By Ena Cefo

U.S. investors, headed by hedge funds NML and Aurelius Capital Management, are suing Argentina in U.S. courts for full payment on their Argentine government bonds totaling US$1.3 billion. The investors bought Argentine bonds for low prices after Argentina’s 2001 default, when the bonds were at a dramatic low. Argentina defaulted on its debt after the investors rejected a widely accepted bond restructuring agreement. The UN Human Rights Council’s resolution condemned the activities of the so called “vulture funds” and warned against the effect of payments to such “vulture funds” on the deterioration of human rights conditions in South American countries such as Argentina.

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October 27, 2014

By Joe Vladeck

Activist hedge funds and aggressive institutional shareholders are looking beyond U.S. shores, according to a new report from Citigroup. Despite its niche status, shareholder activism in the U.S. has generated headlines over the past several years. Most recently, investor Carl Icahn pressured Apple to return money to shareholders, arguing that the California company's stock was grossly undervalued. 

Bolstered by successes in the United States, activists are searching for new targets and are beginning to look abroad. The Citigroup report identifies factors that make international firms attractive targets of activists: unimpressive or overly conservative financials, slow growth, or unwieldy conglomerations of businesses that could be profitably broken apart. 

Check out Dealbook for a summary of Citigroup's report.

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November 15, 2013