over 8% of pxupa now owned by a hedge fund.

So Coastal Investment Management now hold over 8% of PXUPA. Bought at the depths od the sp.

I imagine they have done their due dilligence - or are they a stalking horse for a PE takeover of PPX?

Our friend Google says:

Coastal Investment Management is a value-focused hedge fund manager that was founded in 2009 by Vlad Artamonov and Todd Plutsky. Prior to Coastal investment, Mr. Artamonov spent approximately 6 years at David Einhorn's special situations focused Greenlight Capital hedge fund. Before that, he was an M&A analyst at Merrill Lynch. Before Coastal Investment, Mr. Plutsky was with Ivory Investment Management and Canyon Capital Advisors. Coastal Investment Management employs a long/short equity strategy that focuses on special situations. The firm's flagship Coastal Investment Partners fund was launched in July 2009.
Founders and Key Executives of Coastal Investment Management: Vlad Artamonov; Todd Plutsky