Getty's Last Gate

Shutterstock's spread collapsed from ~26% to ~14% in three days as the deal entered the final stretch of UK clearance. The CMA published its Phase 2 final report on May 15, conditionally clearing the merger but requiring a full divestiture of Shutterstock's UK editorial business (which includes Rex Features, Backgrid and Splash News) — the parties' narrower paparazzi-only offer was rejected. On June 10 the CMA issued its notice of proposal to accept the final undertakings, opening a public consultation that closes June 24; formal acceptance is expected late June or early July. (June 14 is only the statutory Phase 2 deadline, already met by the May report — not an undertakings date, despite some news roundups conflating the two.) The CMA must then approve the divestiture buyer before the deal can close. With the DOJ's unconditional clearance in February and shareholder approval already in hand, the remaining steps are procedural and the remedy is essentially locked in.

GSK agreed June 9 to acquire Nuvalent at $124/share all-cash — a 40% premium and roughly $10.6B equity value ($9.4B net of cash). Nuvalent is a late-stage lung-cancer biotech; its two lead drugs, zidesamtinib and neladalkib, are under FDA review with decisions due in September and November. It's an all-cash tender offer funded by debt and cash, targeting a Q3 2026 close subject to antitrust clearance. The spread snapped to ~0.6% on announcement — the market treats it as a clean, high-probability close.

DoubleU Games, already a ~67% owner, bid $11.25 to take DoubleDown private — but the stock trades above the offer, near $12. Strip out ~$10.10 of net cash per ADS and the market values the entire profitable business at just ~$1.90. The take-private needs a majority of the unaffiliated minority, who hold real leverage, and a top-10 holder has publicly called $11.25 too low. We published a full special-situations breakdown this week.

Globalstar trades ~11% below Amazon's $90 cash offer, but the gap is mostly time, not risk. Shareholder approval is already locked via written consent (no vote needed), the FCC chair has signalled openness, and the FCC's Space Bureau reaffirmed Globalstar's core spectrum rights. The catch is duration: a 12–18 month regulatory review pointing to a ~2027 close. The spread is your compensation for patience.

Three more completed and rolled off the active board: Veris Residential (VRE, the Affinius/GIC take-private), American Woodmark (AMWD), and KalVista (KALV). We tracked each from announcement through close — the quiet, successful majority of merger arb that never makes headlines but is where the strategy actually earns its keep.