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November 22, 2022November 21, 2022

City of Cincinnati gets $1.62B from Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern to purchase assets of Cincinnati Southern Railway

Norfolk Southern (NSC) announced the execution of a purchase agreement under which the company’s operating subsidiary, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, will acquire substantially all of the assets of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, an approximately 337 mile railroad that runs from Cincinnati, Ohio to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The CSR is currently owned by the City of Cincinnati and operated by the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway, under a lease agreement expiring in 2026.

The agreement provides the company ownership of approximately 9,500 acres of land that sits under infrastructure maintained and operated by Norfolk Southern.

Further, it ensures Norfolk Southern will own the line in perpetuity, while eliminating uncertainty around future lease costs.

The line is one of the highest density segments of the company’s network, with as many as 30 trains a day traveling the route.

Upon the close of the transaction, projected to occur in the first half of 2024, the City of Cincinnati will receive cash consideration of approximately $1.62B.

Norfolk Southern intends to finance the transaction through a combination of internal and external sources.

The City of Cincinnati plans to use the proceeds of the transaction to form an infrastructure fund that will benefit the citizens of Cincinnati for generations to come.

The trust would solely fund the rehabilitation, modernization, or replacement of existing infrastructure such as streets, bridges, municipal buildings, parks, and green space.

The closing is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the voters of Cincinnati and the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

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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.

March 28, 2022

Poly sold for $3.3 billion

HP Inc. to acquire Poly in all-cash transaction for $40 per share

HP Inc. (HPQ) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Poly (POLY), a global provider of workplace collaboration solutions, in an all-cash transaction for $40 per share, implying a total enterprise value of $3.3B, inclusive of Poly’s net debt.

The company said, “The acquisition accelerates HP’s strategy to create a more growth-oriented portfolio, further strengthens its industry opportunity in hybrid work solutions, and positions the company for long-term sustainable growth and value creation.

The rise of hybrid work is creating sustained demand for technology that enables seamless collaboration across home and office environments.

Approximately 75% of office workers are investing to improve their home setups to support new ways of working. Traditional office spaces are also being reconfigured to support hybrid work and collaboration, with a focus on meeting room solutions.

Currently, there are more than 90 million rooms, of which less than 10% have video capability. As a result, the office meeting room solutions segment is expected to triple by 2024.

Poly will help drive the growth and scale of HP’s peripherals and workforce solutions businesses.

Peripherals represent a $110B segment opportunity growing 9% annually, driven by the need for more immersive experiences.

Workforce solutions represent a $120B segment opportunity that is growing 8% annually, as companies invest in digital services to set up, manage, and secure more distributed IT ecosystems.

Poly’s devices, software and services, combined with HP’s strengths across compute, device management, and security, creates a robust portfolio of hybrid meeting solutions.

Poly, previously known as Plantronics, is a leader in video conferencing solutions, cameras, headsets, voice and software.

Together, HP and Poly will deliver a complete ecosystem of devices, software, and digital services to create premium employee experiences, improve workforce productivity, and provide enterprise customers with better visibility, insights, security, and manageability across their hybrid IT environments.”

HP expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to HP’s revenue growth, margins, and non-GAAP EPS at close.

With the expanded value proposition of a complete hybrid work solution, combined with HP’s scale and go-to-market capabilities, HP expects to realize substantial revenue synergies in peripherals as well as meeting room and workforce solutions.

HP will be able to cross-sell across its global commercial and consumer sales channels, while driving incremental sales from combining Poly’s products with HP’s PC portfolio.

As a result, HP expects to achieve $500 million of revenue synergies by FY25 and accelerate Poly’s revenue growth to an approximately 15% CAGR over the first three years after closing.

In addition, HP expects the transaction to improve Poly’s operating margins by approximately six percentage points from current levels by FY25, driven by scale efficiencies across supply chain, manufacturing and overhead. The transaction is expected to close by the end of calendar 2022, subject to Poly stockholder approval, required regulatory clearances, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

HP will finance the transaction through a combination of balance sheet cash and new debt. This transaction is consistent with HP’s capital returns program target.

