Hedge fund Marshall Wace is a secret winner in the Amazon-led $575 million funding round for food-delivery company Deliveroo
- Amazon just led a round of funding for London-based Deliveroo worth $575 million that pushed down the stocks of competitors Just Eat, Takeaway.com and Uber.
- Hedge fund Marshall Wace emerged as a winner from the deal, as it had three shorts on Deliveroo competitors.
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London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace was one of the big winners following news that Amazon was leading a $575 million funding round of Deliveroo, a London-based food delivery service.
The $39 billion hedge fund had the biggest short position in Dutch Deliveroo competitor, Takeaway.com, and the second-biggest short position in Just Eat, another food delivery company based in London, according to research firm Breakout Point. Both companies' stocks have fallen at least 4.5% on Friday on the news of Amazon's investment.
The two bets by Marshall Wace, totaled roughly $122 million, according to Breakout Point. The firm also has a $53 million short on a third Deliveroo competitor, Berlin-based Delivery Hero. That company's stock price has gone up slightly since the news of the Amazon investment.
Marshall Wace, founded by billionaires Paul Marshall Wace and Ian Wace more than 20 years ago, manages $39 billion and is partially owned by KKR. Other funds with notable shorts on Deliveroo competitors are AQR, which took a $136 million bet against Just Eat and Delivery Hero, and Australian-based manager Platinum Investment Manager, which took a $87 million bet against Just Eat.
AQR and Takeaway.com declined to comment, while Marshall Wace and the other companies named did not immediately respond to requests for comment.