TheStreet, November 28, 2016 article: "Cognizant Technology Shares Spike on Elliott Campaign" [Activist re-brands stock buybacks as a "capital distribution program"]

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Activist re-brands stock buybacks as a "capital distribution program"

For this morning's letter reported in the article below, see

November 28, 2016, Elliott Management Corp. letter to the Board of Directors of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (16 pages, 346 KB, in PDF format)

The initial version of the article below was distributed to Forum participants shortly after its 9:59am publication. For the final version of the article published later that day, see "Elliott Urges Cognizant Debt Hike for M&A and Share Buybacks."

Source: TheStreet, November 28, 2016 article

Cognizant Technology Shares Spike on Elliott Campaign

■ The IT company's shares were up 10% early Monday after billionaire activist Paul Singer launched a campaign urging the company to set up a capital distribution program.

By Ronald Orol | Nov 28, 2016 9:59 AM EST

IT services company Cognizant Technology Solutions ( (CTSH) ) shares spiked up by 10% early Monday after billionaire activist Paul Singer and his activist investment fund Elliott Management launched an activist campaign urging the company to make a variety of changes, such as establishing a capital distribution program.

"Despite growing into a scale market leader with stable and significant cash flows, Cognizant has remained unwilling to establish a capital return program," said Elliott portfolio manager Jesse Cohn in a 16-page-letter.

The activist fund pointed out that Cognizant has $4 billion in cash as well as $1.1 billion in onshore cash following a recent repatriation, and "virtually no debt." The activist fund said that Cognizant is trading at its lowest valuation since the financial crisis. The fund also urged Cognizant to make changes to its delivery process, its sales and marketing program and make cuts to its human resources department and finance unit.

If the company doesn't respond soon, the New York-based Elliott could launch a proxy contest to elect dissident directors and drive the change the fund is seeking. Elliott has launched more than 96 campaigns at 92 companies since 1994, including 13 proxy fights, according to Factset.

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