INVESTMENTS
Head of Harvard endowment wants to sell more than $2.5b in underperforming assets
The new chief of Harvard University endowment wants to sell off a large chunk of real estate funds and private equity funds, as part of a broad overhaul of the $36 billion portfolio, according to a person briefed on the matter. N.P. Narvekar, the endowment’s chief executive, is moving to sell about $2.5 billion in underperforming assets, to be redeployed elsewhere, according to the person, who was not authorized to discuss the sale publicly. The funds are being offered through an intermediary, Cogent Partners, according to Axios, an online news publication that first reported the asset sale. The sale would be separate from the spinout of Harvard’s direct real estate investment group later this year, which was previously reported. That group has successfully invested in properties, instead of allocating money to an outside fund to manage the holdings. Narvekar is making a move similar to an action taken by one of his recent predecessors, Jane Mendillo. She planned early in her tenure to sell some private equity assets that were deemed to be underperforming, eventually selling them at a discount as the financial crisis hit in 2009. A spokeswoman for the endowment declined to comment on the details or reason for the proposed sale. — BETH HEALY
PHARMACEUTICALS
Drug industry lobbying group looks to oust smaller companies
The pharmaceutical industry’s Washington lobbying group is expected to adopt new membership rules this week that will oust many smaller companies amid ongoing scrutiny of prescription drug prices in the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. The lobby group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, is proposing that member companies must spend $200 million a year on research and development, based on a three-year average. They’ll also have to have to show that their R&D spending amounts to at least 10 percent of their global sales, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is still private. The proposed changes would create a trade group made up of mostly large, established drugmakers. It would shut out some of the small companies that have attracted the ire of insurers, patients, and politicians over their business practices, buying older drugs and raising their prices, and for smaller companies that don’t yet have drugs on the market. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
RETAIL
Coach buys Kate Spade for $2.4 billion
Coach, the US maker of high-end accessories, said Monday that it would buy the rival fashion house Kate Spade in a $2.4 billion deal, the latest in a series of acquisitions aimed at building an accessible luxury group. The deal confirms months of speculation on Wall Street, with Coach — once a leading light in US retail but which has struggled in recent years against heightened competition, its own discounting of products, and a bloated store network — adding a brand known for its bright, girlie aesthetic. Coach said that it was offering $18.50 per share in cash for Kate Spade, a premium of 9 percent on the closing price Friday. Coach said it expected to generate approximately $50 million in savings from the deal within three years. The company pioneered the sale of luxury handbags at relatively affordable prices, but its bottom line suffered in recent years. Analysts have speculated whether Coach could buy Burberry, Britain’s biggest luxury brand by sales. And just this month, Coach was tipped as the favorite to buy Jimmy Choo after the British accessories label was put up for sale. — NEW YORK TIMES
GASOLINE
Prices at pump drop three cents in week
The price of gasoline in Massachusetts has dropped by three cents this week. AAA Northeast said Monday that self-serve, regular averaged $2.29 per gallon. That’s six cents below the national average of $2.35, but 10 cents higher than the state’s price a year ago. AAA says self-serve, regular is selling for as low as $2.11 per gallon and as high as $2.45. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
AIRLINES
Owners of giant rabbit who died on United flight want answers, compensation
The owners of a giant rabbit that died after flying from the United Kingdom to Chicago want to know more about the animal’s death and why he was so quickly cremated. Attorney Guy Cook (right) said Monday that the owners of the rabbit, named Simon, are troubled that he was cremated without a necropsy, or postmortem examination, soon after his death April 20. Cook says he sent a letter to United Airlines last week but hasn’t heard back. Simon had been expected to grow to become the world’s largest rabbit. Cook says the buyers had planned to enter Simon at the Iowa State Fair and display him later to raise money for the fair. The owners are seeking the costs of buying and transporting the rabbit and future earnings. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
HEDGE FUNDS
Former employee says he was fired for calling his boss, a Trump backer, racist
Hedge fund mogul Robert Mercer, one of biggest financial backers of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, was sued by a former employee who claims he was fired for calling Mercer racist and publicly criticizing his support of Trump. The complaint by David Magerman, a research scientist who worked at Renaissance Technologies LLC for two decades, alleges he was wrongfully fired April 29 after his relationship with Mercer and his family became toxic. For example, Magerman alleges that Mercer’s daughter, Rebekah Mercer, a member of Trump’s transition team, called him ‘‘pond scum’’ at a celebrity poker tournament. The confrontation ‘‘just shows the hostility that the Mercers had toward Mr. Magerman because he dared to challenge their political views,’’ his lawyer, H. Robert Fiebach, said in a phone call on Monday. Mercer, a major investor in Trump-friendly Breitbart News, advised the president to hire two of the Mercer family’s longtime political advisers, Stephen Bannon and Kellyanne Conway. Mercer’s politics have ‘‘tainted’’ the hedge fund, while internal policies that prohibit ‘‘politely’’ speaking out against the company in public are ‘‘unfair and untenable,’’ Magerman said in the complaint, filed May 5 in federal court in Philadelphia. A spokesman for Renaissance had no immediate comment. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC said site problems caused by attack, not John Oliver
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday said that its site was the target of an attack designed to overwhelm it with traffic and prevent people from commenting on its proposals. This, the agency said, caused problems with its commenting site and ‘‘prevented them from responding to people attempting to submit comments’’ since Sunday night. Prior to the statement, many had credited comedian John Oliver with the agency’s website problems, which started after the ‘‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’’ host asked viewers to submit online comments to the FCC to save the agency’s current net neutrality rules. After the segment aired on Sunday, the commenting site has had intermittent connectivity problems. The FCC said in a statement, however, that its investigations shows the site’s problems were due to an attack, and was not due to an influx of people trying to file their own comments. On Sunday Oliver criticized the FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s draft proposal to undo Obama-era rules that forced Internet providers to behave more like traditional telephone companies — and made it illegal for them to block or slow down websites. — WASHINGTON POST
