Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross has squared off with billionaire investor Warren Buffett with a $1 billion investment in bond insurer Assured Guaranty. Buffett has been actively exploring high-grade opportunities bond insurance, and Ross has been open about his plans to get into the struggling sector. Ross told CNBC he chose Assured over rival bond insurers MBIA Inc and Ambac Financial Group Inc because Assured was in better shape. “This is opportunity capital rather than damage-curing capital,” Ross said, adding that it was pretty clear he and Buffett were now playing in the same sandbox. Ross said he remains in discussions with other bond insurers.

A dissident investor group led by Harbinger Capital Partners has nominated a slate of four directors to the board of New York Times Co, Harbinger said in a federal filing. The investor group, which includes hedge fund Harbinger and investment firm Firebrand Partners, has nominated the candidates as part of a plan to push the company to shed noncore assets and reallocate capital to build up its digital businesses. “Harbinger … believes that the future of The New York Times depends on the willingness of its management and board of directors to take bold action to adapt to the changing media landscape,” the group said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Banque Populaire says it is in exclusive talks to buy 400 bank branches from HSBC France, mainly in the south of the country, for 2.1 billion euros ($3.17 billion). Credit Industriel & Commercial and BNP were the other participants in a final round of bidding, according to an industry source. HSBC had been rumored to be selling the regional banks for some time and the move is further evidence of its shift towards emerging markets.