Hedge fund Marshall Wace is a secret winner in the Amazon-led $575 million funding round for food-delivery company Deliveroo

Reuters

• 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. 

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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. 

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Source: Business Insider – bsaacks@businessinsider.com (Bradley Saacks)