Earnings season continues. In a Tyson Foods investor call, the CEO explained there had been an oversupply of meat in Q1 and that consumers were demonstrating ‘unusual, erratic’ behavior swapping between proteins. Speaking of unusual and erratic behavior, CFO John R Tyson also spoke on the call, which is more than he was able to do at the end of last year when he was found intoxicated, in the bed of a woman he did not know, unable to verbally respond to police.

The lowdown

• 🥊 Google launches its own chatbot to rival ChatGPT.

• 🏦 The Rothschild family plan to take Paris listed bank Rothschild & Co private.

• 🛁 Bed Bath & Beyond aims to raise $1 billion to avoid bankruptcy.

Featured Stories

Public Storage makes hostile bid for Life Storage

On Sunday, the largest self-storage operator in the US Public Storage made an $11 billion hostile bid for Life Storage, its smaller rival. The proposed all-stock deal would value the company at approximately $15 billion, including debt.

The offer represents a 19% premium, based on the 20-day VWAP (volume-weighted average price) of both stocks as of Friday and would result in Life Storage shareholders receiving 0.4192 shares of Public Storage for each Life Storage share or unit.

The use of shares to purchase the company appears clever when you look at earnings multiples in the sector – Life Storage is near the bottom while Public Storage is at the very top ($). An all-stock deal allows these earnings multiples to be exploited.

The offer could potentially put Life Storage in play or set off a wave of consolidation in the fractured industry. Who knows what’s in store?

The content we're consuming today

• The Closer podcast: Episode 1: The merger that made the world’s biggest airline.

• The Economist Podcasts: Editor’s Picks: February 6th 2023.

• Odd Lots podcast: Steve Eisman on the ‘paradigm shift’ happening in markets right now.

Off-balance sheet items

• Caffeine helps me write this newsletter but apparently it can also make you run faster and lift heavier – NY Times: The Secret to a Better Workout Is Probably Already in Your Kitchen ($).

The bottom line