Nanes Delorme wants Vaalco to retain an investment bank to initiate an open-bid process to sell the company. Nanes Delorme said it has "a substantial interest" in seeing that Vaalco management and directors are strongly committed to maximizing value. It also noted "grave concerns that recent actions demonstrate the contrary." Nanes Delorme is "extremely frustrated by the major disconnect between Vaalco's depressed stock price and the underlying value of its assets." Nanes Delorme, Vaalco's largest shareholder, holds 4.7 million shares (8% of the total outstanding). See The Activist Spotlight for more details.

West Creek Capital intends to nominate two directors at the 2008 annual meeting. West Creek continues to believe that it is in the best interests of all stakeholders to avoid a proxy contest, and says that it remains open to a negotiated settlement with the company. West Creek said that it is engaged in settlement discussions with Capital Senior regarding board representation and initiation of a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. West Creek owns 1,756,650 shares (6.6%).

The investor group that wants to buy Ocwen Financial said that it's been unable to reach mutually agreeable terms on the deal and is terminating discussions with a special committee of Ocwen's board. The group, including Ocwen CEO William C. Erbey, Oaktree Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co., in January proposed acquiring all the common shares it doesn't already own for $7 each in cash. The investor group has 19,629,533 shares (31%).

ValueVest Management, Ampex's largest shareholder, wants to nominate two candidates for election as directors at the 2008 annual meeting. ValueVest said that if the slate of directors nominated by the board doesn't include its nominees, Mark B. Bakar and David Cariani, it will reserve its right to solicit proxies in opposition to the board's slate. ValueVest holds 524,336 shares (13.4%).

David Nierenberg's D3 Family Funds reported ownership of 2,280,609 shares (6.9%), after buying them from Jan. 24 to March 7 at $8.39 to $10.38 a share.

Loeb Partners and its affiliates reported ownership of 775,944 shares (7.44%), after buying 403,162 from Jan. 17 to March 7 at $24.06 to $29.20 each.

Investor Charles Mathewson raised his stake to 905,947 shares (10.25%) after buying 330,196 from Jan. 10 to March 3 at $4 to $4.19 each.

Breeden Capital Management increased its holdings to about 4.88 million shares (7.87%), from the 4.26 million (6.72%) reported on Feb. 8.