Papa John’s jumps on Apollo’s fresh take-private bid at $64 per share

Papa John’s spikes following report of a $47-per-share take-private offer from Qatari investment fund Irth Capital

A few weeks after announcing it would close 300 stores by the end of next year, Papa John’s is drawing fresh take-private interest from Irth Capital, an investment fund backed by a member of the Qatari royal family.

Papa John’s shares were up 19% on Wednesday afternoon, on pace for their best day since February 2025.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Irth is offering $47 per share for PZZA, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. The fund currently holds a roughly 10% stake in Papa John’s, according to the report.

Irth has tried to take Papa John’s private before, offering $60 per share in a joint bid with Apollo Global in June last year. In October, Apollo Global again offered to take the company private at $64 per share. That offer was later withdrawn.

Broadly, the pizza category is being increasingly dominated by Domino’s, which opened 700 stores globally last year and has a market cap nine times greater than Irth’s latest reported offer for Papa John’s.

Exclusive | Papa John’s Draws Fresh Takeover Interest

According to the Wall Street Journal, Irth is offering $47 per share for PZZA, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. The fund currently holds a roughly 10% stake in Papa John’s, according to the report.

Irth has tried to take Papa John’s private before, offering $60 per share in a joint bid with Apollo Global in June last year. In October, Apollo Global again offered to take the company private at $64 per share. That offer was later withdrawn.

Broadly, the pizza category is being increasingly dominated by Domino’s, which opened 700 stores globally last year and has a market cap nine times greater than Irth’s latest reported offer for Papa John’s.

Jon Keegan

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CarMax rises after activist investor Starboard takes $350 million stake

Online car retailer CarMax is climbing in premarket trading on Wednesday following reports that activist investor Starboard Value has taken a $350 million stake in the company.

Starboard nominated two directors to CarMax’s board, including its own CEO, Jeff Smith, and Frontdoor CEO Bill Cobb.

According to a letter sent by Starboard to CarMax, the hedge fund thinks the company can improve performance by adopting more dynamic pricing, reconditioning vehicles more efficiently, and reducing admin and other costs by more than $300 million.

Per Starboard’s letter: “If the experience is superior, CarMax does not need to be the lowest-priced provider to win. We strongly encourage you to be hyper-focused on the digital end-to-end consumer experience. We believe there is an ample amount of low hanging fruit; so much fruit that it may even be touching the ground.”

CarMax is the largest US used car retailer, but rival Carvana has closed the retail sales gap between the two companies to about 6,000 vehicles as of the two most recent comparable quarters.

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According to a letter sent by Starboard to CarMax, the hedge fund thinks the company can improve performance by adopting more dynamic pricing, reconditioning vehicles more efficiently, and reducing admin and other costs by more than $300 million.

Per Starboard’s letter: “If the experience is superior, CarMax does not need to be the lowest-priced provider to win. We strongly encourage you to be hyper-focused on the digital end-to-end consumer experience. We believe there is an ample amount of low hanging fruit; so much fruit that it may even be touching the ground.”

CarMax is the largest US used car retailer, but rival Carvana has closed the retail sales gap between the two companies to about 6,000 vehicles as of the two most recent comparable quarters.

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A “Pokémon” game similar to “Animal Crossing” is selling out at US retailers, boosting Nintendo shares

“Pokémon Pokopia,” a Switch 2 exclusive game in the vein of “Animal Crossing,” has become something of a sleeper mass hit for Nintendo, sending the gaming giant’s shares climbing. The stock closed up more than 8% in Japan on Wednesday. US ADRs are up 5% in premarket trading.

Physical editions of “Pokopia” are currently out of stock on Walmart’s website, and earlier this week Amazon temporarily hiked the price of the game to $80 as demand surged.

“Pokopia” falls into a category of cozy games that have become a major industry category. “Animal Crossing” is the second-most-popular title on the original Switch and has sold more than 49 million copies. The 10-year-old “Stardew Valley” has sold more than 50 million copies across consoles and PC.

The Switch 2 is seeing a momentum boost from the “Pokémon” exclusive, Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a recent note. That’s helping to offset investor fears around the growing issue of memory prices.