Consumer & Retail Report #14: 10/9 Recap

Summary of the Week in Consumer and Retail

Announcement

While I know many of you voted last week that this section of the newsletter provided value, this will actually be my last “Weekly Recap.” I’m taking on more responsibilities — to be announced soon — and need to cut in areas where I can allocate more time for my family.

Money can always be made, but time spent with family can’t be bought retroactively.

Hopefully, those of you with families or trying to start a family can understand.

All other sections of this newsletter will continue as usual with no set cadence, and if you’ve been a reader so far and still find value, I’d appreciate you sharing this Substack with them so they can subscribe and benefit from it as you have.

Thanks again for your support this whole time.

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Table of Contents:

1. Company Announcements

2. Corporate Shakeups

3. M&A Updates

4. Financing Updates

5. Regulatory Updates

6. Macro Updates

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Company Announcements

• Peloton (PTON) will put bikes in every Hilton-branded hotel in the U.S. (CNBC)

• Disney (DIS) reaches deal with Dish Network (DISH) to restore channels (WSJ)

• Ford Motor (F) planning price hikes on its F-150 Lightning Pro for the 2023 model year by nearly 11% (Reuters)

• Peloton (PTON) plans to cut addition 500 jobs, about 12% of workforce, in fourth round of layoffs this year (WSJ)

• DraftKings (DKNG) and Disney's (DIS) ESPN are close to signing exclusive partnership (The Action Network)

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Corporate Shakeups

• Freshpet (FRPT) activists push pet-food maker to explore sale (Barron’s)

• Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) names Sherman Miller as CEO (Businesswire)

• Kura Sushi (KRUS) names Jeff Uttz as its new CFO (Restaurant Dive)

• Utz Brands (UTZ) announces CEO succession plan (Businesswire)

• Blue Apron (APRN): Barry Salzberg increased active stake to 4.65% (prior ~0.3%) (Filing)

• Lazydays (LAZY) announces chief financial officer transition (PR Newswire)

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M&A Updates

• Poshmark (POSH) to be acquired by Naver (Businesswire)

• Duolingo (DUOL) acquires design and animation studio Gunner (Global Newswire)

• InterActiveCorp (IAC) to sell its Bluecrew business unit to EmployBridge (Global Newswire)

• Constellation Brands (STZ) reached an agreement with The Wine Group to divest a portion of its mainstream and premium wine portfolio (Global Newswire)

• Walmart (WMT) to buy Alert Innovation (Grocery Dive)

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Financing Updates

• Blue Apron (APRN) entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement to issue/sell up to $14,999,425 of its Class A common stock (Filing)

• AutoZone (AZO) authorizes an additional $2.5 bln for share repurchases (Global Newswire)

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Regulatory Updates

• Supreme Court declines to hear Apple’s (AAPL) second attempt to revive Qualcomm (QCOM) patent dispute (Reuters)

• Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) creditors organize ahead of bond talks (WSJ)

• Altria (MO): Juul Labs will enter financing discussions for potential bankruptcy (Bloomberg)

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Macro Updates

• National debt reaches $31 trillion and higher interest rates could add $1 trillion to debt over 10 years (NYT)

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Until next time,

Paul Cerro | Cedar Grove Capital

Personal Twitter: @paulcerro

Fund Twitter: @cedargrovecm

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Disclosure: All information provided herein by Cedar Grove Capital Management, LLC (“Cedar Grove Capital”) is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell an interest in a private fund or any other security. An offer or solicitation of an investment in a private fund will only be made to accredited investors pursuant to a private placement memorandum and associated documents.

Cedar Grove Capital may change its views about or its investment positions in any of the securities mentioned in this document at any time, for any reason or no reason. Cedar Grove Capital may buy, sell, or otherwise change the form or substance of any of its investments. Cedar Grove Capital disclaims any obligation to notify the market of any such changes.

The enclosed material is confidential and not to be reproduced or redistributed in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Cedar Grove Capital. The information in this material is only current as of the date indicated and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. Statements concerning financial market trends are based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate. Any statements of opinion constitute only current opinions of Cedar Grove Capital which are subject to change and which Cedar Grove Capital does not undertake to update. Due to, among other things, the volatile nature of the markets, and an investment in the fund/partnership may only be suitable for certain investors. Parties should independently investigate any investment strategy or manager, and should consult with qualified investment, legal and tax professionals before making any investment.