HP remains committed to aggressively buying back shares of at least $4B in FY22, and to returning significant capital to shareholders while continuing to invest in growth.

POLY is up $13.14 to $39.34.

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June 30, 2021June 29, 2021

Shareholder opposes sale of At Home

At Home Group shareholder calls on company to release Q2 interim sales results

CAS Investment Partners, which beneficially owns approximately 17% of the outstanding common stock of At Home Group (HOME), called on the company to release its interim sales results for Q2 in order to provide material information and keep stockholders informed as they consider the $37 per share tender offer made by funds advised by Hellman & Friedman.

As previously disclosed, CAS deems the $37 per share tender offer wholly inadequate and opposes the transaction on its current terms. Clifford Sosin, founder and portfolio manager of CAS, commented:

“We urge At Home to promptly release interim sales results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. Rather than keep stockholders in the dark about the Company’s continued momentum, we believe At Home should be providing them with as much information as possible.

Clifford Sosin, founder and portfolio manager of CAS

Stockholders should not be asked to make a decision about whether to tender into the meager H&F offer without first receiving an easily-prepared update on the current quarter. It is not as if At Home has not pre-released sales data in the past.

Stockholders should seriously question why the Company is not releasing this important information at a time when we need it the most?

According to credit card data analyzed by CAS, the Company’s second quarter same store sales are trending approximately 30% above 2019 levels. Sales appear to be remaining very strong even as the economy reopens and the impact of federal stimulus fades.

We contend that this information demonstrates the Company’s recent success is durable and not a temporary byproduct of the pandemic.

It appears to us that At Home and H&F are desperately trying to avoid releasing these numbers, as evidenced by the fact that the tender deadline ends five days before the close of the second quarter on July 20th.

We are concerned that this is due to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lee Bird being set up to make more than $100 million in compensation if the proposed transaction is completed.

We are equally concerned that H&F may already be exerting an inappropriate level of influence over the corporate governance decisions at the Company. Given we are At Home’s largest stockholder, we call on the Company to immediately respond to our request to disclose this material information and remind the independent directors of their fiduciary duties to At Home stockholders.”

On May 7, 2021, At Home Group Inc. agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Hellman and Friedman (H&F) for a total cash consideration of $2.8 billion, inclusive of debt assumption. Under the agreement, At Home shareholders will receive $36 in cash for each share held. HOME closed at $36.80.

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June 7, 2021

U.S. Concrete sold for $1.29B

Vulcan Materials to acquire U.S. Concrete for $74 per share in cash

Vulcan Materials (VMC) and U.S. Concrete (USCR) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Vulcan will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of U.S. Concrete common stock for a purchase price of $74.00 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of $1.294B.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to U.S. Concrete shareholder approval, regulatory clearance, and other customary closing conditions.

Tom Hill, Chairman and CEO of Vulcan Materials Company, said, “U.S. Concrete is an important Vulcan customer in a number of key areas, and this transaction is a logical and exciting step in our growth strategy as we further bolster our geographic footprint.

Ronnie Pruitt and his team have done an excellent job growing and operating its business, and we look forward to welcoming the U.S. Concrete employees to the Vulcan family.

This is a merger of two corporate cultures that value people, technology, operating disciplines, customer service and the entrepreneurial spirit, and it positions Vulcan to further drive sustainable, long-term shareholder value.”

U.S. Concrete, Inc. produces and sells ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, and concrete-related products and services to the construction industry in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada. It operates through two segments, Ready-Mixed Concrete and Aggregate Products.

Vulcan Materials Company produces and supplies construction aggregate primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium.

