Cannae Holdings Inc (CNNE) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Cannae Holdings, Inc. second-quarter 2024 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded, and a replay is available through 11:59 PM Eastern Time on August 15, 2024.

女士們、先生們，下午好，歡迎參加 Cannae Holdings, Inc. 2024 年第二季財務業績電話會議。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次電話會議正在錄音，並可在東部時間 2024 年 8 月 15 日晚上 11:59 之前重播。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Jamie Lillis of Solebury Strategic Communications. Please go ahead.

說到這裡，我想將電話轉給索爾伯里策略傳播公司的傑米·莉利斯 (Jamie Lillis)。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and all of you for joining us. On the call today, we have Ryan Caswell, Cannae's President; and Bryan Coy, our Chief Financial Officer.

感謝運營商以及大家加入我們。今天的電話會議由坎尼主席瑞安·卡斯韋爾 (Ryan Caswell) 主持。和我們的財務長 Bryan Coy。

But before we begin, I would like to remind listeners that this conference call and the Q&A following our remarks may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Cannae's expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected.

但在我們開始之前，我想提醒聽眾，本次電話會議和我們發言後的問答可能包含涉及許多風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。非歷史事實的陳述，包括有關 Cannae 對未來的期望、希望、意圖或策略的陳述，均為前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述是基於管理階層的信念以及管理階層所做的假設和目前可獲得的資訊。由於此類陳述是基於對未來財務和經營績效的預期，而不是事實陳述，因此實際結果可能與預測有重大差異。

The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject to include, but are not limited to, the risks and other factors detailed in our quarterly shareholder letter, which was released this afternoon and in our other filings with the SEC.

本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。前瞻性陳述所涉及的風險和不確定性包括但不限於我們今天下午發布的季度股東信以及我們向 SEC 提交的其他文件中詳細說明的風險和其他因素。

Today's remarks will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. Additional information including a reconciliation between non-GAAP financial information to the GAAP financial information is provided in our shareholder letter. I would now like to turn the call over to Ryan.

今天的演講也將提及非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的股東信中提供了其他信息，包括非 GAAP 財務資訊與 GAAP 財務資訊之間的調整表。我現在想把電話轉給瑞安。

Thank you, Jamie. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on our second quarter conference call. First off, I want to note that Bill is unable to join the call today as he is traveling. He will be back on the call next quarter.

謝謝你，傑米。大家下午好，感謝您參加我們的第二季電話會議。首先，我想指出，比爾今天因出差而無法參加通話。他將於下個季度重新接聽電話。

Consistent with past earnings calls, we will provide some high-level commentary on strategy and key events during the second quarter before turning to a more detailed discussion of some of our portfolio companies and finish with some financial details.

與過去的財報電話會議一致，我們將在第二季度對戰略和關鍵事件進行一些高層評論，然後對我們的一些投資組合公司進行更詳細的討論，並以一些財務細節作為結束。

We continue to focus on executing our strategic plan designed to grow both the net asset value or NAV of our portfolio while also working to close our share price discount to NAV. Our strategy has three main levers, including improving the performance and valuation of our portfolio companies; making new investments, primarily in private businesses that will produce cash flows and grow NAV; and providing capital returns to our shareholders through either our recently introduced cash dividends or share repurchases. We believe the combination of these three strategic pillars will close the value gap between our stock price and NAV.

我們繼續專注於執行我們的策略計劃，旨在增加我們投資組合的資產淨值或資產淨值，同時努力縮小我們的股價對資產淨值的折扣。我們的策略有三個主要槓桿，包括提高投資組合公司的績效和估值；進行新的投資，主要是對將產生現金流並增加資產淨值的私人企業的投資；透過最近推出的現金股利或股票回購為股東提供資本回報。我們相信這三個策略支柱的結合將縮小我們的股價和資產淨值之間的價值差距。

We remain optimistic about our portfolio companies and have spent considerable time this quarter working with the management teams of each to enact strategic transactions, improve operations, and drive additional cash flow. For example, Alight was able to close on the sale of their payroll and professional services business for up to $1.2 billion of consideration. This required significant time and effort from Alight's management team and board, and we appreciate all of the work from each to get such an instrumental transaction over the line.

