VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The US activist investor Daniel Loeb has bought a stake in a Japanese retailer Seven & I Holdings. Though the details about stake and valuation are not revealed, Loeb-run hedge fund Third Point is believed to have acquired stake below five percent. After the sale, the Japanese retailer is expected to take up restructuring exercise enhance profitability, reducing underperforming merchandise stores. Seven & I Holdings operates over 18,000 outlets under the brand 7-Eleven across Japan. Seven & I has decided to shut about 40 unprofitable Ito Yodado stores in the next five years.

Activist investor Daniel Loeb said Fanuc Corp's plan to boost investments was not enough to fix its "blatant capital inefficiency", stepping up calls for the Japanese industrial robot maker to reward shareholders through major buybacks.

Amgen Inc (AMGN.O), one of the world's largest biotechnology companies, will unveil next week its first strategy update since early 2013, but few expect a major shift like the split-up recently proposed by Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund.

Activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point Llc can no longer count on Rhode Island as one of its clients after the state's Investment Commission voted to pull out its investment in the hedge fund, Reuters reported.

With its 25.2% gain, activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point beat rivals in 2013, Reuters reported. Loeb's hedge fund stayed in line with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index which rose 29.6% in the same period.

Auction house Sotheby's named Tom Ford International Chairman and former Gucci head Domenico De Sole as its lead independent director amid criticism from activist investor Daniel Loeb.

Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's chief auctioneer, left the auction house prior to his end of contract a week after spearheading the company's biggest sale, which was Andy Warhol's "Silver Car Crash" for USD104.5 million.

Third Point's Daniel Loeb said he held more than USD 1 billion stake in Softbank Corp while Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn warned of "bubble-like" conditions in some stocks in the Robin Hood Investors Conference.

Sony Entertainment sought the advice of consultancy firm Bain & Company to help identify more than USD100 million in cost cuts. The Japanese conglomerate reportedly suffered a USD181 million operating loss in the second quarter.

Despite Daniel Loeb's assurance that he or his hedge fund Third Point LLC does not have any plans to ouster FedEx Corp founder, chairman and chief executive Fred Smith, an analyst said

The Nikkei said the registration of Third Point LLC ownership in Sony was strategic as hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb intended to pursue management changes and shareholder resolutions in the electronics company.

Sotheby's would adopt its shareholders right plan after Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund planned to increase its stake in the company and pushed to shakeup the company's management team, said a Reuters report.

Yahoo Inc named Maynard Webb as the company's chairman, as Marissa Mayer continued her efforts to turn the internet corporation around.

Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point LLC purchased a USD113.7 million stake in Walt Disney Co.

Shares of Sony Corp fell 3% after it said no to the proposal of Daniel Loeb to sell one-fifth of its entertainment business.