War with Bank of East Asia may be short on spoils

The Bank of East Asia

04/03/2020 08:38

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Alec Macfarlane
    HONG KONG, March 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $6 bln Hong
Kong lender has hired Goldman to conduct a strategic review.
It’s a small victory for Elliott Management, which has been
agitating there for five years. Selling assets now could be
difficult, though, which calls into question the campaign’s
return on investment.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    On Twitter https://twitter.com/AlecMac11
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    - Bank of East Asia said on March 4 that it will carry out a
comprehensive review of its portfolio of businesses and assets,
a move supported by activist investor Elliott Management. 
    - A long-running dispute between Elliott and the bank’s
directors was due to be heard in a Hong Kong court later this
year. Elliott will apply for a court-ordered pause of the
proceedings, the statement said. 
    - “Elliott supports the announcement today by BEA that it
will undertake a comprehensive strategic review,” Elliott Co-CEO
and Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Pollock said in the
statement. 
    - BEA has engaged Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor in
connection with the review. It will announce an update on the
status of the review by 30 June 2020. 
    - For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  MAC/ 
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    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
HK's Bank of East Asia to review assets with Elliott Management 
    urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AX043
Press release    https://www.hkbea.com/pdf/en/about-bea/new-release/2020/20200304en.pdf
Veteran Hong Kong tycoon leaves bank in a bind     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2340IU
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Editing by Pete Sweeney and Katrina Hamlin)
 ((alec.macfarlane@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
alec.macfarlane.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))