Inhibrx Inc: Cash Buyout + SpinCo (Inhibrx Biosciences) and CVR

Inhibrx Inc (INBX) (~$1.8B market cap) is a clinical stage biotech that announced the sale of their most advanced therapy, INBRX-101 (a treatment for patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency or "AATD"), in January to Sanofi (SNY) for $30/share in cash, plus 92% ownership in the remaining development pipeline via a taxable spin of NewCo Inhibrx Biosciences (SNY to retain the other 8%) and a $5/share CVR that pays out if INBRX-101 receives final FDA approval prior to 6/30/2027.  INBX shares trade for $34.20 today -- all approvals have been received and the merger will close 5/30/24.

The advantage of this structure is Inhibrx won't pay corporate taxes on the sale of INBRX-101, but shareholders will still pay taxes based on their tax basis, avoiding the double tax if Inhibrx had simply sold INBRX-101 and continued on in the same corporate structure.  We've seen similar deals with Pfizer/Biohaven (they even mention in the proxy wanting to do a "Biohaven-like structure")  and a little further back, JNJ/Actelion/Idorsia, where both SpinCos performed well initially post deal completion.

My thinking around this transaction is pretty straight forward, because the $30/share makes up a vast majority of the consideration here, the merger/stub securities are likely undervalued, although it is hard to size this up enough to create a meaningful position (INBX isn't marginable at my broker for some reason).  For the SOTP, I'm going to lean on the proxy statement as I don't have an informed view on the science other than this team already developed one valuable asset in INBRX-101.

The CVR is fairly simple, there's only one milestone, that's FDA approval of INBRX-101 for AATD:

At or prior to the Effective Time, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Parent will enter into a Contingent Value Rights Agreement between Parent and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “Rights Agent”), in substantially the form attached to the Merger Agreement (the “CVR Agreement”). Each CVR will represent the right to receive a contingent payment of $5.00 in cash, without interest, payable to the Rights Agent for the benefit of the holders of CVRs, if the following milestone is achieved:

•

The final approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), on or prior to June 30, 2027, of the new drug application or supplemental new drug application filed with the FDA pursuant to Section 351 of the Public Health Service Act and 21 CFR §§ 600 et seq. (for clarity, including accelerated approval) that is necessary for the commercial marketing and sale of the Company’s precisely engineered recombinant human AAT-Fc fusion protein, also known as INBRX-101 in the United States of America for the treatment of patients with AATD and clinical evidence of emphysema following the clinical trial with identifier INBRX101-01-201, entitled “A Phase 2, Double-Blind, Randomized, Active-Control, Parallel Group Study to Assess the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Immunogenicity, and Safety of INBRX-101 Compared to Plasma Derived Alpha-1 Proteinase Inhibitor (A1PI) Augmentation Therapy in Adults with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Emphysema,” regardless of any obligation to conduct any post-marketing or confirmatory study (which we refer to as the “Milestone”).

For the CVR valuation, Centerview (INBX's advisor) put the NPV at $2.05/share using a 60% success rate, which the company provided (management took down the success rate from 90%, citing a less advantageous regulatory environment and potential success of similar products):

Contingent Value Right Analysis

For analytical purposes, assuming a 60% probability CVR holders receive an aggregate payment of $5.00 per CVR upon the achievement of the Milestone based on the probability of success as estimated by Company management in, and the estimated timing of achievement of the Milestone under the CVR Agreement implied by, the Management Forecasts, as described under the section entitled, “The Transactions — Certain Financial Projections” and further assuming a discount rate of 13.5%, the midpoint of a range of discount rates from 12.5% to 14.5%, based on Centerview’s analysis of the Company’s weighted average cost of capital, Centerview calculated an illustrative net present value for one (1) CVR of $2.05.

Inhibrx Biosciences (SpinCo) is a little more complicated, SNY is going to seed the company with $200MM of cash, which is expected to get them about a year of cash runway.  The spin ratio is 0.25 shares of SpinCo for each share of INBX.  The spinoff will have INBX's remaining development assets, which includes two oncology therapies currently in clinical studies with data readouts within the next 12 months:​

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INBRX-106 is a hexavalent product candidate agonist of OX40. OX40 is a co-stimulatory receptor expressed on immune cells that is enriched in the tumor microenvironment. OX40 ligand is a trimeric protein that activates OX40 signaling through clustering.

