NCR, Fiat Chrysler Offer Event-Driven Upside Says Quaker Fund Manager

Fiat Chrysler’s (FCAU) shares have surged 25% year-to-date partly because of CEO Sergio Marchionne’s talk about a tie-up with GM (GM). Thomas Kirchner, portfolio manager for the Quaker Event Arbitrage fund (QEAAX), said that particular deal is highly unlikely, but real value can be unlocked at the automaker through a series of spinoffs of Ferrari and Maserati. 'The nice thing you are going to see is that conglomerate discount that is currently being applied to Fiat Chrysler is going to go away and you are just going to have a pure, retail car-company,' said Kirchner. The Quaker Event Arbitrage fund, which does not own shares of Fiat Chrysler, is down 3.5% so far in 2015, according to fund-tracker Morningstar. Kirchner is also closely watching the proceedings at NCR Corp. (NCR) where activists Jana Partners and Marcato are pushing for a sale, was up for sale. Shares of the company have fallen over 6% this year despite the attention so investors can now enter the stock 10% below Jana Partners' cost basis, and almost 20% below what Marcato paid for the stock. 'The activists are still pushing for a sale and Blackstone (BX) may be a potential buyer. We think something will happen in the next few months,' said Kirchner, adding he sees a large upside to the stock although he took profits in the previously and no longer has a position in it.