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May 5, 2021

Merger in the REIT space

Equity Commonwealth to acquire Monmouth Real Estate for $3.4B

Equity Commonwealth (EQC) and Monmouth Real Estate (MNR) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement by which Equity Commonwealth will acquire Monmouth in an all-stock transaction, valued at approximately $3.4B, including the assumption of debt.

The combined company is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $5.5B.

Under the terms of the agreement, Monmouth shareholders will receive 0.67 shares of Equity Commonwealth stock for every share of Monmouth stock they own.

Based on the closing price for Equity Commonwealth on May 4, this represents approximately $19.40 per Monmouth share.

The merger agreement provides for Monmouth to declare and pay one additional regular quarterly common stock dividend of 18c per share without Equity Commonwealth paying a corresponding common dividend to its shareholders.

Accordingly, the total consideration to be received by the Monmouth shareholders in the transaction is $19.58 per Monmouth share.

Equity Commonwealth and Monmouth shareholders are expected to own approximately 65% and 35%, respectively, of the pro forma company following the close of the transaction.

Monmouth’s portfolio is comprised of 120 properties totaling 24.5M square feet. In addition, Monmouth has six properties totaling 1.8M square feet under contract and leased to investment grade tenants.

Closings for these acquisitions are expected in 2021 and 2022.

The company will continue to be led by president and CEO David Helfand and the existing senior management team.

Upon closing, the number of trustees on Equity Commonwealth’s board will be expanded to 10, with two individuals designated by Monmouth’s board.

Sam Zell will remain the chairman of the board of trustees.

The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the common shareholders of both Equity Commonwealth and Monmouth.

Sam Zell to become Chairman of the new company

The board of trustees of Equity Commonwealth and the board of directors of Monmouth Real Estate have each unanimously approved the transaction.

Equity Commonwealth ( EQC) is a Chicago based, internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) with commercial office properties in the United States. EQC’s same property portfolio is comprised of 4 properties and 1.5 million square feet.

Monmouth Real Estate Investment specializes in single tenant, net-leased industrial properties, subject to long-term leases, primarily to investment-grade tenants. Monmouth Real Estate is a fully integrated and self-managed real estate company, whose property portfolio consists of 121 properties, containing a total of approximately 24.5 million rentable square feet, geographically diversified across 31 states.

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April 21, 2021

Welbilt sold for $4.3B

Middleby to acquire Welbilt in an all-stock transaction

The Middleby Corporation (MIDD) and Welbilt (WBT) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Middleby will acquire Welbilt in an all-stock transaction, enhancing the Middleby Commercial Foodservice platform with an attractive portfolio of products, brands and technologies.

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This transaction will bring together two complementary businesses, accelerate the Middleby growth strategy into key markets globally and increase core capabilities in highly attractive segments.

The combined company will have approximately $3.7B in combined 2020 sales, 73% of which will come from the Commercial Foodservice segment.

Under the terms of the agreement, Welbilt shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.1240x shares of Middleby common stock for each share of Welbilt common stock in an all-stock transaction, with an implied enterprise value of $4.3B.

Based on Middleby’s volume-weighted average price during the 30 consecutive trading days ending April 20, the offer price represents a 28% premium to Welbilt’s 30-day VWAP.

Upon closing, Middleby shareholders will own approximately 76% and Welbilt shareholders will own approximately 24% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.

The Boards of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. In addition, Carl C. Icahn, Welbilt’s largest shareholder with an 8.4% ownership position, has entered into a support agreement in favor of the transaction.

Following closing, Timothy FitzGerald will continue as CEO and as a member of the Middleby Board of Directors. Bryan Mittelman will continue to serve as Middleby’s CFO.

Middleby will expand its Board to include two new directors from the Welbilt board, Chairperson Cynthia Egnotovich and William Johnson. Middleby intends to refinance Welbilt’s existing debt through its committed Senior Secured Facility.

Based on the expected pro forma leverage ratio at closing, the interest on the incremental financing would be approximately L + 162.5 bps.

