Search

Peter Cancro, who started working at a local sub shop at 14, eventually bought the business and turned it into the national chain Jersey Mike's. After building the company into a successful franchise, Cancro sold Jersey Mike's to Blackstone for $8 billion, while retaining a 10% stake and remaining as CEO. Jersey Mike's, known for its fresh ingredients and community ties, has grown to 2,680 locations with $3.3 billion in U.S. sales last year. Cancro's dedication to his business and philanthropy has made him a respected figure in the industry. [Extracted from the article]

Blackstone has acquired a majority stake in Jersey Mike's Subs, valuing the sandwich chain at around $8 billion. Jersey Mike's, the second-largest sub-style sandwich company in the U.S., has roots dating back to 1956 and currently operates over 3,000 locations. Private-equity firms like Blackstone have shown interest in restaurant chains due to their cash flows, with recent acquisitions including Subway and Chuy's. The consolidation trend in the restaurant industry is driven by consumer spending habits and the appeal of established brands. [Extracted from the article]

Solventum, a healthcare company spun off from 3M, is exploring the sale of its purification and filtration business. The process is in its early stages, and the company may use the proceeds for debt repayments or research and development. Solventum focuses on wound care, oral care, healthcare information technology, and biopharma filtration, with the purification and filtration business contributing about 12% of its overall sales in 2023. The move aligns with a trend of companies streamlining operations to meet investor demands for clearly defined businesses. [Extracted from the article]

Jana Partners, in collaboration with Continental Grain, has acquired a 5% stake in Lamb Weston, a major producer of french fries, and is urging the company to consider a sale. The activist investor also aims to enhance the company's operations and capital-allocation strategy, potentially nominating directors to the board. Lamb Weston's stock rose by 8% following the disclosure of Jana's stake, as the company has faced challenges due to declining demand and quality issues. Jana's investment aligns with its history of influencing food companies to pursue strategic deals, and it is working with industry executives to potentially reshape Lamb Weston's future. [Extracted from the article]

Activist investor Quentin Koffey's hedge fund, Politan Capital Management, is planning a proxy fight to gain two more seats on the board of medical-device maker Masimo. Masimo, which has a market value of around $7.1 billion, supplies monitoring technologies to hospitals. Politan currently holds a 9% stake in Masimo and won two board seats last year. The company's stock took a hit in 2022 after acquiring a consumer-technology company, but Masimo's founder and CEO, Joe Kiani, has proposed separating the consumer business to focus on professional healthcare and telehealth products. Politan supports the review of the consumer business but is concerned about poor corporate governance and the treatment of its directors by Kiani. Masimo has stated its commitment to conducting a comprehensive review of the separation and has included Koffey in discussions. Politan's candidates for the board are William Jellison, former CFO of Stryker, and Darlene Solomon, former CTO of Agilent Technologies. [Extracted from the article]

Canadian payments processor Nuvei, backed by Ryan Reynolds, is in advanced talks with private-equity firm Advent International for a buyout deal. Nuvei's technology enables online retailers, sports-betting apps, and crypto exchanges to accept various forms of payment. The potential deal comes at a time when private-equity activity is subdued due to higher interest rates and other factors. Nuvei recently completed the acquisition of payment platform Paya Holdings and was founded by Philip Fayer, who holds a significant stake in the company. [Extracted from the article]

Activist investor Jonathan Litt, through his firm Land & Buildings Investment Management, is urging office-building owner Equity Commonwealth to liquidate and return cash to investors. Litt argues that the company has underperformed other real-estate investment trusts and that office asset values are unlikely to recover soon. Equity Commonwealth has a market value of $2 billion, which is less than the $2.2 billion of cash it holds. Litt threatens to take matters directly to shareholders if the company does not comply. [Extracted from the article]

France's national lottery operator, La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ), has agreed to acquire Kindred Group, a Swedish online gambling company, for $2.7 billion. The deal will create one of Europe's largest online gambling companies and will accelerate FDJ's plans for international expansion. Kindred oversees nine gambling brands, including Unibet, and the acquisition will expand FDJ's operations in several European markets, as well as in Australia. The deal was supported by major shareholders, including Corvex Management, which had called for the possible sale of Kindred. [Extracted from the article]

Elliott Investment Management has acquired a $1 billion stake in Match Group, the parent company of popular dating platforms Tinder and Hinge. Elliott plans to meet with Match to discuss strategies for improving the company's performance. Match's stock has been struggling recently due to a decline in paying customers and other factors. Elliott is known for its activism in the tech industry and has previously pushed for changes at companies like Salesforce and Pinterest. [Extracted from the article]

Advent International is reportedly in talks to acquire Fisher Investments, a money-management firm founded by billionaire Ken Fisher. However, Fisher Investments has denied these reports, stating that they are not being bought by Advent International or anyone else. Fisher Investments currently manages $205 billion in assets and serves a variety of clients, including pension funds, governments, and college endowments. The firm faced controversy in 2019 when Fisher made inappropriate comments at a conference, leading some clients to withdraw their investments. Advent International, a Boston-based firm, had $92 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2023. Private equity deal activity has seen a decline in recent years, but industry insiders are hopeful for a rebound in 2024. [Extracted from the article]

Hedge fund HG Vora Capital Management, which holds an 18.5% economic interest in Penn Entertainment, is in talks with the casino operator to secure seats on its board. If the talks are unsuccessful, the fund may pursue a proxy fight. Penn Entertainment operates 43 casinos in 20 states and is involved in online sports betting and online casino gambling. HG Vora believes that Penn's stock is undervalued and has concerns about the company's capital allocation decisions. [Extracted from the article]

Occidental Petroleum is in talks to acquire CrownRock, a major energy producer in the Permian basin in west Texas. The deal, which could be valued at over $10 billion including debt, is expected to be finalized soon. CrownRock owns a significant amount of acreage in the Permian basin and produces about 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This acquisition is part of a trend of consolidation in the oil and gas industry, with other major deals recently announced by Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Occidental Petroleum previously faced financial challenges after its acquisition of Anadarko in 2019, but has since rebounded with rising oil prices. The company is also known for its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. CrownRock is currently backed by private-equity firm Lime Rock Partners. [Extracted from the article]

ValueAct Capital, an activist fund based in San Francisco, has acquired a significant stake in Disney and has initiated dialogue with the company's board. The fund believes that Disney is undervalued and that its theme parks and consumer-products businesses alone are worth at least $80 a share. This marks the third activist investor to build a significant stake in Disney in under two years, following Nelson Peltz and Dan Loeb's Third Point. ValueAct is known for working with management behind the scenes to avoid proxy battles. [Extracted from the article]

Wsjfinance-ws, kwexclusive, Computers/Consumer Electronics, Software, Applications Software, Trusts/Funds/Financial Vehicles, Financial Investment Services, Portfolio/Fund/Asset Management, Alternative Investments, Computing Keywords: wsjfinance-ws; kwexclusive; Computers/Consumer Electronics; Software; Applications Software; Trusts/Funds/Financial Vehicles; Financial Investment Services; Portfolio/Fund/Asset Management; Alternative Investments; Computing EN wsjfinance-ws kwexclusive Computers/Consumer Electronics Software Applications Software Trusts/Funds/Financial Vehicles Financial Investment Services Portfolio/Fund/Asset Management Alternative Investments Computing N.PAG N.PAG 1 01/27/23 20230123 NES 230123 Activist investor makes a multibillion-dollar investment in the business-software provider Graph: Salesforce recently announced layoffs and reduced its office space in some markets. [Extracted from the article]