Similar to MRDB, this is pretty speculative.  Asensus Surgical (ASXC) (~$73MM market cap) is a cash burning medical device company that makes robot systems for abdominal surgeries.  Asensus has one surgical system in the market (Senhance Surgical System) and a next generation one in development (LUNA System), unfortunately for the company, they're reaching the end of their cash runway in June, per their own forecast, leaving them in a tricky spot needing to raise capital. In comes Karl Storz SE, a privately held but sizable German medical device company, with a letter of intent to pu ..read more

This is highly speculative, but I wanted to bring the discussion out of the comment sections of my BFIN post as I found the situation interesting enough to initiate a small position. MariaDB plc (MRDB) ($32MM market cap) offers enterprise and premium functionality on top of the open sourced (free) MariaDB Community Server database management system ("DMBS").  To distinguish between the company and the open sourced DMBS, I'll refer to the for-profit company itself as MRDB and the DMBS as MariaDB.  The lead developer of MariaDB is Michael "Monty" Widenius who was one of the original de ..read more

James River Group Holdings (JRVR) is a small (~$295MM market cap) insurer primarily focused on small and middle market casualty risk in the U.S. excess and surplus ("E&S") market.  The E&S market can be an attractive market segment because it doesn't face the same regulatory constraints as the admitted (regulated) market, potential clients typically have to demonstrate they can't get regular policies before entering the E&S market where pricing and policies can be more bespoke (and profitable).  James River is relatively good at underwriting these risks, they've had some ..read more

Limoneira Company (LMNR) ($330MM market cap) is a California based citrus farmer (primarily lemons, secondarily avocados) packager and part-time real estate developer that announced on 12/1/23, they were pursuing strategic alternatives.  From the press release: Scott S. Slater, Chairperson of the Board, stated, “Over Limoneira’s 130-year history it has grown into one of the leading, sustainable agribusiness companies in the world with over 11,100 acres of valuable lands, real estate properties, and senior water rights. Over the past 18 months, we have developed a strategic roadmap in ..read more

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (MACK) ($220MM market cap) is essentially a publicly traded CVR in a c-corp form, I owned the stock briefly in 2017 after the company sold Onivyde to Ipsen and committed to passing through any future milestone payments related to Onivyde to shareholders.  Unfortunately, it didn't have the same protections of a CVR and management ended up diluting shareholders of those future milestone payments by raising equity to pursue their remaining development stage pipeline.  In 2019, the company officially gave up development of new drugs, management was removed and i ..read more

Aclaris Therapeutics (ACRS) (~$85MM market cap) is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing novel drugs for immuno-inflammatory diseases.  In November, the company announced their lead candidate, zunsemetinib, did not meet its primary or secondary endpoints in a Phase 2 trial for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, the stock dropped 80+% on the news.  Earlier this week, Aclaris announced their CEO was stepping down and the company was initiating a strategic review: Concurrent with today’s announcement, Aclaris also announced that it is conductin ..read more

This morning, FirstSun Capital Bancorp (FSUN) (~$850MM market cap) announced they were acquiring HomeStreet (HMST) (~$200MM market cap) in an all-stock transaction that includes a PIPE investment, lead by Wellington (being done at $32.50 per FSUN, or $14.12 per HMST), that neutralizes the mark-to-market impact of HomeStreet's balance sheet.  FirstSun is an insider controlled (69% insider ownership) C&I loan heavy bank that trades OTC with geographic concentration in Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.  FSUN will be the surviving entity, with FSUN management in charge ..read more

As most know, Liberty SiriusXM Group (LSXMA/K) is the Malone-style tracking stock for Liberty Media's majority ownership interest in SiriusXM (SIRI).  Liberty famously bailed out SIRI following the financial crisis and made a killing on the investment (much of it early in their holding period).  Nearly fifteen years later -- skipping over a lot of interesting history -- in December, Liberty Media reached an agreement to formally split-off their stake and merge it back with SIRI, creating a simplified one-class share structure at the satellite radio provider.   As almost all ..read more

Cellectar Biosciences (CLRB) is a late-stage clinical biotech company (not a "broken biotech") that recently reported positive data for their lead therapeutic, Iopofosine I 131, for the treatment of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia ("WM"), which is an uncommon slow growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  WM typically inflicts those over the age of 60 and those with WM succumb to the cancer within 5-10 years.  While I try to avoid science plays around here, the results were quite remarkable and provide hope for those with WM who have unsuccessfully tried two prior lines of therapy.  ..read more

AlloVir (ALVR) (~$74MM market cap) is clinical-stage biotech focused on cell therapy to treat viral diseases. On 12/22/23, AlloVir paused their Phase 3 studies for Posoleucel after advisors concluded the studies were unlikely to meet their primary endpoints.  Alongside the announcement, the company announced, "we will immediately shift our focus to preserve our substantial remaining capital, review our pipeline, and assess strategic options."  AlloVir does have 3 additional pipeline assets: About AlloVir’s Earlier Stage Virus-Specific T cell Pipeline Adult Kidney Transplantatio ..read more