The transaction is expected to close in late 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory and Middleby and Welbilt shareholder approvals.

The Middleby Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, distributes, and services a range of foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment.

Welbilt, Inc., designs, manufactures, and supplies foodservice equipment for commercial foodservice market worldwide. The company offers commercial upright and undercounter refrigerators and freezers, blast freezers and chillers, and cook-chill systems under the Delfield brand; and walk-in refrigerators, coolers and freezers, and prefabricated cooler and freezer panels under the Kolpak brand.

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April 12, 2021

Microsoft buys Nuance

Microsoft to acquire Nuance for $56.00 per share in cash, or $19.7B

Microsoft (MSFT) and Nuance Communications (NUAN) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Nuance for $56.00 per share, implying a 23% premium to the closing price of Nuance on Friday, April 9, in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7B, inclusive of Nuance’s net debt.

Nuance is a trusted cloud and AI software leader representing decades of accumulated healthcare and enterprise AI experience.

Mark Benjamin will remain CEO of Nuance, reporting to Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Cloud & AI at Microsoft.

The transaction is intended to close this calendar year.

Upon closing, Microsoft expects Nuance’s financials to be reported as part of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud segment.

Microsoft expects the acquisition to be minimally dilutive (less than 1%) in fiscal year 2022 and to be accretive in fiscal year 2023 to non-GAAP earnings per share, based on the expected close timeframe.

Non-GAAP excludes expected impact of purchase accounting adjustments, as well as integration and transaction-related expenses.

The acquisition will not impact the completion of its existing share repurchase authorization.

Nuance Communications, Inc. provides conversational and cognitive artificial intelligence (AI) innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand, analyze, and respond to people – amplifying human intelligence to increase productivity and security.

B. Riley analyst Zach Cummins reiterates a Buy rating on LivePerson (LPSN) with a $77 price target after Microsoft (MSFT) acquired Nuance Communications (NUAN), a provider of conversational commerce solutions, with expertise geared toward the healthcare vertical.

The potential deal acquisition provides a “positive valuation data point” for LivePerson, a leading provider of conversational commerce solutions across the telecom, financial services, retail, and consumer verticals, Cummins tells investors in a research note.

LivePerson currently trades at an enterprise value to sales multiple of 6.5 times, below the comp group median of 9.5 times and Nuance’s implied takeout multiple of 12.5 times, says the analyst.

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March 22, 2021March 21, 2021

Merger in the railroad space!

Canadian Pacific to buy Kansas City Southern in $29B deal

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KSU) announced they have entered into a merger agreement, under which CP has agreed to acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction representing an enterprise value of approximately $29B, which includes the assumption of $3.8B of outstanding KCS debt.

The transaction, which has the unanimous support of both boards of directors, values KCS at $275 per share, representing a 23% premium, based on the CP and KCS closing prices on March 19, 2021.

Following the closing into a voting trust, common shareholders of KCS will receive 0.489 of a CP share and $90 in cash for each KCS common share held.

Following final approval from the Surface Transportation Board, the transaction will combine the two railroads to create the first rail network connecting the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Joining seamlessly in Kansas City, Mo., in America’s heartland, CP and KCS together will connect customers via single-network transportation offerings between points on CP’s system throughout Canada, the U.S. Midwest, and the U.S. Northeast and points on KCS’ system throughout Mexico and the South Central U.S.

While remaining the smallest of six U.S. Class 1 railroads by revenue, the combined company will be a much larger and more competitive network, operating approximately 20,000 miles of rail, employing close to 20,000 people and generating total revenues of approximately $8.7 billion based on 2020 actual revenues.

The combination is expected to be accretive to CP’s adjusted diluted EPS in the first full year following CP’s acquisition of control of KCS, and is expected to generate double-digit accretion upon the full realization of synergies thereafter.

To fund the stock consideration of the merger, CP will issue 44.5 million new shares.