​

•

INBRX-109 is a precision-engineered, tetravalent death receptor 5 (DR5) agonist antibody designed to exploit the tumor-biased cell death induced by DR5 activation.

INBRX-109 (which has both fast track and orphan designations) is farther along, it is currently in a registration enabling Phase 2 trial for the treatment of chondrosarcoma (an aggressive type of bone cancer where most patients do not respond well to current therapies) with data expected in the first half of 2025.  INBRX-106 is in a Phase 1/2 study testing it in combination with Keytruda, initial data is expected towards the end of 2024. Again, leaning on Centerview's analysis:

SpinCo Discounted Cash Flow Analysis

Centerview performed a discounted cash flow analysis of SpinCo based on the Management Forecasts. A discounted cash flow analysis is a traditional valuation methodology used to derive a valuation of an asset or set of assets by calculating the “present value” of estimated future cash flows of the asset or set of assets. “Present value” refers to the current value of future cash flows or amounts and is obtained by discounting those future cash flows or amounts by a discount rate that takes into account macroeconomic assumptions and estimates of risk, the opportunity cost of capital, expected returns and other appropriate factors.

For purposes of the analysis of the net present value of the future cash flows of SpinCo, Centerview calculated a range of equity values for 0.25 of a share of SpinCo common stock by (a) discounting to present value as of June 30, 2024 using discount rates ranging from 14.0% to 16.0% (reflecting analysis of SpinCo’s expected weighted average cost of capital) and using a mid-year convention: (i) the forecasted risk-adjusted, after-tax unlevered free cash flows of SpinCo over the period beginning on June 30, 2024 and ending on December 31, 2043, utilized by Centerview based on the Management Forecasts, (ii) an implied terminal value of SpinCo, calculated by Centerview by assuming that unlevered free cash flows would decline in perpetuity after December 31, 2043 at a rate of free cash flow decline of 60% year over year (with the exception of platform cash flows for which a 0% perpetuity growth rate was assumed), and (iii) tax savings from usage of SpinCo’s federal net operating losses from SpinCo’s estimated future losses, as set forth in the Management Forecasts, and (b) adding to the foregoing results SpinCo’s estimated net cash of $200 million, assuming SpinCo is capitalized with $200 million in cash and no debt, as of June 30, 2024, and the net present value of the estimated costs of an assumed $150 million equity raise in 2025 and $300 million equity raise in each of 2026 and 2027, as set forth in the Internal Data. Centerview divided the result of the foregoing calculations by the number of fully diluted outstanding shares of estimated SpinCo common stock (determined using the treasury stock method and taking into account the dilutive impact of warrants on the then-existing terms and 8% of shares of SpinCo common stock to be retained by the Company, and assuming no exercise of Company options receiving SpinCo common stock, as instructed by Company management) as of January 18, 2024, based on the Internal Data, resulting in a range of implied equity values per 0.25 of a share of SpinCo common stock of $5.85 to $7.95 rounded to the nearest $0.05.

Just based on cash, the NewCo would be worth $3.40/share of INBX at the outset, although that's a bit faulty logic as the cash is already spoken for in the projected cash burn.  But again, pattern recognition here tells me that this situation has a decent shot of working out well in the near term, $30.00 + $2.05 + $5.85 = ~$38/share versus the current $34.20/share.  If you back out the $30/share in cash, the stub is a potential bargain heading into closing at month end.

Disclosure: I own shares of INBX

Enhabit: Failed Strategic Alternatives Process, Proxy Fight

Enhabit (EHAB) ($413MM market cap) is a July 2022 spinoff of Encompass Health (EHC) that provides home health and hospice care.  Similar to many recent spinoffs, Encompass Health loaded Enhabit up with debt and dividended back the proceeds to themselves, as is also typical recently, Enhabit ran into business headwinds shortly after being spun and the stock price has suffered since.  Activists showed up pretty quickly here demanding a sale as the home health and hospice care industry has been consolidating with Enhabit being one of the few remaining standalone public companies in the sector.  

