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November 4, 2021

NeoPhotonics sold for $918M

Lumentum to acquire NeoPhotonics for $16 per share in cash

Lumentum (LITE) and NeoPhotonics (NPTN) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Lumentum will acquire NeoPhotonics for $16.00 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of approximately $918M.

NeoPhotonics Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells optoelectronic products that transmit and receive high speed digital optical signals for cloud and hyperscale data center internet content provider and telecom networks worldwide.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates in two segments, Optical Communications (OpComms) and Commercial Lasers (Lasers).

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 39% to NeoPhotonics’ closing stock price on November 3, 2021.

Lumentum intends to finance the transaction through cash from the combined company’s balance sheet.

Related to the transaction, Lumentum will provide up to $50M in term loans to NeoPhotonics to fund anticipated growth, which may require increased working capital and manufacturing capacity.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2022, subject to approval by NeoPhotonics’ stockholders, receipt of regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

“With NeoPhotonics, we’re making another important investment in better serving our customers and expanding our photonics capabilities at a time when photonics are at the forefront of favorable long-term market trends. At the center of our strategy is a relentless focus on developing a differentiated portfolio with the most innovative products and technology in our industry so that we can help our customers compete and win in their respective markets.

Adding NeoPhotonics’ differentiated products and technology and innovative R&D team is consistent with this strategy and together, we will better meet the growing need for next generation optical networking solutions. We are confident this transaction will make us an even better partner to our customers, while enabling our team to deliver significant, long-term value to our stockholders. We look forward to welcoming NeoPhotonics’ talented team of employees to Lumentum,” said Alan Lowe, Lumentum President and CEO.

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.

October 26, 2021

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Gets a boost from S. Korea

SK Ecoplant to invest $500M in Bloom Energy through expanded partnership

Bloom Energy (BE) and SK Ecoplant, an affiliate of South Korean conglomerate SK Group (SKM), announced the companies are expanding their existing partnership.

The partnership includes purchasing a minimum of 500 megawatts, or MW, from Bloom Energy, representing a $4.5B revenue commitment; co-creating two hydrogen innovation centers; and targeting an equity investment of approximately $500M.

Since the start of their strategic partnership three years ago, Bloom Energy and SK ecoplant have transacted nearly 200 MW of projects together totaling more than $1.8B of equipment and expected service revenue.

Over the next three years the companies will expand this existing business with contracts for at least an additional 500 MW of power between 2022 and 2025, representing approximately $4.5B in equipment and future service revenue.

Bloom Energy and SK ecoplant agreed to create Hydrogen Innovation Centers in the United States and South Korea.

The intent is to accelerate the global market expansion for Bloom Energy’s hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen electrolyzer products.

The agreement also reflects both Bloom Energy and SK ecoplant’s enhanced commitment to a zero-carbon future and the further implementation of environmental, social and governance practices.

In addition, Bloom Energy and SK ecoplant agreed to strengthen their alliance through expanding business cooperation in global markets, which may include exclusive distribution rights in select new markets.

SK ecoplant will invest $255M in Bloom Energy by acquiring 10M shares of zero coupon, non-voting redeemable convertible preferred stock at a price of $25.50 per share.

SK ecoplant has the option to acquire a minimum of an additional 11M shares of Class A common stock at a 15% premium to the prevailing stock price at the time, which must be no later than November 30, 2023 and is subject to a maximum ownership of 15%.

Upon completion of SK ecoplant’s purchase of its second tranche, SK ecoplant will add a member to the Bloom Energy board of directors. SK will give an irrevocable proxy to vote its shares to Bloom Energy.

The investment is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close within 45 days.

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June 14, 2021

RAPT Therapeutics shares soar on data

RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (RAPT) announced positive topline results from its randomized placebo-controlled Phase 1b clinical trial of RPT193 as monotherapy in 31 patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD).

Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a condition that makes your skin red and itchy. It’s common in children but can occur at any age. Atopic dermatitis is long lasting (chronic) and tends to flare periodically. It may be accompanied by asthma or hay fever.

