Not to be distracted or sated this week with a bid to take 3 board seats at oil services firm Rowan announced yesterday, activist investor Warren Lichtenstein’s (pictured) Steel Partners disclosed this morning it had built a 6.2 percent stake in The Brinks Co and urged the security company to pursue a spin-off or sale to boost its stock price. Steel Partners owns 9.1 percent of Rowan and said in a filing at the end of December it had raised its stake in insurer Conseco to 6.9 percent, which it has reportedly been pressuring since last fall. Steel Partners also demanded an immediate sale of Brinks if it does not pursue its demanded spin-off and said Brinks should increase its stock buyback plan to $500 million from $100 million.

Shares in London-listed Xstrata rose 2.4 percent with traders citing talk of a possible 4,500 pence per share bid from rival Anglo American.

Silver Lake, a technology-focused private equity fund, said a representative from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System will join its management advisory board as part of a long-term strategic partnership. Silver Lake said Calpers acquired a 9.9 percent stake, and under the agreement it has committed to making additional investments as a limited partner in Silver Lake funds. Calpers has always been a direct investor in Silver Lake, so it doesn’t pay fees. But in an election year, with private equity having taken such a public drubbing in 2007, it may be interesting to see how the largest U.S. public pension fund plays out in the forum of public opinion.