我們對投資組合公司保持樂觀態度，並在本季度花費了大量時間與每家公司的管理團隊合作，以製定策略交易、改善營運並推動額外現金流。例如，Alight 能夠以高達 12 億美元的價格完成薪資和專業服務業務的出售。這需要 Alight 管理團隊和董事會投入大量的時間和精力，我們感謝每個人為完成如此重要的交易所做的所有工作。

With regards to D&B, Bill and the D&B Board continue to work with the management team to drive revenue growth, improve free cash flow conversion, and consider strategic transactions, which we believe will drive shareholder value. We also spent considerable time this quarter with the management team of the Restaurant Group and Minden Mill focused on refining their strategic plans with regards to sales targets and optimizing their respective expense basis, which we believe will maximize cash flow and increase their valuation and Cannae's NAV.

對於 D&B，比爾和 D&B 董事會將繼續與管理團隊合作，推動收入成長，改善自由現金流轉換，並考慮策略交易，我們相信這將推動股東價值。本季我們也花了相當多的時間與Restaurant Group 和Minden Mill 的管理團隊合作，重點完善他們在銷售目標方面的策略計劃並優化各自的費用基礎，我們相信這將最大限度地提高現金流並提高他們的估值和坎尼的資產淨值。

Unfortunately, not all of our portfolio companies performed to expectation. And during the second quarter, we took a $141 million impairment on the book value of our Sightline investment. Sightline has been unable to get the expected market adoption on its key products, and while management remains optimistic about the future, we believe that given the results to date and cash position of the company, we were required to impair our investment.

不幸的是，並非我們所有的投資組合公司的表現都達到預期。在第二季度，我們對 Sightline 投資的帳面價值進行了 1.41 億美元的減損。Sightline 的關鍵產品未能獲得預期的市場採用，儘管管理層對未來仍持樂觀態度，但我們認為，鑑於該公司迄今為止的業績和現金狀況，我們必須減少投資。

Moving on to our investment pipeline. We continue to look for new attractive investment opportunities that we believe will increase our NAV. We are primarily focused on platform investments in the private markets. As stated before, we plan to fund any new acquisition through redeploying capital from the sale of some of our public company investments.

繼續我們的投資管道。我們繼續尋找新的有吸引力的投資機會，我們相信這些投資機會將增加我們的資產淨值。我們主要專注於私募市場的平台投資。如前所述，我們計劃透過重新部署出售部分上市公司投資的資金來為任何新收購提供資金。

I would now like to provide a bit more detail on our partnership to date with JANA Partners and resulting potential investment opportunities. Since the announcement in Q1, we spent considerable time with the team at JANA looking for undervalued public companies where there is a specific catalyst to unlock value, and Cannae can participate in that catalyst as an acquirer or capital solution.

我現在想更詳細地介紹我們迄今為止與 JANA Partners 的合作關係以及由此產生的潛在投資機會。自從第一季宣布這一消息以來，我們花了相當多的時間與JANA 團隊一起尋找被低估的上市公司，這些公司有特定的催化劑可以釋放價值，而Cannae 可以作為收購方或資本解決方案參與該催化劑。

Cannae's participation and as a potential capital source provides JANA an additional tool to push for change at the target company, while at the same time creating potential investment opportunities for Cannae. In certain situations, Cannae may take a position in the target company stock as we see how the process plays out and if there are any potential larger capital investment opportunities.

Cannae 的參與並作為潛在的資金來源，為 JANA 提供了推動目標公司變革的額外工具，同時為 Cannae 創造了潛在的投資機會。在某些情況下，坎尼可能會持有目標公司股票，因為我們將看到該過程如何進行以及是否存在任何潛在的更大資本投資機會。

In Q2, we made our first investment alongside JANA. While I don't want to discuss the specifics of that situation given its public nature, we remain optimistic that our partnership with JANA will produce attractive acquisition opportunities for Cannae.

第二季度，我們與 JANA 一起進行了第一筆投資。雖然鑑於其公共性質，我不想討論該情況的具體細節，但我們仍然樂觀地認為，我們與 JANA 的合作將為 Cannae 帶來有吸引力的收購機會。

I would now like to discuss capital returns to shareholders. On September 30, we will be paying our second dividend of $0.12 per share. We also bought back 300,000 shares in the second quarter following the 9.7 million shares we bought back in our tender in Q1, bringing our year-to-date purchases to 10 million shares. Between the dividend and share buybacks, we have returned over $235 million of capital to our shareholders in 2024.