After four weeks of treatment, patients with moderate-to-severe AD who received RPT193 showed a 36.3% improvement from baseline in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score, a standard measure of disease severity, compared to 17.0% in the placebo group.

Notably, in the two-week period following the end of treatment, the RPT193 group showed continued improvement and further separation from placebo with a 53.2% improvement in EASI at the six-week time point compared to 9.6% in the placebo group. This continued improvement may be related to RPT193’s mechanism of action, which is upstream of other agents targeting cytokines or signaling pathways.

Emma Guttman-Yassky, M.D., Ph.D., the Waldman Professor of Dermatology and System Chair Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and member of RAPT’s Scientific Advisory Board, added, “I am very excited about these results as they not only demonstrate clinically meaningful improvement after just four weeks of treatment, but also further improvement for two weeks after completion of treatment. This may suggest that this novel mechanism of action targeting CCR4 on Th2 cells could have prolonged, disease-modifying effects, which could differentiate it from other agents. Along with being an oral drug that seems to have promising clinical activity and a well-tolerated safety profile, RPT193 could fill a high unmet medical need for AD patients.”

Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Alethia Young raised the firm’s price target on Rapt Therapeutics to $71 from $51 and reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares. The stock in midday trading is up 110%, or $19.60, to $38.17. This morning’s RPT193 data update “was robust with clear clinical benefit compared to placebo on all exploratory endpoints,” Young tells investors in a research note.

The analyst took the drug’s probability of success in atopic dermatitis to 50% from 25% previously, and increased her peak sales estimates. Young sees a “large unmet need” for a safe and effective oral treatment which is separate from the injectable market, and models peak sales of $4B in atopic dermatitis by 2035. She views Rapt’s risk/benefit profile as potentially best-in-class for an oral treatment.

RAPT is up 107% to $37.70.

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December 1, 2020

Slack Technologies sold for $27.7 billion

Salesforce acquires Slack in cash and stock deal worth $27.7B

Salesforce (CRM) and Slack Technologies (WORK) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Salesforce will acquire Slack.

Under the terms of the agreement, Slack shareholders will receive $26.79 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $27.7 billion based on the closing price of Salesforce’s common stock on November 30.

The boards of each of Salesforce and Slack have approved the transaction and the Slack board recommends that Slack stockholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement.

The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2022.

Salesforce has also entered into a voting agreement with certain stockholders of Slack common stock, under which each such stockholder has agreed to vote all of their Slack shares in favor of the transaction at the special meeting of Slack stockholders to be held in connection with the transaction, subject to certain terms and conditions.

The Slack shares subject to the agreement represent approximately 55% of the current outstanding voting power of the Slack common stock.

Salesforce expects to fund the cash portion of the transaction consideration with a combination of new debt and cash on Salesforce’s balance sheet.

One year chart of Slack Tech. stock price

Salesforce has obtained a commitment from Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase for a $10B senior unsecured 364-day bridge loan facility.

Salesforce said, “Slack will be deeply integrated into every Salesforce Cloud.

Five year chart of Salesforce stock price

As the new interface for Salesforce Customer 360, Slack will transform how people communicate, collaborate and take action on customer information across Salesforce as well as information from all of their other business apps and systems to be more productive, make smarter, faster decisions and create connected customer experiences.”

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September 11, 2020

Walden University sold for $1.48B

Adtalem to acquire Walden University from Laureate Education for $1.48B in cash

Adtalem (ATGE) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Walden University, an online healthcare education provider, from Laureate Education (LAUR), Inc. for $1.48B in cash.

With the addition of Walden, Adtalem will become a national healthcare educator, providing workforce solutions to employers through learning modalities with academic outcomes.

By adding Walden to its existing healthcare portfolio, Adtalem said it is better positioned to increase the talent supply to address the rapidly growing and unmet demand for healthcare professionals in the U.S. and globally.

