Cohen's SAC Boosts Stake in Invitrogen (IVGN) to 6.9%

In an amended 13D filing after the close on Invitrogen Corp. (Nasdaq: IVGN), Steven Cohen's SAC Capital disclosed a 6.9% (6,171,830 shares) stake in the company. This is up from the 5.2% stake Cohen showed in the original 13D filing in July.

In the original filing, SAC said, "Based on the information that is publicly available, the Reporting Persons are supportive of the proposed merger with Applera (NYSE: ABI)."

In June, Invitrogen agreed to acquire Applera's Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE: ABI) in a cash and stock transaction valued at $6.7 billion.

Invitrogen Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of research tools in reagent, kit, and applications forms for the life sciences research, drug discovery, and diagnostics customers, as well as biological products manufacturers.

SAC Capital is a multi-strategy, private asset management firm founded by Steven A. Cohen in 1992 with 9 employees and $25 million in assets under management. As of September 2007, the firm has grown to over 800 employees with approximately $14 billion in assets.

Sageview Capital - Batting One Thousand

This morning, a stock on our activist list, Guitar Center (Nasdaq: GTRC), announced they would be acquired by private equity firm Bain Capital for $63 per share, a 26% premium to yesterday's close.

In September of 2006 we noted that newcomer Sageview Capital, founded by former KKR stars Ned Gilhuly and Scott Stuart, had built a 6.46% stake in the company.

Sageview had a cost basis of around $39.70 per share, indicating a potential profit of 59%. Not bad for your first investment!

The only other stock Sageview held at the quarter ended March 31, 2007 was Invitrogen Corp. (Nasdaq: IVGN), 920,986 shares.