我現在想討論股東的資本回報。9 月 30 日，我們將支付每股 0.12 美元的第二次股息。繼第一季在投標中回購 970 萬股後，我們也在第二季回購了 30 萬股，使我們今年迄今的回購數量達到 1,000 萬股。透過股利和股票回購，我們已在 2024 年向股東返還了超過 2.35 億美元的資本。

Turning to our portfolio companies. Our largest holding, Dun & Bradstreet, reported second-quarter revenue of $576 million, representing 4.3% year-over-year organic growth, which is an acceleration as compared to 3.9% organic growth in the prior-year second quarter and the fourth consecutive quarter of mid-single-digit growth.

轉向我們的投資組合公司。我們最大的控股公司鄧白氏(Dun & Bradstreet) 公佈第二季度營收為5.76 億美元，年比有機成長4.3%，較去年第二季度3.9% 的有機成長有所加速，並且是連續第四個季度實現有機成長本季實現中個位數成長。

The company generated 5.7% growth in adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter, which equated to $218 million at a 37.8% margin, up 60 basis points as compared to the year-ago second quarter. Leverage at D&B today has moved down to 3.7 times, and management expects to be at 3.5 times by the end of this year.

該公司第二季調整後 EBITDA 成長 5.7%，相當於 2.18 億美元，利潤率 37.8%，比去年第二季成長 60 個基點。如今，D&B 的槓桿率已降至 3.7 倍，管理層預計到今年底將降至 3.5 倍。

On Monday, D&B issued a statement acknowledging that it has received inbound interest from third parties and has retained advisers to assist with those inquiries. We will not make any comments on this matter going forward.

週一，鄧白氏發表聲明，承認已收到第三方的入境興趣，並已聘請顧問協助處理這些調查。今後我們不會對此事發表任何評論。

Our second largest holding, Alight, announced Tuesday that Stephan Scholl will step down as CEO and a member of the board effective after the Board names the successor. We want to thank Stephan for his commitment and vision and for the impact he has made as CEO.

我們的第二大控股公司 Alight 週二宣布，Stephan Scholl 將辭去執行長和董事會成員的職務，在董事會任命繼任者後生效。我們要感謝史蒂芬的承諾和遠見以及他作為執行長所產生的影響。

Post closing of the sale to previously referenced payroll and professional services business, Alight used $740 million of the proceeds to repay debt bringing Alight's net leverage down to 2.8 times. The company repurchased $80 million of Alight's shares in the second quarter and announced a $75 million accelerated share repurchase in mid-June leaving $93 million of share buyback authorization.

在完成對先前提到的薪資和專業服務業務的出售後，Alight 使用其中的 7.4 億美元收益來償還債務，使 Alight 的淨槓桿率降至 2.8 倍。該公司在第二季回購了 8,000 萬美元的 Alight 股票，並於 6 月中旬宣布加速進行 7,500 萬美元的股票回購，留下 9,300 萬美元的股票回購授權。

We believe this transaction is a positive for Alight and that the remaining business is a simpler public equity story that will have more recurring revenue with higher EBITDA margins. This is evidenced by management comments that they already have 97% of the 2024 revenue under contract, and the company forecasts a second-half 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin range between 25% and 26% for the full year, and reaffirmed a mid-term adjusted EBITDA margin target of 28%.

我們相信這項交易對 Alight 來說是積極的，剩下的業務是一個更簡單的公共股權故事，將帶來更多的經常性收入和更高的 EBITDA 利潤率。管理層的評論證明了這一點，他們已經獲得了2024 年合約收入的97%，公司預測2024 年下半年調整後的EBITDA 利潤率全年將在25% 至26% 之間，並重申了中期調整後的利潤率。

Looking at Alight's second-quarter results, which exclude discontinued operations, the company generated $538 million from continuing operations in the 2024 quarter, down 4% from the $561 million in the prior year. Second-quarter 2024 adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $105 million, representing a 19.5% margin compared to the $119 million or a 21.2% margin in the 2023 quarter.

從 Alight 的第二季業績來看（不包括已終止的業務），該公司 2024 年季度的持續營運業務產生了 5.38 億美元的收入，比上一年的 5.61 億美元下降了 4%。2024 年第二季來自持續經營業務的調整後 EBITDA 為 1.05 億美元，利潤率為 19.5%，而 2023 年季度為 1.19 億美元，利潤率為 21.2%。

Turning to Black Knight Football. In our first full year of ownership at AFC Bournemouth, the team finished in 12th place in the Premier League table and earned 48 points, the most the Cherries have earned in a Premier League season. This success is also translating to revenue growth for AFC Bournemouth as revenue for the 12 months ended June 30, 2024 grew to approximately $203 million, a 19% increase from the $170 million in the corresponding period ended June 30, 2023.

