Summary:

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Paul Nary. Paul Nary is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nary’s expertise is in corporate strategy, especially large M&A transactions, as well as private equity, shareholder activism, and many types of external transaction strategies and investments. Dr. Nary’s work has been published in top strategy journals, including the Strategic Management Journal and Academy of Management Review, and he is frequently quoted in top media outlets, including American Banker, Associated Press, Barron’s, Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fortune, Investment News, NPR’s Marketplace, MarketWatch, and The Wall Street Journal.

Our conversation with Dr. Nary centered around four key topics. We spoke the most extensively about the bidding and sales process for Warner Bros. Discovery, the widening spread on the deal, regulatory risks, and shareholder and management dynamics. We then dived into Irenic Capital's activist plan for SNAP (the parent company behind Snapchat) and the power of a dual-class share structure. We wrapped up the podcast by examining the complex bid Bill Ackman has made for Universal Music Group (UMG) and explored Dr. Nary's research on PE acquisitions and divestitures and how that connects to ongoing PE activity in the software space.

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Paul at the following locations:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paulnary

Website: https://www.paulnary.com/

Summary:

In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria cover four key stories, including a potential deal for the data protection software company Commvault Systems by Thoma Bravo, a stock buyback announcement by the apparel retailer Lands’ End, a unique insider purchase by the CEO of the health insurance company Oscar Health, and activist involvement in potato products company Lamb Weston.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:20 Thoma Bravo and Other Acquirers Eye Commvault Systems

6:41 Lands’ End Announces a $100M Buyback Following a Tender Offer

11:37 CEO of Oscar Health Buys $12M of Stock Amidst ACA Coverage Concerns

22:10 Starboard Value and JANA Partners Get Involved With Lamb Weston

28:17 Outro

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

Check out The Special Situations Report here: https://www.thespecialsituationreport.com/

Keywords:

M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, shareholder opposition, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, activist campaigns, 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 cover four key stories, including a potential deal by Amazon for a satellite business partially owned by Apple, Eli Lilly’s acquisition of a biotech with a sizeable CVR attached, the planned Reverse Morris Trust transaction at Unilever, and activist involvement at the social media company Snap.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:17 A Potential $9 Billion Deal For Globalstar

8:20 Eli Lilly's Acquisition Of The Sleep Disorder Biotech Centessa

16:41 The $65 Billion Unilever RMT

21:20 An Activist Campaign Launched at Snap

26:48 Outro

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

Check out The Special Situations Report here: https://www.thespecialsituationreport.com/

Keywords:

M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, shareholder opposition, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, activist campaigns, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with not one, but two wonderful guests: Steven Kiel and Viral Kothari.

Steven Kiel is the President and Chief Investment Officer for Arquitos Capital Management, a firm he founded in 2009. He also serves on the board of directors of ENDI Corp, a holding company primarily focused on asset management. Prior to these roles, Steven served in the Army Reserves for 21 years and also served as a Trial Defense Attorney until his retirement in 2021.

Viral Kothari is a Portfolio Manager at VKKapital, and has previously worked as a Portfolio Manager at companies such as Morgan Stanley and PIMCO. He's also worked across Wall Street in the credit space, equity and commodity option markets, and other trading operations.

Our conversation with Steven and Viral centered around the case for Liquidia, a biotech company embroiled in a legal struggle with United Therapeutics. We covered the commercial stage and Phase 3 drugs that Liquidia currently markets or is developing, the various cases levied by United Therapeutics and Liquidia's chances of success, upside and downside potential for the company depending on how the cases are determined, the broader PAH and PH-ILD addressable markets (the disease space in which Liquidia operates), and so much more. This was an incredibly comprehensive deep dive into a unique legal special situation, and we hope our listeners enjoy this as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Steven and Viral at the following locations:

Steven: https://www.arquitos.com/

Viral: https://x.com/CFAs4CFPs

Summary:

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Kris Kania. Kris Kania is the Founder & Portfolio Manager of KSK Capital and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at NYU School of Law. He previously practiced tax law at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and earlier worked as a technology investor at Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Our conversation with Kris centered broadly around the topic of private credit, with a specific focus on what’s been happening in the business development company or BDC space. We spoke extensively about specific companies such as Blue Owl and Blackstone, drew comparisons to REITs and the bankruptcy situations with Tricolor and First Brands last year, questioned the presence of software and AI as it relates to these new forms of funding connected to data centers, and more. We learned so much from this discussion, and we hope our listeners will too!