With tax free spinoffs, there's a two year safe harbor waiting period for the spin to be acquired without risking tax free status.  The risk of voiding the tax free status relates to if the buyer had acquisition discussions regarding the spin prior to the spinoff, if there have been no talks, then there can be M&A within that two year period.  An example I remember off the top of my head was Baxalta (BXLT) that was spun from Baxter International (BAX) back on 7/1/15 and was quickly acquired by Shire (which was later acquired by Takeda) on 1/11/16.  Prior to spinning out Enhabit and considering the consolidating nature of the industry, Encompass likely had discussions with various strategic and other buyers leading up to the spin decision, potentially boxing out the most logical buyers.

With that background, it is unsurprising that alongside earnings this week, Enhabit announced that they were concluding their strategic review without a sale and are going to continue as a standalone company.  The stock dropped roughly 15% and activist investor AREX Capital Management (4.8%) put forth a proxy fight to replace seven board members with their own slate.  I don't know anything about AREX, but EHAB is an outsized position for them and on the surface, their board slate does look highly qualified.

Back to the business, home health and hospice care has some strong tailwinds with an aging population, a push towards cheaper healthcare settings and a highly fragmented market (even the larger players like Enhabit only have single digit market shares) in need of consolidation (clinic/route density is an important driver of operational leverage).  This should be a GDP plus a couple hundred basis point growth business.  The industry is also undergoing a shift from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage plans where the patient has more of a financial responsibility and services are discounted/margins are lower.  At the time of the spin, Enhabit had a larger share of traditional Medicare patients than peers and the move to Medicare Advantage or other private plans hurt margins pretty dramatically, causing Enhabit to miss guidance several times and lose credibility with investors.  That mix shift seems to have stabilized with traditional Medicare patients increasing for the first time sequentially in Q1.

With the business somewhat stabilized (although highly levered) and an activist in the mix pushing for both operational improvements and likely a restart of a sale process following 7/1/2024, this could be a compelling opportunity.

The two most recent public transactions have been with Optum/UnitedHealth as the buyer as they look to reduce their costs by bringing home health care in house.  Amedisys has yet to close, the EBITDA multiple was 15.5x when it was announced and has since dropped down to 13.7x with continued EBITDA growth.  Addus HomeCare (ADUS) is a somewhat similar business, they do compete in the home care and hospice spaces but the majority of their business is in what they call personal care, which means someone comes to help with the daily tasks that become more difficult as people age rather than medical services.

I don't like putting 100+% price targets on new positions, but with the combination of financial leverage, some improved operating leverage and the potential for a strategic takeout sometime down the road, EHAB could really be that cheap here.

Disclosure: I own shares of EHAB

Target Hospitality: Majority Shareholder Low Ball Bid, Now Considering Strategic Alternatives

Andrew Walker recently had Matt Turk on his podcast where they discussed this idea.  I generally agree, but for my own process, I wanted to write out my thoughts as well.

Target Hospitality (TH) ($1.2B market cap) is a provider of mobile temporary housing (previously colloquially called "man camps") that historically focused on the energy exploration sector (about 1/4 of their business today) but over the last decade, and mostly in the last few years, TH has moved into the business of housing migrants crossing the U.S. southern border.  Their largest contract is an influx care facility ("ICF") called Pecos Children's Center in Texas that houses unaccompanied minors, by law unaccompanied minors cannot be deported immediately and efforts need to be made to reunite them with family members.  During this time period, which can last several years, the minors need reasonable and safe housing quarters.  There is political risk in this business, for a while there these types of camps were called "kids in cages" and other politically charged terms.  But with a large number of migrants coming from destabilized places like Venezuela, Ecuador and Haiti, the need for safe temporary housing doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.

The oil & gas housing business is not particularly great, Civeo (CVEO) is a good comparable, many oil & gas projects require significantly more employees (temporary residents) during the beginning of projects and relatively few are needed during the maintenance periods, putting the business at the whims of commodity cycles.  But with government contracts, contracts tend to be longer in duration, my mental model for the unaccompanied minors camps is more inline with government contractors that provide services to foreign U.S. military bases in conflict zones.  Something like V2X (VVX, fka Vectrus, a spin from XLS) comes to mind, there's a continuous need for occupancy as long as the need is there and that need typically lasts longer than the public expects at the outset.

Target Hospitality is currently fairly cheap at only 6x EBITDA with minimal debt (management projects to be in a net cash position by year end).

