The Special Situations Report

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=pYou 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=pYou 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 Introduction1:18 Cintas Finally Wins The War For UniFirst6:32 The Coupang Data Breach and Investor Activity17:26 OutroCheck out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=pCheck 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 Introduction1:13 A Potential Bidding War for Reservoir Media7:40 Massive Buyback at Salesforce Amidst The SaaSpocalypse14:25 Elliott Gets Involved With Pinterest16:28 Insider Sales At Warner Bros Following Paramount Deal24:07 OutroCheck out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=pCheck 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=pYou can find Ehsan, his book, and his daily newsletter at the following locations:LinkedIn: Ehsan EhsaniEhsan'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=pYou can find Chris at the following locations:Plural Investing: https://www.pluralinvesting.com/Hidden Gems Investing: https://substack.com/@hiddengemsinvestingX: https://x.com/HiddenGemsInvesLinkedIn: 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=pYou can find Matt at the following locations:X: https://x.com/MattJMcClintockLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjmcclintock/M Squared Capital: https://www.msquaredcapital.com/about

Summary:In this episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss cover two key stories, such as a new deal for a boat manufacturer that the two compare and contrast with a potential deal for a boat retailer. Asif and Tamanna then cover the sudden departure of PayPal's CEO, Alex Chriss, and the quick appointment of his sucesssor, who comes over from HP.Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=pCheck 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 tender offer for the apparel retailer Land’s End, a deep dive into quantum computing in the context of IonQ acquiring SkyWater in a $1.8 billion deal, a massive buyback by the natural gas company CNX Resources, and an unusual insider purchase by the CEO of Abbott Laboratories while they are in the process of acquiring Exact Sciences. Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=pCheck 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 special episode of the Special Situations Report, hosts Asif and Tamanna Suria discuss two key stories, including the acquisition of Nathan’s Famous by Smithfield Foods and insider purchases by the CEO and a director of GameStop.Check out InsideArbitrage here: https://www.insidearbitrage.com/?s1=yt&c=pCheck 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