By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Altai Capital Management is preparing to launch a board fight at OraSure Technologies after the hedge fund, already one of the biggest owners of the medical device maker, increased its holdings, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The hedge fund built up its stake from 3% at the end of June to 5% in recent weeks in OraSure, known for its COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, said the people who are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The larger stake allows Altai, founded in 2009 by Rishi Bajaj, to press its case for board representation more forcefully, the people said.
Investors have grown increasingly frustrated with OraSure in recent months and several have told Reuters that pushing for board representation would be one way to shift strategy, which could boost its stock price.
Altai is ratcheting up the pressure after Reuters reported that the company rebuffed a buyout offer from prominent healthcare entrepreneur Ron Zwanziger. The two are not working together, the sources confirmed.
Two OraSure directors will stand for reelection at next year’s annual meeting and the people said Altai will likely nominate two candidates, including Bajaj, at some point.
Altai could not be reached for comment and OraSure was not immediately available for comment.
UPPING PRESSURE
By pushing for board seats, Altai would pursue an alternate route to Zwanziger’s buyout bid to force OraSure’s management and board to engage with its frustrated investors.
OraSure’s stock price has tumbled 23% in the last 12 months but has pared losses in the last few weeks to close at $3.25 on Monday, valuing the company at $237 million.
Zwanziger submitted a proposal in June to buy the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based company for $3.50 to $4 a share, Reuters previously reported.
Altai’s Bajaj has been in touch with OraSure’s management and last year suggested that an investor with experience in capital allocation should join its board, the sources said.
For Bajaj, a playbook for OraSure could echo what he did when he joined the board of ContextLogic, the former parent company of online marketplace Wish.com in 2023. A year later he was appointed CEO of ContextLogic and has moved to protect the company’s cash and tax assets, transforming it into a holding company seeking a new business through acquisition.
Since he joined the board in 2023, ContextLogic’s share price has doubled.
‘NOT EXECUTED’
Altai is not the only investor frustrated with OraSure’s performance. Carlo Cannell, whose hedge fund Cannell Capital owned a 2.5% stake at the end of June, according to LSEG data, also proposed new blood for OraSure’s board last year, he told Reuters in an interview.
While he called management “good operators,” he said “they have not executed” and that the company would benefit from a board “upgrade.” He said at least two new directors are needed.
OraSure has been attempting to diversify, purchasing Sherlock Biosciences late last year for its molecular diagnostics platform.
Point of care diagnostic companies offer accurate results in real time to measure cholesterol, and detect flu and pregnancy, for example. But the industry remains highly fragmented with companies such as Danaher, Siemens, Roche and Thermo Fisher Scientific capturing the biggest market share.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Richard Chang)
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