CVEO and VVX obviously aren't perfect comps, but I've owned both businesses in the distant past and follow them loosely, CVEO trades for 5x EBTDA and VVX trades for 8.5x EBITDA.  Blending the two based on Target Hospitality's business mix gets me something closer to a 7.5x multiple or a $14.50 share price.

TH is a former 2019 vintage SPAC (before all the craziness) and is still 65% owned by Arrow Holdings (now TDR Capital), TDR Capital submitted a bid on 3/25/24 to buyout the minority shareholders for $10.80/share.  The following day, Conversant Capital (same firm that was involved with Indus Realty (INDT) and currently the controlling shareholder of Sonida Senior Living (SNDA)) popped up with a 5% ownership filing with the below disclosure:

As previously disclosed in its filings on Form 13F, Conversant Capital LLC has owned a substantial position in the Company Common Stock for approximately two years, in the form of shares of Common Stock and options to purchase shares of Common Stock. As long-term investors in the Company, the Reporting Persons closely monitor developments regarding the shares of Common Stock. The reporting persons are aware that TDR Capital LLP (“TDR”) has made an unsolicited non-binding proposal to the Board of Directors of the Company pursuant to which Arrow proposes to take the Company private by acquiring all of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, other than those already owned by any of Arrow, any investment fund managed by TDR or their respective affiliates. The Reporting Persons intend to review that proposal and any other proposals made in connection with their evaluation of their investment in the Company to evaluate whether any such proposal is in the Reporting Persons’ best interests.

In TDR's offer letter, they're requiring their offer receive a majority of the minority shareholders vote for the deal, with Conversant a large and now public shareholder, they provide credible protection against a take under.  A special committee was formed on 4/29/24 to consider the offer, the press release also mentioned the following:

The mandate of the Special Committee is to consider and evaluate the Proposal and any alternative proposals or other strategic alternatives that may be available to the Company.  The Special Committee has retained Centerview Partners LLC and Ardea Partners LP as its financial advisors and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP as its legal advisor.

Sounds like a full process could be underway and not just an exclusive negotiation with TDR Capital.  If nothing comes of the process, I still think the shares are cheap as the company has vaguely discussed being in the procurement stage on several large contracts including another ICF/unaccompanied minor location, rare earth mines, large technology projects, etc.  Several of which have been described as "impactful" on earnings calls.  In total, they expect to generate $500MM in free cash over the next several years that will be used to deploy into new growth opportunities which could further diversify the business model, potentially further raising the multiple.

Disclosure: I own shares of TH 

Asensus Surgical: LOI with Buyer, Highly Speculative

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 purchase Asensus for $0.35 per share (versus a $0.27 share price today), or roughly a $95MM equity check.  Karl Stroz is also providing Asensus up to $20MM in a bridge financing to ensure the company has enough capital to make it to closing.  The two are now in an exclusivity period and have ten weeks from 3/28 (6/6 by my math) to reach a definitive agreement.  The loan distributes $1MM per week during that period and then $10MM on the signing of a definitive agreement.  The spread here is pretty wide (~30%), because if Karl Storz backs away during this due diligence period, Asensus is either a zero or would need to raise equity in a punitive way.  Since Karl Storz is now the senior lender, similar to MRDB, the tin hat wearer in me thinks there's a risk they could torpedo the deal and get Asensus on the cheap in distress since any other buyers are shut out during this 10 week period.  There's also a non-small chance that they recut the deal for a lower price.

But Karl Storz is a legitimate buyer, most of Asensus Surgical's systems are installed in the European market, they likely have a fair amount of knowledge of the assets they're buying.  This is a hard idea to size, unless you know something about the product/science (if you're one of these people, please share your thoughts below), as its challenging to handicap if this deal will go through.  I added a small position.

Disclosure: I own shares of ASXC

MariaDB plc: In Default, Highly Speculative, 3 Bidders

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 ("DBMS").  To distinguish between the company and the open sourced DBMS, I'll refer to the for-profit company itself as MRDB and the DBMS as MariaDB.  The lead developer of MariaDB is Michael "Monty" Widenius who was one of the original developers of MySQL, which was sold to Sun Microsystems, Widenius developed MariaDB in response to concerns following Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009.  Widenius owns less than 1% of MRDB and is no longer a director/employee of the company itself.

