Legion Partners, a major shareholder of the authentication and security technology firm, OneSpan, has reported holding a significant 8.7% stake equating to 3,467,631 shares. On August 14th, Legion Partners delivered a letter to OneSpan's board expressing concerns regarding the company's strategic shift towards cash-flow optimization and capital returns rather than growth.

According to Legion Partners, this pivot away from growth undermines OneSpan's core strengths and lacks the necessary urgency and magnitude of change required to realize fair value in the public markets. To address these concerns, Legion Partners recommends that OneSpan commit to achieving adjusted margins of over 30% for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in 2024. Additionally, they suggest increasing capital returns by more than $50 million and exploring the option of selling the company.

Decrease in Holdings for APi Group

In other news, the Blackstone Group has reduced its stake in APi Group, a leading commercial safety and engineering company. Blackstone now holds 24,390,243 shares of APi Group after trimming its position. These shares represent a 9.4% interest in the company and were originally issued as series B preferred convertible stock under a stock-purchase agreement in July 2021. The proceeds from this reduction in holdings were utilized by APi Group to support its acquisition of Chubb Fire and Safety in 2022, which cost approximately $3.1 billion.

Blackstone (BX)

On Aug. 14, affiliates of Blackstone sold 2,598,609 APi Group shares, all paid out as dividends on the preferred stock, at a price of $27.80 apiece. David Blitzer, head of Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group, has served on APi Group’s board since January 2022. He was nominated under the original terms of the purchase agreement.

Lifecore Biomedical (LFCR)

Cove Street Capital reduced its holding in the biomaterials maker to 1,538,440 shares, 444,157 of them underlying convertible preferred securities. Cove Street sold 513,980 Lifecore Biomedical shares from July 31 through Aug. 14 at prices ranging from $10.07 to $10.64 each. Cove Street now holds about 5.2% of Lifecore’s outstanding stock.

Enhanced Supply Agreement Removes Auditor's Warning

On June 1, Lifecore reported fiscal third-quarter numbers, and said that as a result of reaching an enhanced supply agreement with a customer, and a debt restructuring, it was able to remove an auditor’s warning about the company’s viability.

Earlier, there had been substantial doubt about Lifecore’s ability to continue as a going concern. Lifecore continues to consider alternatives, including the potential sale of the company.

New York Times (NYT)

ValueAct Capital cut its position in the media company by nearly 25%, to 10,164,354 shares. Without citing a reason, ValueAct sold 3,246,200 New York Times shares from July 12 through Aug. 14 at prices ranging from $41.50 to $44.16 apiece. ValueAct now owns 6.2% of the New York Times’ tradable stock.

Positive Outlook for Digital Ads

Earlier this month, shares rose on news of a strong second-quarter. The New York Times expects digital ads to rise in the mid-single digits in the next quarter, based on current momentum and opportunities to attract new advertisers to products like sports, its CEO said.