轉向黑騎士足球。在我們執掌伯恩茅斯亞足聯的第一個完整年裡，球隊在英超積分榜上排名第 12 位，並獲得 48 分，這是櫻桃隊在英超賽季中獲得的最高積分。這項成功也轉化為AFC 伯恩茅斯的營收成長，截至2024 年6 月30 日的12 個月營收成長至約2.03 億美元，比截至2023 年6 月30 日的同期的1.7 億美元成長了19%。

The uptick was primarily driven by improvements of more than 40% in both sponsorship and hospitality revenue as well as higher Premier League income from Bournemouth's higher placement in the table. Looking forward, we continue to see positive momentum, both from the commercial and sporting perspective.

這一增長主要是由於贊助和接待收入增長了 40% 以上，以及伯恩茅斯在積分榜上排名較高而帶來的英超收入增加。展望未來，無論是從商業還是運動角度來看，我們都繼續看到積極的勢頭。

At FC Lorient, where we own 40%, the club finished in 17th place and was relegated to Ligue 2 for the upcoming season. While we are frustrated with the results, we believe the team has the resources and talent to quickly return to Ligue 1. Furthermore, our put-call arrangement to buy the remaining stake at FC Lorient contemplated this potential scenario, and our valuation for the remaining stake is reduced while the team is in Ligue 2.

我們擁有洛里昂足球俱樂部 40% 的股份，該俱樂部最終排名第 17 位，並在下個賽季降級至法乙。雖然我們對結果感到沮喪，但我們相信球隊擁有資源和人才，可以迅速重返法甲。此外，我們購買洛里昂足球俱樂部剩餘股權的看跌期權安排考慮了這種潛在情況，當球隊處於法乙聯賽時，我們對剩餘股權的估值會降低。

Hibernian FC, which we have a 25% interest, finished the season in 8th place out of 12 clubs in the Scottish Premier League. We continue to also build out the BKFC holding company given our belief that an interconnected multi-club ownership model can best deliver improved sporting outcomes, create better player pathways, enhance fan and community experiences, and improve commercial revenues and profitability across the group. As part of that strategy, in June, we announced that Tim Bezbatchenko has been hired as BKFC's first President.

我們擁有 25% 權益的希伯尼安足球俱樂部 (Hibernian FC) 在本賽季結束時在蘇格蘭超級聯賽 12 傢俱樂部中排名第 8。我們也繼續建立BKFC 控股公司，因為我們相信，相互關聯的多俱樂部所有權模式可以最好地改善體育賽事成果，創造更好的球員途徑，增強球迷和社區體驗，並提高整個集團的商業收入和盈利能力。作為該策略的一部分，我們在 6 月宣布任命 Tim Bezbatchenko 為 BKFC 首任總裁。

Prior to BKFC, Tim enjoyed tremendous success in leadership roles within Major League Soccer. Tim will work with our portfolio clubs to standardize and improve player recruiting and development, enhance player pathways, and optimize commercial opportunities across the group.

在加入 BKFC 之前，蒂姆在美國職業足球大聯盟的領導職位上取得了巨大的成功。提姆將與我們的投資組合俱樂部合作，標準化和改善球員招募和發展，增強球員路徑，並優化整個集團的商業機會。

Lastly, I would like to provide a few updates on Minden Mill and the Restaurant Group given the work during the previous quarter. We continue to make progress at Minden Mill, and it released its first product, an ultra-premium vodka called High Ground Vodka, which was well received by the market.

最後，我想介紹 Minden Mill 和餐廳集團上一季工作的一些最新情況。明登工廠不斷取得進展，推出了第一款產品，一款名為 High Ground Vodka 的超優質伏特加，受到了市場的好評。

The distillery is on track for a fourth quarter release of Minden Mill bourbon, rye and American single malt whiskey brands from inventory acquired in the May 2023 acquisition and has already begun a more scaled development of additional brown liquors that require four-plus years of aging.