MRDB was a 2022 deSPAC, it announced the definitive agreement with Angel Pond Holdings (POND) on 2/1/22, valuing MRDB at a headline $672MM or a lofty 14x revenue.  Between deal announcement and closing, the market's appetite for risky SPACs changed, upon closing in December 2022, the trust delivered minimal cash to MRDB as over 99% of POND holders redeemed.  Unsurprisingly, cash flow negative MRDB quickly ran into trouble and as of this January, MRDB was in default of their $26.5 promissory note to RP Ventures.  RP Ventures put restrictive covenants in their loan documentation that prevents MRDB from doing almost any major corporation action, including a change of control, without their consent.  Fortunately, MRDB does have several bidders circling looking to acquire the company in whole for cash:

Here are the players, shares trade for $0.45/share today:

1. Runa Capital (a related party to RP Ventures, also a 7.8% stockholder) made an offer for $0.56/share, later withdrew the offer and provided debt financing instead
2. K1 Investment Management (PE firm, SaaS focused) made an offer for $0.55/share
3. Progress Software Corp (PRGS, $2+B market cap) made an offer for $0.60/share

Basic timeline thus far:

• 9/14/23: Runa made an offer for $0.56/share after concerns management was pursuing a dilutive equity raise.  "Given the substantial and consistent losses the Company has incurred and its subscale level of revenue, Runa believes that the Company is highly challenged as a public company. The Company has expressed substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern and Runa believes that the Company will continue to face severe challenges as a public company. Runa believes that the terms of its possible offer would deliver significant value for the Company’s shareholders."
• 10/10/23: Runa withdraws the $0.56/offer but enters into a $26.5MM promissory note with a January 2024 maturity date to refinance MRDB's term loan, this is the note that is currently in default.
• 2/15/24: K1 Investment Management makes an unsolicited non-binding indicative proposal for $0.55/share in cash.
• 2/19/24: Runa teams up with Monty Widenius, Widenius pledges his support for the Runa group and will cease his involvement with MRDB if Runa is not involved in any takeover or other change of control. "In the event there is a Qualifying Transaction involving MRDB and a party other than the Partners that does not include material participation of the Partners and Open Ocean in the equity and governance of MRDB, Mr. Widenius will immediately cease his support and involvement with MRDB."
• 3/12/24: CEO Paul O'Brien's employment agreement was not renewed and he resigned from the board.
• 3/13/24: K1 reiterated its offer. "In fact, our Possible Offer is more attractive to stakeholders in the face of a mounting financial crisis at the Company precipitated by the Company's lender. We have provided a clear way to create value and help MariaDB reach its full potential, and we intend to continue to pursue a transaction that accomplishes just that."
• 3/18/24: MRDB appoints a Chief Restructuring Officer from FTI Consulting.
• 3/21/24: The Runa group amends their 13D stating they oppose the K1 transaction. 
• 3/26/24: Progress Software (PRGS) offers $0.60/share.

The entry of Progress Software as a late bidder somewhat validates that there is value here, but RP Ventures/Runa continue to be hostile to this process, potentially trying to force the company into bankruptcy where as the senior lender they'd be there to pick up the pieces on the cheap.  This is a situation similar to Armstrong Flooring (AFI) from a couple years back where the company's lender gave it a few months to find a deal, there appeared to be equity value (to me at least), but ultimately AFI was zeroed out in bankruptcy.  The appointment of a CRO flags to me that MRDB could face a similar fate.  Either way, due to Irish takeover rules (MariaDB is Ireland domiciled), we should find out soon.

Disclosure: I own shares of MRDB

James River Group: E&S Insurer, Broken Divestiture, Strategics Circling

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 hiccups with commercial auto (particularly Uber and food-delivery services), but have maintained a low-to-mid 90s combined ratio over the past decade in E&S.  The company insists that current market conditions are favorable, but like banking, it often takes several years of hindsight to confirm that conclusion.

