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RAPAPORT... Hedge fund Corvex Management revealed that its stake in Signet Jewelers rose to 7.8 percent of outstanding shares, stating that it believed Signet to be undervalued, according to a regulatory filing. Corvex's senior leaders met with Signet's board this month, calling those proceedings ''constructive'' and added it may again engage the retailer's management to discuss leveraging Signet's credit receivables and offshore structure, optimizing capital and/or accelerating mergers and acquisitions. Signet's board issued a statement this morning confirming that it regularly engages shareholders in dialog ''to understand their perspective and views on our collective goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value.'' The board added that Corvex shared its views on Signet's balance sheet and capital structure during recent meetings. ''Value-optimizing strategies related to our receivables portfolio and our corporate structure are among the items we have been evaluating and will continue to evaluate as part of this ongoing work. In addition to delivering consistently positive retail operating results, we continue to focus on deploying capital in ways that maximize long-term value for shareholders, including acquisition activity, reinvestment in the core business, share buybacks and dividends,'' according to Signet. Following the great recession, Signet took steps to eliminate non-optimized debt structure, re-initiate a regular dividend, repurchase stock and make strategic acquisitions, including Ultra. Shareholder return since 2010 has risen 185.7 percent, according to Signet. Signet's share were up nearly 6 percent in late morning trading on the Nasdaq at $78.84. Shares are up about 28 percent from January 27, 2013. Corvex was founded by Keith Meister in December 2010. According to its most recent position statement on the Nasdaq, dated September 30, 2013, Corvex's market value was $4.6 billion and it held positions in services, energy, healthcare, non-cyclical consumer goods, technology, basic materials and utilities.
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