該釀酒廠預計在第四季度從2023 年5 月收購中獲得的庫存中釋放明登米爾波本威士忌、黑麥威士忌和美國單一麥芽威士忌品牌，並已開始更大規模地開發需要四年多陳釀的其他棕色酒類。

Moving on to the Restaurant Group. Following the strategic reduction in store locations discussed last quarter, we have continued with our realignment and are reducing corporate overhead. This quarter, we laid off approximately 20% of the corporate employees and are in the process of reducing third-party spending and downsizing the group's headquarters.

轉向餐廳集團。繼上季討論的策略性減少商店地點之後，我們繼續進行重組並減少公司管理費用。本季度，我們解雇了約 20% 的公司員工，並正在減少第三方支出並縮小集團總部規模。

Our work has already produced positive results as second-quarter 2024 adjusted EBITDA was more than twice that of the prior-year second quarter. Our management team is focused on improving cash flow and increasing the guest counts at our locations, which is key to long-term profitability at the store and corporate levels. We believe the actions at both Minden Mill and the Restaurant Group will improve cash flows and increase their respective values.

我們的工作已經取得了積極成果，2024 年第二季調整後 EBITDA 是去年第二季的兩倍多。我們的管理團隊專注於改善現金流和增加我們門市的客人數量，這是商店和企業層面長期獲利的關鍵。我們相信 Minden Mill 和餐廳集團的行動將改善現金流並增加各自的價值。

I will now turn the call over to Bryan.

我現在將把電話轉給布萊恩。

Thanks, Ryan. I'll briefly cover the P&L, balance sheet and liquidity. Second-quarter 2024 operating revenues were down $35 million or 23% compared to the prior-year quarter, reflecting a 27% reduction in the number of restaurant locations year over year. Same-store sales on the remaining locations were down slightly with lower guest counts offset by higher average checks.

謝謝，瑞安。我將簡要介紹損益表、資產負債表和流動性。2024 年第二季營業收入較上年同期下降 3,500 萬美元，或 23%，反映餐廳數量年減 27%。其餘地點的同店銷售額略有下降，客人數量減少被平均支票增加所抵消。

Cost of restaurant revenues fell at a greater pace than revenues, dropping to 85.6% of restaurant revenues in the second quarter 2024 compared to 88.4% in the second quarter '23, a 280-basis-point improvement resulting from the reduction of 4-wall or on-site costs. The remainder of operating expenses comprised personnel costs, depreciation, and other operating expenses.

餐廳收入成本下降速度大於收入，2024 年第二季餐廳收入成本下降至 85.6%，而 23 年第二季為 88.4%，由於 4 牆的減少，成本下降了 280 個基點或現場費用。其餘營運費用包括人員成本、折舊和其他營運費用。

These expenses, which include the restaurant and the real estate business as well as Cannae corporate, increased $4.8 million in the aggregate or approximately 11% quarter over quarter. The drivers for this increase include an ISIP bonus related to sales of Dayforce shares during the 2024 quarter, notably on which Cannae realized a $27 million gain over the pre-IPO basis as well as higher stock comp and termination fees.

這些費用（包括餐廳和房地產業務以及坎尼公司）總計增加了 480 萬美元，較上季成長約 11%。這一成長的驅動因素包括與 2024 年季度 Dayforce 股票銷售相關的 ISIP 獎金，特別是 Cannae 在 IPO 前實現了 2,700 萬美元的收益，以及更高的股票補償和終止費用。

These were offset by significant decreases in the Restaurant Group impairments and expenses as well as reduction in professional fees at the Cannae corporate level. Recognized losses of $145 million in the second quarter reflect a non-cash impairment charge to the book value of Sightline, while decreased losses from equity method investments related to the prior-year write-down of System1.

這些被餐廳集團減損和費用的大幅減少以及坎尼公司層級專業費用的減少所抵消。第二季確認的損失為 1.45 億美元，反映了 Sightline 帳面價值的非現金減損費用，而與前一年 System1 減記相關的權益法投資損失減少。

I'll also give you a little bit more detail on the impairment of Sightline and the rationale behind it. The lack of traction with their legacy products, combined with investments in completing development of a new product has caused further pressure on their operational results and liquidity through the second quarter.