The combined companies will have 90,000 students

The combined organization will have 26 campuses across 15 states and four countries, 6,100 faculty members, and more than 90,000 students with 34% African American enrollees.

The company said, “The acquisition is expected to provide significant potential for growth and margin expansion through new and expanded offerings as well as revenue and cost synergies.

These financial benefits are expected to lead to substantial gross margin and EBITDA margin expansion, and robust cash flow generation to invest in its offerings while paying down debt.”

Adtalem expects to generate upside to revenue by providing new and complementary educational offerings, increased student acquisition and retention capabilities as well as enhanced scale and coverage that will allow for new partnerships with large-sized employer partners in the healthcare sector.

The company noted, “The purchase price represents a compelling, pre-synergy adjusted EBITDA multiple of 8.4x, and the transaction is expected to contribute significantly to Adtalem’s free cash flow and earnings per share, generating $60 million in incremental free cash flow excluding special items in year one and adding $0.75 in earnings per share from continuing operations excluding special items in year two as synergies begin to offset the dilutive effect of purchase price accounting.”

Adtalem expects to generate annual cost savings of approximately $60M driven by increased efficiencies in marketing spend and back office operations. Approximately $30M of these cost savings are anticipated within 12 months of closing and the remainder within 24 months of closing.

Additionally, Adtalem expects that this acquisition will generate between 10% and 12% ROIC beginning in year one, significantly exceeding the company’s current WACC of approximately 8%.

Adtalem expects to fund the cash consideration through a combination of cash from its balance sheet and committed debt financing.

Adtalem expects to realize the full potential of the transaction while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 of FY22, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

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August 10, 2020

Gilead submits New Drug Application for Covid-19 Treatment

Gilead submits NDA to FDA for Veklury for COVID-19 treatment

Gilead Sciences (GILD) announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Veklury® (remdesivir), an investigational antiviral for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Gilead files for NDA for Veklury

#Veklury is currently available in the U.S. under an Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.

The filing is the final tier of the rolling NDA submission that was initiated on April 8, 2020.

The filing is supported by data from two randomized, open-label, multi-center Phase 3 clinical studies of Veklury conducted by Gilead and the Phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled study of Veklury conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

These studies demonstrated that treatment with Veklury led to faster time to recovery compared with placebo and that a 5-day or 10-day treatment duration led to similar clinical improvement.

Across studies, Veklury was generally well-tolerated in both the 5-day and 10-day treatment groups, with no new safety signals identified. Veklury has been approved by multiple regulatory authorities around the world, including in the European Union and Japan.

In countries where Veklury has not been approved, including the United States, Veklury is an investigational drug and the safety and efficacy of remdesivir have not been established.

Veklury has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any use.

In the United States, the FDA granted Veklury an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. This authorization is temporary and may be revoked, and it does not take the place of the formal new drug application submission, review and approval process.

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July 6, 2020

Uber buys Postmates for $2.65B

Uber to acquire Postmates for $2.65B in all-stock transaction

Uber and Postmates announced that they have reached a definitive agreement under which Uber will acquire Postmates for approximately $2.65B in an all-stock transaction.

This transaction brings together Uber’s global Rides and Eats platform with Postmates’ delivery business in the U.S.

Additionally, Postmates has been an early pioneer of “delivery-as-a-service,” which complements Uber’s efforts in the delivery of groceries, essentials and other goods.

For restaurants and merchants, Postmates and Uber Eats will together offer more tools and technology to connect with a bigger consumer base.

Following the closing of the transaction, Uber intends to keep the consumer-facing Postmates app running separately.

Uber currently estimates that it will issue approximately 84M shares of common stock for 100% of the fully diluted equity of Postmates.

The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, and stockholders representing a majority of Postmates’ outstanding shares have committed to support the transaction.

The transaction is subject to the approval of Postmates stockholders, regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q1 2021.