The cash portion will be funded through a combination of cash-on-hand and raising approximately $8.6B in debt, for which financing has been committed.

As part of the merger, CP will assume approximately $3.8B of KCS’ outstanding debt.

Following the closing into trust, CP expects that its outstanding debt will be approximately $20.2B. Pro forma for the transaction, CP estimates its leverage ratio against 2021E street consensus EBITDA to be approximately 4.0-times with the assumption of KCS debt and issuance of new acquisition-related debt.

In order to manage this leverage effectively, CP will be temporarily suspending its normal course issuer bid program, and expects to produce approximately $7B of levered free cash flow over the next three years.

CP estimates its long-term leverage target of approximately 2.5x to be achieved within 36 months after closing into trust.

The combined company will remain committed to maintaining strong investment grade credit ratings while continuing to return capital for the benefit of shareholders.

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December 21, 2020December 20, 2020

Aerojet Rocketdyne sold for $5 billion

Lockheed Martin to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne

Lockheed Martin (LMT) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) for $56 per share in cash, which is expected to be reduced to $51 per share after the payment of a pre-closing special dividend.

This represents a post-dividend equity value of $4.6B and a total transaction value of $4.4B including the assumption of net cash.

As part of approving the transaction, Aerojet Rocketdyne announced a special cash dividend, revocable at its option through the payment date, of $5 per share to its holders of record of common stock and convertible senior notes as of the close of business on March 10, 2021, and payable on March 24, 2021.

Lockheed Martin brings most of it’s rocket manufacturing to in-house with this deal

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021 and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by Aerojet Rocketdyne’s stockholders.

Aerojet Rocketdyne designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerospace and defense products and systems in the United States.

The Aerospace and Defense segment offers aerospace and defense products and systems for the United States government, including the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and aerospace and defense prime contractors. This segment provides liquid and solid rocket propulsion systems, air-breathing hypersonic engines, and electric power and propulsion systems for space, defense, civil, and commercial applications; and armament systems.

The Real Estate segment engages in the re-zoning, entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real estate assets. It owns approximately 11,394 acres of land adjacent to the United States Highway 50 between Rancho Cordova and Folsom, California east of Sacramento.

AJRD closed at $42.02. LMT closed at $356.03.

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December 18, 2020

Curo Group shares jump on sale of its subsidiary!

Curo Group surges after Katapult announces merger with SPAC

Shares of Curo Group Holdings (CURO) have surged in Friday trading after the company announced earlier today that it is positioned to benefit from the announcement that Katapult Holding, a company approximately 40% owned by Curo and a leading provider of e-commerce point-of-sale lease purchase options for non-prime U.S. consumers, and FinServ Acquisition Corp.

(FSRV), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, or “SPAC,” have entered into a definitive merger agreement.

The transaction values Katapult’s equity at $908M, which includes an earnout of up to $75M in the form of additional common shares in the new public company, Curo said.

“Based on Curo’s ownership in Katapult, the transaction announced today will provide consideration consisting of a combination of cash and stock in the new company to CURO of $365M, which includes an earnout of up to $30M in the form of additional common shares in the new public company.

To date, Curo has made a total cash investment in Katapult of $27.5M,” the company noted.

Upon the closing of the transaction, Curo anticipates receiving cash of up to $125 million and maintaining an ownership stake of at least 21% of the fully-diluted shares of the new public company, CURO added. In afternoon trading, Curo shares have risen $7.09, or 81%, to $15.88. Shares hit a high of $20.81.

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December 16, 2020

Merger creates $4B cannabis company

Aphria, Tilray announce $3.9B combination

Aphria (APHA) and Tilray (TLRY) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their businesses and create the world’s largest global cannabis company based on pro forma revenue.

The deal is pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act and the implied pro forma equity value of the combined company is approximately $3.9B, based on the share price of Aphria and Tilray at the close of market on December 15.