我還將向您提供有關 Sightline 損傷及其背後原理的更多詳細資訊。傳統產品缺乏吸引力，加上完成新產品開發的投資，對第二季的營運表現和流動性造成了進一步的壓力。

In light of continued negative cash flow from operations, uncertainty in future financial and operational forecast and a challenged liquidity position, we had a valuation of the company prepared. And based on those results, we recorded an impairment charge to the book value of our investment. With that said, we're hopeful the company begins to see better results, and we'll continue to work with Sightline management team.

鑑於營運現金流持續為負、未來財務和營運預測的不確定性以及流動性狀況面臨挑戰，我們對公司進行了估值。根據這些結果，我們在投資的帳面價值中記錄了減損費用。話雖如此，我們希望公司開始看到更好的業績，我們將繼續與 Sightline 管理團隊合作。

Cannae's balance sheet and liquidity position remain solid. Since March 31, we've sold 1 million shares of Dayforce for gross proceeds of $57 million. We're now down to 500,000 shares remaining out of the 37.1 million shares we held at Dayforce's IPO.

坎尼的資產負債表和流動性狀況依然穩健。自 3 月 31 日以來，我們已出售 100 萬股 Dayforce 股票，總收益為 5,700 萬美元。我們在 Dayforce IPO 時持有的 3,710 萬股股票中，現在已減少至 500,000 股。

We'll use this capital for new investments, investments in the growth of our existing portfolio as well as capital returns to our shareholders. Cannae has approximately $29 million in corporate cash today and has nothing drawn on its margin loan leaving $150 million of immediate capacity on that facility. The only outstanding debt presently is $60 million under the term note that matures near the end of 2025.

我們將利用這筆資金進行新的投資、現有投資組合的成長投資以及對股東的資本回報。Cannae 目前擁有約 2,900 萬美元的公司現金，並且沒有提取任何保證金貸款，該設施的即時容量為 1.5 億美元。目前唯一的未償債務是 6,000 萬美元的定期票據，將於 2025 年底到期。

Cannae also notably has $1.3 billion of marketable securities that could be utilized for future liquidity. At the close today, Cannae's aggregate NAV was $2.1 billion or $32.90 per Cannae share, compared to today's closing price of $19.95.

值得注意的是，坎尼還擁有 13 億美元的有價證券，可用於未來的流動性。截至今天收盤， Cannae 的總資產淨值為 21 億美元，即每股 Cannae 股票 32.90 美元，而今天的收盤價為 19.95 美元。

With that, I'll now turn the call back to the operator to begin our Q&A session.

現在，我將把電話轉回給接線員，開始我們的問答環節。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員說明）

John Campbell, Stephens.

約翰坎貝爾、史蒂芬斯.

Hey, guys. It's Jonathan Bass on for John. Thanks for taking my questions. So I know you can't comment directly on the D&B takeout rumors. So I'd love to hear just at a high level a refresh on your investment thesis for D&B, and why you guys view the valuation as so deeply discounted here. Thanks.

嘿，夥計們。喬納森·巴斯 (Jonathan Bass) 替補約翰。感謝您回答我的問題。所以我知道你不能直接評論 D&B 外賣傳聞。因此，我很想聽聽您對 D&B 投資理論的更新，以及為什麼你們認為這裡的估值如此之低。謝謝。

So I get -- the thesis when we made the investment or kind of how we view valuation today? I'm not -- is that what are you trying to get at? I apologize.

所以我明白了——我們進行投資時的論點，或者我們今天如何看待估值？我不是──這就是你想要表達的意思嗎？我道歉。

Yeah. That's right. Just what your thesis was when you got into D&B and maybe just why -- not why, maybe just your thesis, if you could.

是的。這是正確的。當你進入 D&B 時，你的論文是什麼，也許只是為什麼——不是為什麼，如果可以的話，也許只是你的論文。

Yeah. No -- thanks for the clarification. When we initially invested in the business, we thought it was an undervalued business that had kind of great data assets, great market penetration. And we believe that there was some obvious cost savings that we can enact in the business as well as we could invest in product to improve the revenue growth.

是的。不——謝謝你的澄清。當我們最初投資該業務時，我們認為這是一個被低估的業務，擁有大量的數據資產和巨大的市場滲透率。我們相信，我們可以在業務中實現一些明顯的成本節約，並且我們可以投資於產品以提高收入成長。

We think we have done a lot of it -- we think Anthony and the team have done a lot of those things. If you look at the growth in the EBITDA since our deal as well as kind of -- they've turned what was at the time of the acquisition was kind of a flat revenue business to 4.3% organic growth.

