The oil giant leapt 8 per cent last week after it emerged that aggressive US investor Elliott Investment Management had built a near 5 per cent stake worth almost £4 billion in BP, fuelling hopes of a radical shake-up to revive its stock market fortunes.
Elliott, which manages $70 billion (£55 billion) of funds, also has a stake in mining giant Anglo American and is playing a key role in the future of Thames Water, the stricken supplier to 16 million customers in London and the Thames Valley.
Activist investors take stakes in what they see as underperforming companies in order to agitate for change, which they believe will drive up the share price.
80-year-old billionaire US financier Paul Singer – described by business magazine Fortune as one of the 'smartest and toughest money managers' on Wall Street – Elliott made its name by buying the bonds, or IOUs, of near-bankrupt countries – and then chasing them for their unpaid debts.
Targeting UK firms: Paul Singer leads Elliott, the company that has just made a swoop on BP.