Following the completion of the arrangement, the combined company will have principal offices in the United States, Canada, Portugal and Germany, and it will operate under the Tilray corporate name with shares trading on Nasdaq under ticker symbol (TLRY).

The combined company will have a complete portfolio of branded Cannabis 2.0 products in Canada.

In the United States, the combined company will have a consumer packaged goods presence and infrastructure with two strategic pillars, including SweetWater Brewing and Manitoba Harvest.

Under the terms of the Arrangement, the shareholders of Aphria will receive 0.8381 shares of Tilray for each Aphria common share, while holders of Tilray shares will continue to hold their Tilray shares with no adjustment to their holdings.

Upon the completion of the arrangement, Aphria Shareholders will own approximately 62% of the outstanding Tilray Shares on a fully diluted basis, resulting in a reverse acquisition of Tilray, representing a premium of 23% based on the share price at market close on December 15 to Tilray shareholders.

On a pro forma basis for the last twelve months reported by each company, the combined company would have had revenue of $685M.

Upon completion of the arrangement, Aphria’s current chairman and CEO, Irwin Simon, will lead the combined company as chairman and CEO.

The board of directors will consist of nine members, seven of which, including Simon, are current Aphria directors and two of which will be from Tilray, including Brendan Kennedy, and one of which is to be designated.

The combined company will have pro forma revenue of $685M for the last twelve months reported by each company, the highest in the global cannabis industry.

In Canada, the combination of Aphria and Tilray will create the leading adult-use cannabis company with gross revenue of C$296M in the adult-use market for the twelve months reported by each company.

The combination of Aphria and Tilray is expected to deliver approximately C$100M of annual pre-tax cost synergies within 24 months of the completion of the transaction.

The combined company expects to achieve cost synergies in the key areas of cultivation and production, cannabis and product purchasing, sales and marketing and corporate expenses.

Under the terms of the agreement, the arrangement will be carried out by way of a court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act and will require the approval of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the Aphria Shareholders at a special meeting.

Approval of a majority of the votes cast by Tilray stockholders will be required to, among other things contemplated by the Agreement, authorize the issuance of Tilray shares to Aphria shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement. Following completion of the Arrangement, Aphria will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilray, with Aphria shareholders owning approximately 62% of Tilray.

The arrangement is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2021 following the receipt of such regulatory approvals, as well as court approval of the Arrangement.

Each of Aphria’s and Tilray’s respective directors and officers and certain principal Tilray Stockholders have entered into voting support agreements agreeing to vote their Aphria Shares or Tilray Shares, as applicable, in favor of the resolutions put before them pursuant to the agreement.

Note that this merger probably was forced on the companies by market forces. Covid-19 pandemic has hurt cannabis industry similar to restaurants and movie theaters. APHA is up 5 cents to $8.18. TLRY is up $1.51 to $9.38. TLRY shares have an all time high of $300.

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December 13, 2020

Pluralsight sold for $3.5 billion

Pluralsight to be acquired by Vista for $20.26 per share in cash

Pluralsight (PS) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

Pluralsight, Inc. operates a cloud-based technology skills platform in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. Its platform products include Pluralsight Skills for individuals and teams to acquire technology skills through skill development experiences, such as skill assessments, a curated library of expert-authored courses, directed learning paths, interactive content, and business analytics; and Pluralsight Flow, which gives technology leaders objective data and visibility into workflow patterns to measure the productivity of their software developers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vista, in partnership with its institutional co-investors including Partners Group, will acquire all outstanding shares of Pluralsight common stock for $20.26 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.5B.

The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 25% to the company’s volume weighted average closing stock price for the 30 trading days prior to today’s announcement.

The deal has been unanimously approved and recommended by an independent Transaction Committee and then unanimously approved by the Pluralsight board.

Vista gambles $3.5 billion on cloud based learning

Pluralsight has also entered into a voting agreement with certain of its shareholders, under which such shareholders have agreed to vote all of their Pluralsight shares in favor of the transaction.

