3mos is basically about as fast as you can ram one through...
...but the Ack SPAC is whale hunting and whatever they hope to buy would be a massive transaction ($4bn in trust, plus a big committed PIPE).
Complexity + size = increased time to close.
Today is Mar 5. These options expire in mid-June.
unless Ackman announces a deal in the next 3 weeks, I think it's basically impossible for him to close this transaction before these options expire...
....meaning you get paid 80c (against whatever you have to put up to sell the put, at my broker, ~$2/share), to commit to get long $20 worth of cash at $20.
This is a 40% RoIC for 3.5mos work. With very little risk (beyond mark to market on the puts).
Keep in mind also that as the market goes lower/gets wobbly the odds of doing a deal GO DOWN, not up. So the value of this put should be going down...
The put leg here is MASSIVELY misunderstood and misplaced. Below $20/share in the next few months you're shorting a cash box...
...who wouldn't mind getting long a bunch of cash and then just redeem?
You get paid 40% ROIC to do this. Yes its not scalable. Yes you need to wear mark-to-market. Yes this is options to if you didn't understand even a word of this thread, its NOT FOR YOU.
DYODD always...
...but if none of that applies, this seems highly compelling and (to me) the best risk-adjusted way to play the current SPAC meltdown.
Let Ack's cash box pay you 40% ROICs in a few months. Then go on summer vacay w the proceeds before he even announces a deal ππ
GLTA π
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Given (I believe) TFG owns (at mids) 4.5mm shs of Ripple Labs, I think they are marking their Ripple shs at about $53/share (a big discount to private market transactions, given liquidity, etc).
At $175/share - the px of this tender - the TFG stake is worth $547mm OVER the...
...current mark. You need to tax this for mgmt fees (say 20%) but even so this is $438mm - or, $5.4/share of excess value above NAV.
Ie true NAV today is more like $40-41 and the stock is $14.
Ok this is topical as the buyer, Cosette, filed notice to Terminate so stock now off 12% at $4.2...
TL;DR is I have reversed my view, I think this is an exceptional R/R here given px now below original pre-deal px despite fully papered terms at $7.4...
Let's start w/ what I got wrong in the original thread (and why I think its important now). I orig thought that the precise quantification - $10.76mm in EBITDA - as the quantum for MAC definition was problematic for Mayne (the seller).
However since the orig allegation...
...Cosette has still not attempted to quantify any of the events they solely/collectively determined to be a MAC. It appears - judging from the PR from $MYX.AX just now - they have filed at least two sep comms to the company - May 17; and June 4 - w/ no attempt to quantify the MAC...
Now that EDU Holdings $EDU.AX has bowed to the inevitable and abandoned a highly flawed delisting attempt, I can speak broadly about this exciting investment.
Note I own >9% of the company, and all the below represents solely my own opinion. Always DYODD. This is not advice.
$EDU.AX is a for-profit education business in π¦πΊ. After many yrs in the wilderness, their core biz, Ikon (provides higher education certificates, mostly to international students), started growing like a weed last year:
(NB: there are three terms at Ikon, hence T1, T2, etc). The rebound in students followed extensive restructuring of the course offering, to focus on long-term needs (nursing, early childcare education, finance/accounting, etc) and ofc the lean post-COVID yrs...
Let's update a couple of investments/themes. 1) Aircraft lessors. As expected snap back has been quick but $AL has outperformed $AER.
Still think $AL is the better bet here, given rel val (0.78x vs 1.15x P/B); likely nt catalyst (bback, potential wholeco sale), even if extant RoEs etc still lag for another 18mos.
Have shifted most all my exposure of these two to $AL. Note that $AER is closing in on 10yr highs re P/B...
Still think another 10-15% upside nt in $AER but easy $$ has been made.
Ofc $AVAP.LN remains v cheap, structurally mispriced, you can look up my old tweets but thats a diff bucket/size/liquidity etc.
2) $PAC.AX. Stock has not recovered post buyback but has never been cheaper (well, not lately). Here are the updated numbers. 27% discount to PF NAV, w/ $9.25 of NAV in very hard value:
If you want to get up to speed on why I am so exercised over this, please read my first writeup here (removing paywall): rapercapital.com/2025/02/06/newβ¦
This current delisting attempt is just the last in a long line of machinations designed to expropriate minorities. The first was this cooked valuation report from the last takeover deal (launched in Sep 2023, not concluded until Jun 2024).
That valuation report conluded...
...fair value on a minority basis was 83c-$1.24/share (based on June'23 accounts). This was why RG bumped his offer to 84c - the bare minimum the board could accept (even tho two independent directors dissented).
But that report included $104mm in FICTITIOUS debt 'adjustments'
There are many attractive event trades out there right now but $MAPS is prob my favorite. It seems to have that holy trifecta: meaningful upside to a concluded deal; a likely near-term conclusion; and quite low downside on a break.
Been a while since I did one of these...ππ
$MAPS is a cannabis-focused online marketplace ('Weedmaps'); you can read a decent intro writeup here:
Thesis point 1) if deal breaks there is v little (or no) downside.
Pre-bid stock had traded as high as $1.5 after strong 3Q earnings + cash generation + a CHEAP starting valn (2x EV/EBITDA...). It only cracked in Dec when all small-caps got obliterated...