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BH - Biglari Holdings


accutronman

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Well, Dell managed to buy out his company and he didn't do it with his own money.  Certainly, some kind of leveraged buy out is a possibility, if he got a sufficient level of assets and control of the company.  In fact, couldn't we just see how he got himself to 50%?  He used BH money to buy it with the lion fund.  So, he can use 1) cash flow from operations; 2) continue to do rights offerings that give BH money, transfer it to Lion Fund, and repurchase there; and/or 3) bring in a new partner for The Lion Fund to do the purchase.  Combine all 4 of the above, and I imagine he can do it. 

 

Also, I would think anyone who he wants on his side (board members for example) would/could remain involved in the company after buyout as well.

 

So:

1) Possible funding discussed above.  I don't think he cares about reputation.  Easy to find someone else who also doesn't care.  If cost of ensuing lawsuits are less than what he's getting, then it is worth it.

 

2) Board members and/or partners in TLF would be part of the buy out (this is just getting rid of public shareholders)

 

Good POV and all possible, let's call this the "Biglari Scheme" -  I can't help but speculate that share price would be much higher than today's level if all of above were to be done over years.

 

And why wouldn't he just quietly buy shares in the open market at current level (which he is already doing)? How would this scheme benefit Biglari more economically? He's already got all the control he wants.

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It certainly could be.  That being said, there were a lot of value investors who thought that would happen with dell shares, and they still got bought out at way below their cost.

 

I'm not saying this is what I think will happen, but just a hypothetical way of executing a take-under, where potentially shareholders never reap the value they see in the stock. 

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However, keeping the shares active within TLF also gives Biglari more flexibility to sell the shares later on if they become overvalued, or exchange them directly for shares of other companies he believes are undervalued. Doing so would be beneficial to all, as it defers taxes that would otherwise be due on capital gains.

 

Thank you Awindenberger. Although I have no clue if that's in Biglari's mind, I can't help but think that he is learning that from Henry Singleton, and doing it in a tax-efficient way. Only time will tell.

 

I think Biglari would pay you to not point this one out, if that's indeed what he's intending to do.  ;)

 

I guess its too late on this forum, but I'd love to have him pay me not to point this out  :P

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Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think he's making the company look that unprofitable.  This assumes an investor reads the filings. Maybe I've too much faith in the system, but I think most 3rd parties or hired valuation specialists would agree with the clear value of CBRL and the value of SnS, making an extreme take under difficult.

 

And even if he's out there just to screw all other shareholders, here's a few things to consider:

 

1. With a take under, that would cost at least another 300-500 million dollar of cash at today's price. How is he going to fund that alone? If he is looking for a partner, what is there for him to transfer control from all current shareholders to a major capital partner? Assuming an extreme phony with only self interest in mind? All the lawsuits that comes after would be enough of a headache for him. How about damages in reputation?

 

2. How about all other board members who are required to own shares and the other current partners in TLF?

 

It comes back to the question I posted here last year: Assuming Biglari is a smart and greedy corporate Villan, what is the worst thing that he could do to harm existing shareholders without harming himself?

 

A. Corporate jets and Maxim models expensed with BH money? Let's say thats 10MM a year?

 

B. A take under? I dont think he can pull out that much cash on the side.

 

C. Milking the company with the BH/TLF structure? He's already doing it and it's already clearly explained, thats 25% above 6% gain.

 

D. Accounting fraud? That's possible but I have yet to see any signs of it. BH reporting style is making things look worse than it is if anything.

 

All the answers I've seen so far was a black-and-white judgement of his character, and but whether his seemingly shareholder-unfriendly press and action would lead to shareholder losses - that's yet to be determined. I am only certain of its asset value, and it's worth a lot more than the market value.

 

A dark villain worth his salt sure will find new ways to screw his shareholders in addition to the means that are already implemented ;D

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Couldn't BH buy back the shares and sell them without any capital gains?

 

And how exactly would that achieve Bigs goal of moving his bank account higher and on to the Forbes list of richest people??

 

I was responding to the assertion that TLF owning the shares made it more capital efficient since they could buy and hold and sell. Why couldn't they cancel and issue shares in the same way?

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Couldn't BH buy back the shares and sell them without any capital gains?

 

And how exactly would that achieve Bigs goal of moving his bank account higher and on to the Forbes list of richest people??

 

I was responding to the assertion that TLF owning the shares made it more capital efficient since they could buy and hold and sell. Why couldn't they cancel and issue shares in the same way?

 

They could, but that's a bit more paper work and plus, Biglari wouldn't get a nice 25% cut for BH going over 6% if it's just cancelling shares. I think this setup is a workaround of the original compensation plan Biglari proposed and got rejected a few years ago. He still ends up getting what he wants.

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Valeant is down about 60% from this filing....

 

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334429/000092189516003415/xslForm13F_X01/infotable.xml

 

Curious if he's bought more since

 

hes in fine company...I like what hes doing... that turn around at steak and shake was textbook.

 

If I were some of you all I would buy up some shares and put them away. I'm thinking i might soon. Not big but something for the grandkids.

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Valeant is down about 60% from this filing....

 

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1334429/000092189516003415/xslForm13F_X01/infotable.xml

 

Curious if he's bought more since

 

hes in fine company...I like what hes doing... that turn around at steak and shake was textbook.

 

If I were some of you all I would buy up some shares and put them away. I'm thinking i might soon. Not big but something for the grandkids.

 

Valeant and Biglari both have questionable management.  Its a marriage made in heaven.

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is there a way to get tickets ahead of time for the BH meeting (as in Omaha) or is showing up with your brokerage statement the only choice?

 

Brokerage statement and ID...that's the only way

 

You won't need tickets. Last year wasn't quite full and I bet this year is less people since we don't have the proxy battle going on.

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Bigs suing an investment advisor for distributing a document that contained false and disparaging statements including  at least one that appeared in Forbes magazine. 

 

He's not suing Forbes however...

 

Sure has a lot of time to file these defamation suits.

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Bigs suing an investment advisor for distributing a document that contained false and disparaging statements including  at least one that appeared in Forbes magazine. 

 

He's not suing Forbes however...

 

Sure has a lot of time to file these defamation suits.

 

Oh crap, I need a lawyer.

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Bigs suing an investment advisor for distributing a document that contained false and disparaging statements including  at least one that appeared in Forbes magazine. 

 

He's not suing Forbes however...

 

Sure has a lot of time to file these defamation suits.

 

You should see his wikipedia page....I wonder who does all the editing for that.

 

 

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