Activist US hedge fund halves National Express stake Ahead of the company's AGM in May 2011, Elliott also called for the appointment of three non-executives of its choosing and the ousting of an existing one, Roger Devlin. The moves were seen by analysts as an attempt to flush out a potential bidder for National Express and enable Elliott, which had first bought into the company at a rights issue 18 months earlier, to exit at a profit. Its initial stake building was at 180p a share, though the Elliott executive behind the strategy, Dominik Dolenec, has since left the company. Elliott's aggressive moves infuriated National Express's then relatively new chief executive Dean Finch, who had embarked on a successful turnaround of the business. Having mustered the support of other shareholders, Mr Finch memorably said at the time: "I've told them they are going to lose." In a peace deal days before the AGM in May 2011, he agreed to the appointment of one of Elliott's candidates, Chris Muntwyler, though only after he had been vetted by the board. In return Elliott agreed to drop its change campaign for a year. Mr Finch declined to comment last night. The hedge fund said the sale was to "diversify its portfolio and invest in new opportunities" but stressed "National Express still remains one of Elliott's most important investments." It added it was a "strong believer" in the group's "management team and its strategy." Elliott has undertaken not to sell any more shares for 90 days.