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Kris at the following locations:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kris-kania/

X/Twitter: https://x.com/LegalFinGuy

Summary:

In this shortened episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss two key stories, including a new deal for a company that provides uniforms to corporations that is trading a double-digit spread and a massive insider purchase by a VC firm related to one of their portfolio companies.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:18 Cintas Finally Wins The War For UniFirst

6:32 The Coupang Data Breach and Investor Activity

17:26 Outro

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

Check out The Special Situations Report here: https://www.thespecialsituationreport.com/

Keywords:

M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, shareholder opposition, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, activist campaigns, 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 cover four key stories, including a bidding war for an independent music company, a massive stock buyback announcement by Salesforce, a cluster of insider sales at Warner Bros. Discovery, and activist involvement in Pinterest.

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:13 A Potential Bidding War for Reservoir Media

7:40 Massive Buyback at Salesforce Amidst The SaaSpocalypse

14:25 Elliott Gets Involved With Pinterest

16:28 Insider Sales At Warner Bros Following Paramount Deal

24:07 Outro

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

Check out The Special Situations Report here: https://www.thespecialsituationreport.com/

Keywords:

M&A, merger arbitrage, bidding wars, shareholder opposition, deals in the works, insider buying, insider sales, buybacks, C-suite transitions, spinoffs, activists, activist campaigns, failed mergers, management transitions, special situations, event-driven investing, markets, stocks

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Ehsan Ehsani. Ehsan Ehsani is an executive director at Crescendo Partners, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia Business School, and the author of “Finding Value in Numbers: The Essential Investing Toolkit to Win on Wall Street.”

Our conversation with Ehsan centered around his recently released book, “Finding Value in Numbers,” and the various strategies, quantitative tools, and case studies discussed within. We spoke extensively about the art and science of investing, the importance of developing a framework for investing, the Kelly Criterion (especially in relation to portfolio sizing), the differences between first and second level thinking, and much more. We learned so much from this discussion, and we hope our listeners will too!

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Ehsan, his book, and his daily newsletter at the following locations:

LinkedIn: Ehsan Ehsani

Ehsan's Book: Finding Value in Numbers

Value Hedgehog Newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7099112971280203776/

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Chris Waller. Chris is the Founder and Portfolio Manager of Plural Investing. Before founding Plural, Chris worked in London at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, working as a member of the investment team for the Global and International Small Cap equity funds. He has an MBA from the Value Investing program at Columbia Business School and completed his bachelor's degree at Oxford University.

Our conversation with Chris centered around the case for GCI Liberty, beginning with the company’s complex origins as part of John Malone’s Liberty Media empire and as a spinoff from Liberty Broadband. We then dive into the company’s core business operations, offering broadband services in remote parts of Alaska. We also spend most of our discussion covering the M&A play that lies at the crux of this thesis, and how John Malone seems to want to execute acquisitions in a similar fashion to the way the original Liberty Media was built up. This was one of the most comprehensive deep dives into a single business we’ve ever done on this podcast, andwe hope our listeners enjoy this as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Chris at the following locations:

Plural Investing: https://www.pluralinvesting.com/

Hidden Gems Investing: https://substack.com/@hiddengemsinvesting

X: https://x.com/HiddenGemsInves

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wallerchris/

We’re proud to release this week’s special episode, an interview with our wonderful guest, Matt McClintock. Matt is an expert in the consumer and retail sectors across the Americas. He spent over 15 years in equity research across firms such as Lehman Brothers, Barclays, and Raymond James, covering over 80 different companies and categories, including Retail Hardlines and Apparel Wholesale. He now runs M Squared Capital, an independent research firm focused on both retail and consumer insights.

Our conversation with Matt centered around the thesis for Under Armour and the special situations bonanza taking place at the business (insider purchases and C-Suite transitions) as it navigates difficult sales and a possible turnaround. We also discussed a number of other retail businesses, drawing comparisons between Lululemon, Nike, Deckers, VFC, and more, developing a full picture of the athletic brands space. This was by far the most comprehensive deep dive into an industry we’ve ever done on this podcast, and as such, we learned so much from this discussion. We hope our listeners enjoy this as much as we loved recording it!

Please note that there were a few audio issues with the recording and hopefully they don't detract too much from the conversation.

Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=p

You can find Matt at the following locations:

X: https://x.com/MattJMcClintock

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjmcclintock/

M Squared Capital: https://www.msquaredcapital.com/about