Inelegant Investor is a collection of real-world investing observations, focused on the edge cases that don’t show up in textbooks — restructurings, CVRs, spinoffs, and the strange outcomes that accumulate in actual portfolios. And whatever else interests me about investing. Investing isn't always pretty, it's usually quite inelegant.
Recent Series: The Portfolio Graveyard
First Marblehead(FMD), which purchased Tuition Management Systems at the beginning of the year for $47.25 million, has sold a portfolio of 377 contracts to FACTS, a subsidiary of Nelnet(NNI). First Marblehead said it decided to sell the contracts relating to lower cost schools, many faith-based, which accounted for 33% of contracts, but only 18% of revenue, to focus… Read More »
I hate to pick on the work of an intern, but presumably the value add of a site like MarketWatch is that there is editorial staff. How then did a piece of under 100 words manage to make multiple errors, mislead and add nothing of value? Intern Sara Sjolin clearly began with the premise that Biglari Holdings(BH) move… Read More »
In an unexpected move, David Sokol, Warren Buffett’s presumed successor as Berkshire Hathaway(BRKB) CEO, has resigned from all of his positions at the company. Buffett made the announcement in a press release he identifies as “unusual”. Sokol, who apparently has attempted to resign before, resigned by letter two days ago, citing his desire to create “enduring equity value”… Read More »
Just weeks after joining St. Joe’s(JOE) Board, and days after proposing Charlie Crist as an additional Board Member, Fairholme’s Bruce Berkowitz, whose fund owns over 30% of the company has resigned, effective immediately. Charles Fernandez, also of Fairholme resigned as well. The company, which put itself up for sale last week, has been a topic of much discussion… Read More »
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might just be Sardar Biglari playing dress up. In his continuing effort to pretend to be Warren Buffett, Biglari Holdings(BH) announced this morning that its Board Of Directors had approved a 1-15 reverse stock split. This follows a previous 1-20 reverse split, and will be followed… Read More »
As reported previously, Berkshire Hathaway(BRK-B,BRK-A) announced its intention on August 25, 2010 to propose to Wesco(WSC) that it purchase the 19.9% of Wesco it did not already own. This morning, at long last, the two companies have announced a definitive merger agreement. Wesco shareholders will be able to elect cash or stock at what seems like a negligible… Read More »
Image via Wikipedia At the risk of this blog devolving into a single stock focus, we once again write today about the long saga of Biglari Holdings'(BH) pursuit of Fremont Michigan Insuracorp(FMMH). Having run out, apparently, of tips on safe driving to issue press releases about, Fremont’s special committee finally got around to issuing a press release acknowledging… Read More »
Image by c r i s via Flickr Two days after sending a letter to the Fremont Michigan Insuracorp(FMMH.OB) board reiterating its $29 cash offer, Biglari Holdings(BH) issued a press release this evening, increasing its offer to $31 per share in cash. Though it was disclosed that the companies had met on December 1, Fremont has not publicly… Read More »
Biglari Holdings(BH) released a letter today, filed with an amended 13-D, reiterating its interest in acquiring Fremont Michigan(FMMH.OB) for $29 per share in cash, and indicated a willingness to discuss a higher transaction value with Fremont’s Special Committee. The Special Committee has been entirely silent since Fremont’s initial offer, watching the stock’s price fall back to significantly below… Read More »
Image via Wikipedia In the latest step in his effort to mimic Warren Buffett, Sardar Biglari of Biglari Holdings(BH) has proposed to create a new, non-voting class of shares, which existing class A shares could be converted to at a rate of somewhere between 20 to 1 and 50 to 1. The disclosure came in an otherwise unremarkable… Read More »