The race for regional scale continues, and Texas remains the hottest battleground. Prosperity Bancshares (PB) has agreed to acquire rival Stellar Bancorp (STEL) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2 billion. The transaction combines two Houston heavyweights to create the second-largest Texas-headquartered bank by deposits. 💰 THE DEAL METRICS: 🗺️ THE STRATEGY: This is a...
The “ValueAct School” of activism is making a move in the cloud sector. Fivespan Partners, an activist firm founded by former ValueAct partners, has disclosed a 6.2% stake in Appian (APPN) via a 13-D filing. The firm intends to engage with management on strategy as the cloud computing company struggles with a collapsing share price....
The retail trading herd has found a new favorite, and it isn’t Nvidia. According to Vanda Research, retail appetite for silver has officially overtaken the technology sector. On Monday alone, individual investors net bought $171 million of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV)—nearly double the peak ($93M) seen during the infamous 2021 “Silver Squeeze.” 🚀 THE...
The trans-Atlantic regulatory wall is closing in on the streaming deal of the century. A coalition of senior British politicians and former policymakers has formally requested the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launch a full review of Netflix’s (NFLX) proposed $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). 📜 THE REVOLT: This isn’t just backbench...
He’s back. Michael Burry (“The Big Short”) has disclosed a new position in GameStop (GME) via his Substack, Cassandra Unchained. But for those expecting a 2021 replay, Burry is pouring cold water on the “Short Squeeze” thesis. Instead, he sees a fundamental transformation play driven by CEO Ryan Cohen. KEY TAKEAWAYS: 💡 ANALYST TAKEAWAY: This...