Uber consolidates its market position by buying Postmates

Like other travel- and transportation-related businesses, Uber’s ride-hailing segment has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to shelter-in-place orders throughout the United States.

On-demand delivery, however, has grown, with people relying on services like Uber Eats to get food without leaving their homes. According to its last earnings report, Uber’s ride-hailing gross bookings dropped, but its food delivery service saw gross sales growth of 54% during its first fiscal quarter.

UBER closed at $30.68.

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June 8, 2020June 8, 2020

California Resources on the verge of bankruptcy!

The oil driller is preparing near-term bankruptcy filing, WSJ reports

California Resources Corporation (CRC) operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the State of California.

The company sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids to marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. It holds interests in approximately 2.2 million net acres of mineral acreage. As of December 31, 2019, the company had net proved reserves of 644 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Interest Payment

California Resources skipped an interest payment to lenders and could file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, The Wall Street Journal’s Alexander Gladstone reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company said in an 8-K filing that it entered into forbearance agreements most of its lenders, who have agreed not to exercise “remedies” under the credit agreements.

The oil driller said Monday it has entered into an agreement with a majority of its senior lenders to wait until Sunday before they can declare a default, the author notes.

The company has suffered from a sharp selloff in crude oil futures prices to start this year, as a result of the drop in demand from the COVID-19 pandemic and the price war between Saudia Arabia and Russia.

CRC is up 67 cents to $2.68.

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October 14, 2019

SmileDirectClub shares tumble on new California law

SmileDirectClub says nothing in AB1519 requires ceasing or modify operations

SmileDirectClub (SDC) issued a statement on California Assembly Bill 1519, stating in part:

“We are pleased with the Governor’s signing statement for AB1519.

New California law sends shares lower, Stockwinners

While the authorizing nature of AB1519 made it difficult to veto the bill, the Governor clearly indicated that he expects all stakeholders to come to together to find a better way to create policy around teledentistry.

While this bill does not preclude SmileDirectClub’s continued operations in California, it will create unnecessary hurdles and costs to Californians that need care but struggle to afford it. The undebated, clinically unsupported, and ill-advised policy changes that are included in this bill – a bill that was intended to reauthorize the Dental Board of California until last-minute policy additions were added – have created arbitrary barriers to technological innovation…Simply put, this bill represents the dental lobby’s thinly-veiled attempt to protect traditional dentistry at the expense of Californians, and Governor Newsom made the correct choice in issuing his strongly-worded rebuke of the tactics and policy that this bill represents.

California law may require a dentist at every SDC shop, Stockwinners

Nothing in AB1519 requires SmileDirectClub to cease or modify its operations, and nothing regarding teledentistry in this legislation can take effect until the Board has given all stakeholders the opportunity to submit public comment and debate the merits of any proposed rules with clinically-based data – as the Governor has requested in his signing statement. To that effect, SmileDirectClub will be reaching out to our partners in the field to coordinate efforts so that a positive outcome for the industry – and for the California consumers – can be reached…To be clear, SmileDirectClub will continue to legally operate in California, we will be an active participant in the administration-directed public debates surrounding teledentistry, and we will continue to provide affordable orthodontic care to thousands of smiling Californians.

Moving forward, SmileDirectClub welcomes transparent policy debates that include all stakeholders.”

Heavy lobbying by both sides made AB-1519 national news, Stockwinners

UBS Comments

UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo noted that California Governor Gavin Newsom signed bill AB-1519 over the weekend and the law is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2020.

He thinks that SmileDirectClub may need to place dentists inside its shops due to the new law, though it is less clear if the bill will mean that patients will need to get x-rays as well as iTero scans, which may eventually be determined in court.

The analyst, who noted that SmileDirect is scheduled to report Q3 results on November 12, noted that he has received questions on if the company might pre-announce, but he has “no insight or precedent into whether the company will opt to do that or not.” Caliendo has a Buy rating and $24 price target on SmileDirectClub shares.

SDC shares are down 9% to $10.12 in Monday’s trading.

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