The Special Situations Report

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Andrew Walker. Andrew is a portfolio manager at Rangeley Capital and the host of Yet Another Value Podcast. He also runs an investment newsletter service, Yet Another Value Blog, where he delivers value investing insights and perspectives applied to special situations investing. Our conversation with Andrew covered multiple fascinating topics – ranging from investment background, idea generation, market volatility, the SPAC resurgence, and so much more. We dived deep into specific companies such as Carvana, covering both the bull and bear theses for the business, as well as the Lionsgate spinoff. We also discussed crypto treasury companies, especially as tied to relative value arbitrage and taking advantage of these companies trading above NAV. We learned so much from this discussion and we hope our listeners will too. Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/ Check out Andrew Walker and his Yet Another Value Empire here: https://www.yetanothervalueblog.com/

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Julian Klymochko. Julian is the Founder and CEO of Accelerate, a leading provider of alternative investment solutions. Julian is recognized as one of Canada’s leading experts in alternative investments and frequently speaks at industry events. He has been featured in some of the world’s top financial and business media including Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, BNN, Business Insider, and The Globe and Mail. Julian is the author of the book Reminiscences of a Hedge Fund Operator and host of the Absolute Return Podcast.Our conversation with Julian covered multiple fascinating topics – ranging from investment background, portfolio structure, idea generation, and so much more. We dived deep into the different ETFs that Accelerate offers, and how those strategies developed over time. During the course of our interview, we also delved into specific companies and mergers, such as the acquisition of Core Scientific by CoreWeave. We then covered the overall resurgence in the SPAC market, especially as it tied to crypto treasury companies. We learned so much from this discussion and we hope our listeners will too. Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/ Check out Julian Klymochko and Accelerate here: https://accelerateshares.com

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. The two discuss a potential large acquisition of the railroad Norfolk Southern by Union Pacific, a potential bidding war for the DallasNews, the spinoff of Beyond’s blockchain assets, stock buybacks at Bank of America and Southwest Airlines, insider purchases at a Solana treasury company as well as a food products company, a new CFO appointment at a beaten down cancer focused biotech company and a whole lot more. Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. The two discuss he completion of two large M&A transactions that had more twists and turns than a Christopher Nolan movie, the acquisition of a Chinese electric car company that is trading at a negative spread, an outsized CVR attached to the acquisition of Monogram’s acquisition by Zimmer, a flip flopping insider purchase at biotech company Dyne Therapeutics, Elliott’s activist involvement in Global Payments and a whole lot more.Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. The two discuss Concentra Biosciences swooping in again to buy a yet another cash rich zombie biotech company, the Italian chocolate maker Ferrero acquiring the breakfast cereal company WK Kellogg, Kraft Heinz deciding to split itself by spinning off its grocery business, CoreWeave finally deciding to acquire Core Scientific after on again off again rumors that a deal was likely, a large buyback announcement at fintech platform provider The Bancorp, a new CEO announcement at Baxter that caught our attention because of his long stint in Danaher’s management ranks, and a whole lot more. Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

This week we discuss:Home Depot (HD) outbidding Brad Jacobs’ QXO (QXO) to acquire GMS (GMS)Concentra Biosciences acquiring yet another cash rich microcap biotech companyA potential deal for Verint Systems (VRNT) by Thoma BravoThe Sears spinoff Lands' End (LE) receiving competing bids from rival apparel companiesThe spinoff of Ralliant (RAL) from Fortive (FTV)A large number of buyback announcements at some of the biggest banks including JPMorgan (JPM)... and a whole lot more.Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, Brad Jacobs, QXO, credit, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. The episode begins with a discussion of multiple deals in the works – including Brad Jacob’s newest bid for the construction products company GMS (and a potential rival bid from Home Depot) and briefly covers the since-squashed rumor that Shell would acquire its rival BP. Another important M&A headline covered in this episode include the closing of the Regulus and Novartis deal, the announced acquisition of Sage Therapeutics by Supernus Pharmaceuticals, the merger of two grocery chains, and more. The episode continues by breaking down the dilemna bondholders of Warner Bros Discovery faced regarding the planned spinoff and covers a large buyback at Vivek Ramaswamy’s Roivant. Asif and Tamanna then go onto discuss a number of fascinating buybacks, including a buyback announcement coupled with a secondary offering that sent Torrid’s stock price into free fall and a geopolitical buyback at the Indian travel company MakeMyTrip. The episode wraps up by covering a number of C-Suite transitions at companies such as Postal Realty Trust, Asana, Fastly, and FrontView REIT.Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, Brad Jacobs, QXO, credit, bonds, covenants, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, our third-ever interview with our wonderful guest, Luis Sanchez. Luis Sanchez is the Founder and Managing Partner of LVS Advisory, a boutique investment advisory firm. His professional experience spans investment banking, consulting, and investment management. His investment insights have been featured in media outlets including CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Fox Business, The Motley Fool, The Manuel of Ideas, and more. Our conversation with Luis covered multiple fascinating topics – ranging from investment background, portfolio optimization, risk management, idea generation, and so much more. We also dived deep into how Luis's strategy has evolved over time, and the differences between and benefits of having both an event-driven and a growth strategy. During the course of our interview, we also delved into Luis's investment thesis for Netflix, and his thoughts on the biotech space in general - with a specific focus on contract research organizations (CROs) like Medpace and Icon and the impact of artificial intelligence. We learned so much from this discussion and we hope our listeners will too. Next week’s episode will cover the past week’s special situations activity as per usual, and also include any important announcements from this week as well.Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/Check out Luis Sanchez and LVS Advisory here: https://lvsadvisory.com/

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. The episode begins with a discussion of numerous deals in the works at companies such as Foward Air, Calavo Growers, Papa John’s, and Telus International. Asif and Tamanna then go on to discuss the details between the proposed separation of Warners Bros Discovery and cover two fascinating insider purchases at Quanterix and Bausch Health, including an insider purchase by the hedge fund legend John Paulson. The episode continues by covering activist activity at Lamb Weston, Provident Bancorp, and Novo Nordisk. Last but not least, the episode concludes by highlighting a C-Suite transition that brings the CFO of Paramount over to the rapidly growing Roblox.Keywords:M&A, merger arbitrage, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

A minor correction at 17:50 – meant to be 15% of all shares outstanding, not 5%.Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss the latest developments in the event-driven investing world, focusing on M&A activity, stock buybacks, insider trading, spinoffs, and significant management changes. They flip the script by beginning with a number of notable C-Suite transitions, including one at Shift4 Payments that has ties to the recent showdown between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. The episode continues by covering a range of M&A deals – including the Sanofi and Vigil Neuroscience deal with an attractive CVR and a twist on the typical thrift conversion playbook when it comes to NB Bancorp. Asif and Tamanna then discuss key buybacks at companies like Autoliv and Sprinklr, and a soon to be listed spinoff. Last but not least, the episode concludes by highlighting some of the most interesting insider purchases we’ve seen all year. This includes insider buying in the middle of an active merger at Regulus Therapeutics and the second-ever purchase by a long-standing Director at Topgolf Callaway.Keywords:M&A, tariffs, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Twitter, X, merger arbitrage, CVRs, bidding war, competing offers, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks