Refac Optical (REF) declared a going private transaction at $6.00 a share, while Smith & Wollensky (SWRG) agreed to be acquired for $9.25 a share by Patina Restaurant group.

Pershing Square, run by William Ackman, is a very concentrated fund known for its activism, holding shares in only four companies: McDonald's (MCD), Ceridian (CEN), Borders Group, and Barnes and Noble. Both McDonald's and Ceridian's management teams have been subject to intense pressure by activist shareholders to restructure their respective companies.

I have not seen any groups recently target Borders or Barnes and Noble, but the combination of the new firms makes sense.

I am not sure if this is because their asset bases have grown to such a point where it is now required, or the rules for hedge funds are about to become more stringent, so funds are trying to stay ahead of the curve. I was caught off guard when the very successful Raffles Associates filed a Form 13F-HR.

Avalon Correctional Services (CITY.PK) engages in the ownership and operation of community correctional facilities. The company owns 3 facilities in Texas, 3 in Oklahoma, and 2 in Colorado. It also leases 2 facilities from the state of Colorado and one from Oklahoma. In total, the company oversees over 2400 beds in three states.

In February 2005, Avalon Correctional Services filed a Form 15, terminating their registration under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The company claimed their reasoning behind the de-registration was “not only in the overall best interest of the Company’s shareholders, but it was crucial for the continuation of the Company as a going concern.”

At first glance, any mention of subprime mortgages might have investors running for the exits, but Delta Financial is not your average subprime lender. With conservative accounting, an undervalued book value, and disciplined lending practices, Delta Financial appears to be an undervalued security. As I was conducting my research on the company, I found the following two sources of information helpful.

The first is a link to a write-up from valueinvestorblog.blogspot.com and the second is from ValueInvestorsClub.com. Both writeups are a few months old, but it appears that the company's story has not significantly changed.

It also has 50% ownership of a 34.3 acre complex at Woodlawn, Maryland, which consists of a two-story office building and a connected six-story office tower (the buildings have a net rentable space of 717,000 square feet).

Regency Affiliates is controlled by Laurence S. Levy, who has had a successful investment career mostly pertaining to leveraged buyouts (his biography can be found here).

http://www.oakmark.com/opencommentary.asp?commentary_id=425&news_from=c&fund_id=0

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-070114marksjarvis-story,0,5580195.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed

They have expanded their capital base significantly in 2006, through a 100 million dollar term loan, unlike some business development companies that sell equity on a regular basis to expand their operations. Though not as appealing a value as in the past, the company performed spectacularly in 2006 (it expanded it's net asset value 47.33 million dollars).

Despite the controversy over Allied Capital Corporation (ALD), which operates in a similar space as MVC, MVC appears to be a much more transparent and well managed company. Definitely a company to pay close attention to.

Mr. Bilgari and current FRN management are locked in a proxy battle that will most likely resolve itself in the company's upcoming annual meeting. Since Western Sizzlin and the Lion Fund's initial purchases of FRN, the stock has moved from the high 7's to the low 12's.

Western Sizzlin's core business has been on the decline for years, but the company still generates over 1.5 million dollars in free cash flow a year, and an alliance with another buffet company, Star Buffet (STRZ), can hopefully stabilize or even slightly grow the number of units in the company's system.

The current CEO, Frank Ferola, had decided to take the company private at basement price in 2004. A resulting proxy fight blocked the transaction, and added Mr. Richard Barone (who runs Ancora Capital) to the Board of Directors.

Linked is a letter written by Richard Scott, a investment manager and significant shareholer, filed with the SEC to the company addressing CEOs compensation and low takeover price in 2004.

In October 2004, The Check 21 Act was passed, effectively removing the requirement of returning an original paper check to the account holder's institution and requires that all financial institutions accept a digital image of a canceled check in lieu of the physical paper. Airnet System's major revenue source had been and continues to be its Bank Services unit, which is very much effected by the Check 21 Act.