing with the SEC. The hedge fund, founded and run by chief investment officer Keith Meister, made an interesting fourth quarter bet on gaming company Activision Blizzard , using call options with a notional value of $222 million. In January 2022 , Microsoft agreed to acquire Activision for $95 a share in cash, or about $69 billion, but the deal has since been embroiled in U.S. regulators' antitrust case attempting to block the sale. Meister also added a stake in internet services company IAC worth more than $38 million and picked up call options on satellite broadcaster SiriusXM Holdings with a notional value of more than $29 million. Crown Holdings was Meister's second-largest acquisition in the fourth quarter, when Corvex bought $74 million of shares. In November, billionaire Carl Icahn disclosed an 8.5% stake in the packaging company once known as Crown Cork & Seal. Meister was formerly Icahn's lieutenant and served as CEO and vice chairman of Icahn Enterprises. Corvex in the fourth quarter increased its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano , a Mexican multi-national retail and beverage company, by 9.5%, bringing the holding to almost $200 million. In the following table of Corvex's 10 largest Q4 positions, Activision represents the notional value of the options holding, whereas the other nine are conventional common stock: The fund slashed its holding in Alphabet by 24.3% and its Microsoft stake by 19.7%, lowering the two megacap tech stocks near the bottom of its top ten holdings. Corvex also slashed its holdings in software company Salesforce , Ardagh Metal Packaging and Boot Barn , all by 94%, and significantly reduced its stakes in Southwest Gas (-84%), railroad CSX Corp . (-56%). Biotech holdings also fell in the latest quarter. Meister nearly sold out of EQRX Inc. and life sciences company Somalogic entirely (both down 98%), and slashed his position in Sema4 Holdings, now known as GeneDx (-43%). Corvex exited its positions in Amazon , JP Morgan Chase & Co . and Uber in the fourth quarter. The fund also zeroed out its holdings in the small-cap iShares Russell 2000 ETF, and options and common stock in the SPDR S & P 500 ETF. Utility MDU Resources Group and gaming and hotel company MGM Resorts are Corvex's top two holdings, worth $308 million and $224 million at the end of 2022, respectively. Corvex runs almost $3 billion in discretionary assets, according to Whale Wisdom.