It might simply be wrong to infer any “corporate conduct” hurdles from someone who was simply born to be the grandson of Warren Buffet’s sister, although it never hurt to raise hundreds of millions of dollars via public markets. And to be fair, I have no idea what transpired behind closed doors between founding partners. And maybe those who stayed and agreed are the ones at fault.
But THIS is wrong. Departing Co-Founder of Boston Omaha (BOC-NYSE) Alex Rozek negotiated what I believe I am reading to be a $60 premium for his co-control stake of a $15 stock.
Number of Shares of Class B Common Stock/Purchase Price. Executive owns 120,000 shares of Class B Common Stock (the “Executive Shares”) As of the date hereof, Executive shall sell, transfer, and assign (or cause to be sold, transferred and assigned) all right, title and interest in the Executive Shares to the Company, and shall deliver (or cause to be delivered) to the Company an executed Securities Power. In consideration thereof, the Company shall pay to Executive an aggregate amount equal to $9,175,600 (the “Executive Shares Purchase Price”), representing (i) the number of Executive Shares multiplied by the 30-trading day volume-weighted average price of the Class A Common Stock for the 30 trading days ending two trading days prior to the execution of this Agreement plus (ii) a blocking/control premium of $7,300,000, which was determined using a valuation provided by The Brattle Group, a firm specializing in valuations of equity instruments.
For a stock that is effectively unchanged since the 2017 coming out of age in public markets.
We have looked at this any number of times and admired the ability to raise money seemingly effortlessly for a permanent capital vehicle with a perfectly rational business plan: invest to make money. Like any analysis of another investor, we like some of what they are doing – Real Estate, Billboards, and in theory insurance. And we didn’t like some other things like burying dollars in raw fiber. Ce La Vie. We have spoken to them several times and received a reasonable version of “trust us, we know what we are doing.” And the stock presently seems undervalued on a sum of the parts basis, although with ANY B-voting control stock, that analysis can be useless if there are competence questions or more importantly, “who cares, we are running this thing.”
We have passed to date, and this set of affairs is not a shiny star in the “Pro” column.
Boston Omaha Announces Departure of Co-CEO Alex Rozek as Adam Peterson Continues in Chair and CEO Roles
Business Wire
OMAHA, Neb. — May 10, 2024
Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE: BOC) (“Boston Omaha” or the “Company”), a diversified company, today announced that Alex Rozek, Co-CEO and Co-Chair, has
left the Company, effective as of May 9, 2024 to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities. Adam Peterson will continue to lead the Company as Chair and CEO.
Over the last nine years, Boston Omaha has evolved from a business plan to today’s diversified holding company encompassing subsidiaries in outdoor advertising, surety insurance and fiber to the home, as well as substantial minority interests in Sky Harbour Group Corporation and Crescent Bank.
Throughout this time the company has been led by Adam Peterson and Alex Rozek. Although Mr. Rozek intends to pursue new entrepreneurial activities, he will continue to serve as Boston Omaha’s board designee at Sky Harbour Group Corporation (NYSE American: SKYH and SKYH WS).
With today’s announcement that Alex will depart Boston Omaha, we want to detail more of our thoughts for shareholders on what this change means for your company going forward. Simply put, we believe we have more than enough opportunity within existing business lines to seek to grow value per share, reinvest cash flows, and compound capital for you, our shareholders. For the next several years, we expect to focus on investing anticipated cash flows to grow our existing business lines before we would consider acquiring any new significant line of business.
Comments from Adam Peterson:
“The nine plus year partnership with Alex in building Boston Omaha into what it is today has been a joy for me personally and professionally. He has been a sounding board, idea generator, and teacher; not to mention the fact that we have had a ton of fun all along the way sharing the good and the sometimes challenging aspects of building businesses. Based on our recent discussions on the plans for the future, we understand Alex’s desire to start a new chapter in his business career and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.
“Alex has consistently worked with our team at Boston Omaha on the expansion of the business into new areas, and we believe he has done a fantastic job putting the company in the position to succeed for the long term. Indeed, Alex is an entrepreneur to the core, and he desires to continue building new and different businesses. As we focus on seeking to achieve additional efficiencies in current business lines and reinvesting both cash flows and any excess capital mostly into internal business opportunities for the time being, we collectively came to the decision to part ways.
“Boston Omaha is committed to focusing on our goals of expanding margins in our existing businesses, reinvesting cash flows into profitable business opportunities, expanding our investments in billboards (including tuck-in acquisitions in existing markets and easement purchases), surety (additional agencies, surplus for underwriting capacity, etc.) and fiber to the home (additional communities). As has been the case since Boston Omaha was founded, allocating capital to its best and highest use within our opportunity set will be the guiding principle.
“We are excited about the future chapters for Boston Omaha and look forward to welcoming your questions at our in person annual meeting later this year. Boston Omaha’s 2023 Annual Letter to Shareholders will also be delivered in the near term, updating investors more thoroughly on our operations.”
Comments from Alex Rozek:
“After nearly a decade of consistent growth and building significant businesses across multiple categories, I feel this is a good point to move on to my next new venture. I want to thank Adam and all of the amazing people across Boston Omaha for their work through the years. I will work with the management team and the board so that there is a smooth transition, and I will continue to be an enduring fan of Boston Omaha and its businesses and investments.”
This article originally appeared here.
