US/Europe Event-Driven Analyst

John DeMasi

CFA, CPA (New York State, status: inactive) with 20+ years on buyside (PM & analyst) at numerous hedge funds and proprietary trading desks in NYC and London, covering North American and European event driven investments.

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Event-Driven

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27934" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27934:1">Oslo Bors VPS Holding ASA (OSLO NS)</a> based in Oslo, Norway, is an owner and operator of marketplaces for the trading of financial instruments as well as settlement, securities registration and information services. It includes Oslo Børs, the central marketplace for the listing and trading of equities, equity certificates, ETPs, fixed income instruments and derivative products in the Norwegian market, and VPS, the only central securities depository in Norway.
OSLO NS is the target of competing tender offers from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/21450" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21450:1">Euronext NV (ENX FP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/18039" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18039:1">Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ US)</a>. Euronext owns 5.3% and has irrevocables for 45.2% of OSLO NS shares, for 50.5% total. It launched an Offer to acquire all shares at NOK 145, and just raised that to NOK 158 on February 11, 2019. Nasdaq has irrevocables for 35.2% of OSLO NS shares and has launched an Offer to acquire all OSLO NS shares at NOK 152 per share. Nasdaq’s Offer received the unanimous recommendation of Oslo Børs VPS’s Board when it was announced. As things stand there are two deep-pocketed bidders, each with a large slug of shares in their corner at loggerheads.
Has this contest for a Norwegian company reached a Mexican standoff<a href="#_edn1" target="_blank">[i]</a> between an American powerhouse and a Franco/Dutch European champion? Or will the dust clear after pistols at dawn, providing a clear view of a winner? Read on for the Good, The Bad and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1PfrmCGFnk" target="_blank">Ugly</a>.
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<a href="#_ednref1" target="_blank">[i]</a> According to the <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/mexican_standoff" target="_blank">Oxford English Dictionary</a>, a Mexican standoff is “A deadlock, stalemate, impasse; a roughly equal (and frequently unsatisfactory) outcome to a conflict in which there is no clear winner or loser; (also formerly) a massacre in cold blood.”
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Oslo Bors VPS Holding ASA (OSLO NS) based in Oslo, Norway, is an owner and operator of marketplaces for the trading of financial instruments as well as settlement, securities registration and information services. It includes Oslo Børs, the central marketplace for the listing and trading of equities, equity certificates, ETPs, fixed income instruments and derivative products in the Norwegian market, and VPS, the only central securities depository in Norway.
OSLO NS is the target of competing tender offers from Euronext NV (ENX FP) and Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ US). Euronext owns 5.3% and has irrevocables for 45.2% of OSLO NS shares, for 50.5% total. It launched an Offer to acquire all shares at NOK 145, and just raised that to NOK 158 on February 11, 2019. Nasdaq has irrevocables for 35.2% of OSLO NS shares and has launched an Offer to acquire all OSLO NS shares at NOK 152 per share. Nasdaq’s Offer received the unanimous recommendation of Oslo Børs VPS’s Board when it was announced. As things stand there are two deep-pocketed bidders, each with a large slug of shares in their corner at loggerheads.
Has this contest for a Norwegian company reached a Mexican standoff[i] between an American powerhouse and a Franco/Dutch European champion? Or will the dust clear after pistols at dawn, providing a clear view of a winner? Read on for the Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
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[i] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Mexican standoff is “A deadlock, stalemate, impasse; a roughly equal (and frequently unsatisfactory) outcome to a conflict in which there is no clear winner or loser; (also formerly) a massacre in cold blood.”


Oslo Børs, Euronext and Nasdaq – Shootout at the NOK Corral