The recent issue for James River has been their reinsurance segment, JRG Re, where the insurer had to raise capital in 2022 via a $150MM preferred stock issuance to plug a capital hole.  JRG Re was put into run-off in 2023 and then sold to Fleming Insurance Holdings (PortCo of Altamont Capital Partners) for 75% of book value (~$277MM, partially funded via an upstreamed dividend of excess capital).  Fleming has gotten cold feet and refused to close the deal, leading to James River taking the buyer to court to enforce specific enforcement.  Toss in a recent material weakness accounting issue in the mix, which has since been remediated, and you can see why investors have lost faith in the company.

Following the announcement of the JRG Re segment sale in November, James River announced plans to explore strategic alternatives that would include a "sale, merger or other strategic transaction."  In the months since, James River has been linked by insurance industry rags to much larger peers Everest Group (EG) and Arch Capital (ACGL) and more recently to odd-duck Global Indemnity (GBLI).  Global Indemnity reportedly offered an all stock deal valuing JRVR at $15/share (versus ~$8/share today), but GBLI is illiquid (controlled) and a publicly traded partnership, meaning clumsy K-1 tax forms for U.S. investors.  GBLI trades for ~2/3rds of tangible book today versus JRVR at just under 90% of tangible book.  Global Indemnity is similarly an E&S insurer that could potentially drive synergies, but given they're roughly the same size and the partnership dynamics, it's unclear to me and the market how real is that $15/share offer and where might the pair trade if a deal was announced.  Potentially GBLI views this as a way to convert to a C-Corp and boost their liquidity, which could end up benefiting both sides.

Either Arch Capital or Everest Group make more sense as buyers, they both trade well above tangible book, another beaten up E&S insurer that was recently taken private is Argo Group International (ARGO), Brookfield paid 115% of tangible book early last year (I participated in that situation, although not profitably).  A similar valuation for JRVR would equate to $10.40/share or 30% upside from $8.

Insurance Insider is reporting today that GBLI and JRVR have entered into more formal talks to merge, with the situation pretty fluid, I'll leave this as a quick note and see if the crowd has more informed/complete thoughts.

Disclosure: I own shares of JRVR

BankFinancial: Shareholder Discontent, Activist Added to Board

BankFinancial (BFIN) is a small ($1.5B assets, $125MM market cap) community bank with 18 branches scattered across the Chicago suburbs.  It was a mutual holding company conversion way back in 2004, unlike many former mutual conversions, BankFinancial is primarily a commercial bank with big chunks of their loan portfolio in Class B/C suburban multi-family properties, commercial working capital lines and equipment leases.  Their deposit costs are surprisingly low at just 1.26% (Q4), over a full percentage point below the average bank, despite the strong deposit franchise, the bank struggles to turn a profit with an ROE in the 5%-7% range due to a high expense base.  The stock trades for a hair under $10/share with a book value of $12.45/share (not mark-to-marking their loan portfolio, all of their securities portfolio is AFS), admittedly not the cheapest community bank.

With regional bank tremors popping up again, BankFinancial doesn't have the same problems plaguing others.  The bank doesn't lend to high rises or do significant construction lending, there's minimal office exposure, multi-family is in Class B/C which isn't as susceptible to overbuilding and they have a strong diverse deposit base.  What they do have is an entrenched CEO, Morgan Gasior has been the CEO since the mutual conversion, and remarkably, at the age of 60, has served as a director at Bank Financial since 1983.

Not entirely sure how that's possible, would have made him 19 at the time, in 1988 he became EVP/COO at 24, BankFinancial is Morgan Gasior and Morgan Gasior is BankFinancial.  I'm guessing there's some nepotism involved, but going back to the original conversion docs, couldn't find any previous relationship ties.  I would be curious to hear the origin story.  Despite being a bank executive for nearly 40 years, he only owns 2.5% of the shares yet collect $600+k in annual compensation.

This story isn't too uncommon in the community bank world, but what caught my attention (in addition to this being a local bank for me) was the Q4 earnings call which quickly went off the rails (courtesy of BamSEC):

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of [ Stephen Buckman ] from [ Buckman ] Capital.

