Endeavor Group, Azenta, and More Stocks See Action From Activist Investors

News Room
By News Room 4 Min Read

These disclosures are from 13Ds filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 13Ds are filed within 10 days of an entity’s attaining more than 5% in any class of a company’s securities. Subsequent changes in holdings or intentions must be reported in amended filings. This material is from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1, 2023. Source: VerityData

Activist Holdings

Endeavor Group Holdings
(EDR)

Silver Lake reported ownership of 174,114,556 Class A shares of the sports and entertainment company, accounting for 45.1% of the outstanding stock. Silver Lake revealed through an Oct. 25 press release that it is “working toward making a proposal to take Endeavor private.” Silver Lake continued that it “is not interested in selling its shares in Endeavor…nor in entertaining bids for assets that are a part of Endeavor.”

Silver Lake controls nearly 71% of Endeavor’s voting power through an additional 82.1 million and 169.4 million Class X and Class Y shares, respectively. Silver Lake’s co-CEO Egon Durban and Managing Director Stephen Evans serve on Endeavor’s board, and have engaged and will probably continue to engage other Endeavor directors and stakeholders about a take-private deal as well as any alternatives.

“We believe we are significantly undervalued, and we are exploring all options,” Endeavor President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in late October.

Endeavor is the owner of talent agency WME, which has been hit hard by the strikes that have closed production in the entertainment industry for the past several months. Endeavor stock has gained about 6% so far this year.

Azenta
(AZTA)

Politan Capital owns 4,578,003 shares of the life-sciences company, equal to 7.6% of the tradable stock. Politan and Azenta entered into a nondisclosure agreement as the two discuss its operations, strategy, and corporate governance. Politan also submitted notice to Azenta on Oct. 30 that it intends to nominate candidates to Azenta’s board, including Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer Quentin Koffey, at the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.

Azenta just had a change in the C-suite. Herman Cueto joined Azenta as chief financial officer, effective on Oct. 16. He succeeded Lindon Robertson, who retired.

Increases in Holdings

Dril-Quip
(DRQ)

Gamco Investors
(GBL) lifted its interest in the maker of equipment and technology for the energy industry to 2,417,277 shares after a series of sales and buys during the past two months. As Dril-Quip stock traded from $22.75 to $30 each, Gamco sold 29,950 Dril-Quip shares from Sept. 5 through Oct. 25, and purchased 56,834 Dril-Quip shares from Sept. 1 through Oct. 27. Gamco now holds a 7.1% interest in Dril-Quip’s outstanding stock. Shares have lost roughly a fifth of their value so far this year.

Citi Trends
(CTRN)

Fund 1 Investments raised its position in the apparel retailer to 973,768 shares. Fund 1 purchased a total of 119,162 Citi Trends shares at prices ranging from $21.49 to $23.67 each from Oct. 3 through Oct. 30. No reason was given for Fund 1’s fresh investment that boosted its stake to 11.4% of the retailer’s outstanding stock. The stock has slid approximately 7% in value since the start of 2023.

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