The Pluralsight shares subject to the voting agreement represent a majority of the current outstanding voting power of Pluralsight shares. “In response to receipt of unsolicited acquisition interest, Pluralsight engaged in a robust process, including evaluating transaction alternatives against Pluralsight’s standalone plan and other strategic alternatives,” the company said.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021. PS closed at $18.98.

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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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November 30, 2020

IHS Markit sold for $44 billion

S&P Global, IHS Markit to merge in all-stock deal

S&P Global (SPGI) and IHS Markit (INFO) announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction which values IHS Markit at an enterprise value of $44B, including $4.8B of net debt.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, each share of IHS Markit common stock will be exchanged for a fixed ratio of 0.2838 shares of S&P Global common stock.

Upon completion of the transaction, current S&P Global shareholders will own approximately 67.75% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, while IHS Markit shareholders will own approximately 32.25%.

Serving a global customer base across financial information and services, ratings, indices, commodities and energy, and transportation and engineering, the pro forma company will provide differentiated solutions to the workflows of many companies.

Combined, the two companies will provide solutions across data, platforms, benchmarks and analytics in ESG, climate and energy transition.

The pro forma company will have 76% recurring revenue and expects to realize 6.5%-8% annual organic revenue growth in 2022 and 2023, balanced across major industry segments.

The combined company will target 200 basis points of annual EBITA margin expansion.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings by the end of the second full year post-closing.

The combined company expects to deliver annual run-rate cost synergies of approximately $480M, with approximately $390M of those expected by the end of the second year post-closing, and $350M in run-rate revenue synergies for an expected total run-rate EBITA impact of approximately $680M by the end of the fifth full year after closing.

The combined company expects to generate annual free cash flow exceeding $5B by 2023, with a targeted dividend payout ratio of 20%-30% of adjusted diluted EPS and a targeted total capital return of at least 85% of free cash flow between dividends and share repurchases.

Both companies expect to maintain their current dividend policies until the close of the transaction.

Following closing, the company will be headquartered in New York with a presence in key global markets across North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

The leadership team will comprise senior leaders from both organizations.

Ewout Steenbergen, executive VP and CFO of S&P Global, will serve as CFO of the combined company.

Ewout Steenbergen will serve as CFO of the new company

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to, among other things, the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, other antitrust and regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction requires the approval of shareholders of both S&P Global and IHS Markit and is not subject to any financing conditions.

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November 23, 2020

Consolidation in digital healthcare continues!

GigCapital2 to combine with UpHealth, Cloudbreak Health in $1.35B merger

GigCapital2 (GIX) announced that it has entered into two separate definitive business combination agreements with each of UpHealth and Cloudbreak Health to form a combined entity that will create a publicly traded, global digital healthcare company.

Digital healthcare has become more prevalent during the pandemic

Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named UpHealth and will continue to be listed on the NYSE under the new ticker symbol (UPH).

Following the combination, UpHealth will be a global digital healthcare company serving an entire spectrum of healthcare needs and will be established in fast growing sectors of the digital health industry.

With its combinations, Upon closing the pending mergers and the combination with Cloudbreak, UpHealth will be organized across four capabilities at the intersection of population health management and telehealth: Integrated Care Management, Global Telehealth, Digital Pharmacy, and Tech-enabled Behavioral Health.

Following the consummation of the transactions, UpHealth will have agreements to deliver digital healthcare in more than 10 countries globally.

These various companies are expected to generate approximately $115M in revenue and over $13M of EBITDA in 2020 and following the combination, UpHealth expects to generate over $190M in revenue and $24M in EBITDA in 2021.

The business combinations were unanimously approved by the boards of directors of all parties, valuing the combined company at a combined pro forma enterprise value of approximately $1.35B.

The proposed business combinations are expected to be completed in Q1 2021, subject to, among other things, the approval by GigCapital2 stockholders, regulatory approvals, and the satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.

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