Unknown Analyst

I have been a shareholder that took part in the conversion 18, 19 years ago. And I have a more holistic question as well. And that is what is the role of the Board of Directors? And I'm going to refer you to a conference call comment you made on May 2, 2022. And what you said, I'm quoting, is, "Well, first of all, I think we're in a position now where our goal for the third quarter and fourth quarter is to sustain right around $0.23 to $0.26 a share. So I'm going to try to hit that $1 per share in our third quarter and fourth quarter." This is 2022. And then beginning next year, the goal would shift to getting into the $0.30s or somewhere between $0.30 and $0.34. I could go on, but the fact is, 18 years later, the only guy who's made out here is you. Our book value, our stock price, our franchise value are all lower than they were in 2004 when you converted. What is the role of the Board of Directors in terms of your underperformance during this time?

F. Morgan Gasior BankFinancial Corporation – Chairman, CEO & President

No, this is the investor conference call. We're here to discuss earnings.

Unknown Analyst

I'm quoting you directly from May 2, 2022 [indiscernible] take a look at the conference call.

F. Morgan Gasior BankFinancial Corporation – Chairman, CEO & President

Well, I'll just say that, if you want to discuss this offline, we're happy to.

Unknown Analyst

No. No. I'd rather this be in a public forum.

F. Morgan Gasior BankFinancial Corporation – Chairman, CEO & President

Well, we're going to leave it there. I don't think that this is -- that's the right forum for this. If you want to...

Unknown Analyst

Well, your underperformance for 19 years is a matter of public record. And so do you want to address it publicly or do you want to pretend that it doesn't exist?

F. Morgan Gasior BankFinancial Corporation – Chairman, CEO & President

Well, I think we're going to leave it where I said. This is the investor conference call. If you'd like to talk about it off-line, we're happy to do so. But I mean...

Unknown Analyst

And I find that your cowardice in addressing issues that affect all public shareholders is severely -- is staggering. I'll leave it at that. I think you could be doing a much better job. I think you should be looking at strategic alternatives. I'll leave it at that.

And another one:

Unknown Analyst

Morgan, this is [ Charles Winnik ]. On February 5, 2013, you were asked questions on your last call, you received questions about selling the bank and you implied that it was not the right decision because better days are ahead of you. Well, I definitely can't disagree with your assessment, especially considering the performance over the last few years. I don't really see any other avenue that would be more beneficial to shareholders than a sale. And while the earnings outlook has definitely improved, your full earnings capacity still generates returns much less than your cost of capital, which, in effect, destroys shareholder value. Your efficiency ratio is just too high. And while loan growth is always right around the corner, you admit on every call that competition is intense, which I agree, which really just justifies the fragmented nature of the markets and need consolidation. And so, yes, we have improved outlook and hefty capital, but all negatives really speak for themselves.

So, my question really is -- you've got most of your credit issues behind you now. Obviously, can you offer shareholders a credible plan that generates value superior to what you could potentially receive in an M&A transaction?

And finally from Jason Stock, whose fund owns just under 10% of the shares:

Jason Stock

As you know, we've been long-term investors in BankFinancial, and we're generally not the type of investor who likes to be much of a nuisance. But as owners of over 9% of the company, I think it'd be probably irresponsible of me to not pipe in and say that we agree with all the comments that have been made about the outlook for the bank as an independent entity.

Then a week after, Ben Mackovak of Strategic Value Bank Investors, a fund that specializes in community banks was added to the board after accumulating a 5.2% position.  From the 13D filing:

The Reporting Persons acquired the Common Stock reported on this Schedule 13D for investment purposes. The Reporting Persons purchased the shares based on the belief that the shares, at the time of purchase, were undervalued and represented an attractive investment opportunity. The Reporting Persons believe significant opportunity exists to enhance shareholder value by simplifying the business, improving operations, resolving certain non-performing loans, and evaluating strategic alternatives.

Mackovak follows a similar strategy of other community bank activists, he's on the board of some 10 small banks, pushes them to make operational changes, if that doesn't improve the multiple, then pushes for an M&A transaction to unlock value.  He recently went on Meb Faber's podcast and sounds like a smart, sober, capable board member that could crack the BFIN nut.  I don't anticipate an immediate M&A deal here (they have $52.8MM of mark-to-market losses on the loan portfolio an acquirer would need to realize), the bank does have some shorter duration loans that are coming off the books this year that they can put to work at higher rates improving profitability, but the pressure is on as a high expense base is much easier to fix (by selling out) than a flightly deposit base, long duration securities portfolio or credit issues, none of which really apply to BFIN.

Disclosure: I own shares of BFIN