Burger chain Shake Shack has run into trouble. The company has struggled to pull in lunchtime diners as consumers pull back on spending. People not buying burgers is a problem, but more concerning for management is Engaged Capital’s purchase of a big, juicy stake. The activist investor has purchased 6.6% of the company and is already ‘shaking’ things up with talk of a proxy war.

The lowdown

• 🍔 Activist investor Engaged Capital buys stake in Shake Shack and is seeking three board seats.

• 🕹️ Microsoft receives EU antitrust approval for its purchase of Activision, despite earlier British veto.

• 💉 Vice Media files for bankruptcy ahead of potential sale.

Featured stories

TPG the latest PE firm to enter private credit

PE firm TPG is buying credit shop Angelo Gordon for $2.7 billion, giving TPG a foothold in the lending business.

The deal signals the growing importance of PE firms in providing financing to businesses, as banks become more cautious about lending. The acquisition of Angelo Gordon will give TPG a $55 billion credit business to compete against rivals, such as Blackstone and Apollo.

The announcement of the deal comes just days after Oaktree’s Howard Marks warned of crunch time for private credit ($). “Buffett says it’s only when the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming naked,” Marks said. “The tide has not gone out yet on private lending, meaning the portfolios haven’t been tested.”

The content we're consuming today

• Odd Lots podcast: The CME’s Terry Duffy on the Big Risks He’s Seeing Now.

• Bloomberg: The Crypto Winter Cost True Believers More Than Their Money ($).

• Vox: Why inflation isn’t going away anytime soon.

Off-balance sheet items

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom may go on to be the highest selling Switch game ever, based on early UK sales data. A reviewer in the Guardian said she was “honestly slightly annoyed to be taking time away from it to write this review.”

The bottom line