Fearing shares will be worthless, they're playing hardball with managementLast month, when the formerly bankrupt Kmart bought Sears, one group of investors was paying particularly close attention. They are the stockholders of Atlanta merchant energy company Mirant, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since July 2003. In Kmart's rags-to-riches, back-from-bankruptcy tale, Mirant's stockholders saw a hint of what might be lying in wait for them. Nothing. The retailer's story line goes like this: A hedge fund billionaire who bought large amounts of Kmart's debt becomes controlling owner of its new post-bankruptcy stock. He unloads stores and people, pumping billions into the...