我們認為我們已經做了很多事情——我們認為安東尼和他的團隊已經做了很多這樣的事情。如果你看看自我們交易以來 EBITDA 的成長情況——他們已經將收購時收入持平的業務轉變為 4.3% 的有機成長。

With that all being said, we're frustrated where the business is -- where the business trades. But we think the team is on the right path and they're doing the right things to create additional value at D&B.

話雖如此，我們對業務所在地——業務交易的地方感到沮喪。但我們認為團隊走在正確的道路上，他們正在做正確的事情來為 D&B 創造額外價值。

Got it. Thanks. And then turning to Bournemouth here. They had a really nice season finishing at the mid-level of the table, which is a solid improvement from the prior year. And it seems like your guys' strategy is playing out nicely there.

知道了。謝謝。然後轉向伯恩茅斯這裡。他們度過了一個非常美好的賽季，排名中游，與前一年相比有了很大的進步。看來你們的策略在那裡發揮得很好。

So I wanted to touch on two things here. One, could you just speak to the level of investment you guys expect over the course of the next year and as the club looks to start its new season here shortly? And then maybe after that, at this point, given what the club has done, would you guys consider taking some ownership off the table?

所以我想在這裡談兩件事。第一，您能否談談您對明年以及俱樂部希望很快在這裡開始新賽季的投資水平的期望？也許在那之後，在這一點上，考慮到俱樂部所做的事情，你們會考慮取消一些所有權嗎？

So on the first question, we're still in the middle of the transfer window. So kind of the exact capital needs for the club, given the importance of buying and selling players that -- so we're still -- it's still kind of -- we need to determine kind of the exact squad makeup before I think we have a real view of what kind of the capital needs or the capital position of the club will be. So I think we'll have to hold off on that.

所以關於第一個問題，我們仍處於轉會窗口的中間。考慮到買賣球員的重要性，俱樂部的確切資本需求——所以我們仍然——仍然是——我們需要確定確切的球隊組成，然後我認為我們有真實了解俱樂部的資本需求或資本狀況。所以我認為我們必須推遲這一點。

I do think there will -- at Bournemouth, there will be some amount of investment over the season. But what that is, is we're still trying to figure out based on what happens over the next month of the window.

我確實認為在伯恩茅斯，整個賽季將會有一些投資。但我們仍在嘗試根據窗口下個月發生的情況來弄清楚。

And then in terms of taking ownership off the table, I don't think in the near term, we are looking to do that unless, obviously, if someone came up and offered us an incredible price, we would think about it. But we think there are a lot more changes. There are a lot more things that we can do at Bournemouth and Black Knight Football more broadly to create shareholder value.

然後，就取消所有權而言，我認為短期內我們不會這樣做，除非，顯然，如果有人提出給我們一個令人難以置信的價格，我們會考慮它。但我們認為還有很多變化。在伯恩茅斯和黑騎士足球，我們可以做更多的事情來更廣泛地創造股東價值。

Ian Zaffino, Oppenheimer.

伊恩·扎菲諾，奧本海默。

Thank you very much. Maybe on Alight here, like you've said, management change, you got the payroll sales. The potential strategic sale of this, like still something you might consider? I guess the way I think about it is if you look at like the D&B news and then you look at this, maybe to take that money and then with that capital, do as you please. Any thoughts there? Thanks.

非常感謝。也許在下車時，就像你所說的那樣，管理層發生變化，你就得到了工資銷售。潛在的戰略出售，您可能還會考慮嗎？我想我的想法是，如果你看看 D&B 新聞，然後再看看這個，也許會拿走這筆錢，然後用這筆資本，做你想做的事。有什麼想法嗎？謝謝。

I'll answer that in two ways. In terms of a specific sale or something like that, I mean, I don't -- it's a public company. Obviously, there's a price out there every day for it. So if people are interested, obviously, they can come talk to them.

我將從兩個方面回答這個問題。就具體銷售或類似的事情而言，我的意思是，我不知道——它是一家上市公司。顯然，每天都有一個價格。因此，如果人們有興趣，顯然可以來與他們交談。

But in terms of how we think about capital allocation more broadly, I would say that we clearly -- as we mentioned in some of the prepared remarks, as we think about new investments, we have to reallocate capital from some of our public company investments into those investments or into returns of capital to shareholders.

但就我們如何更廣泛地考慮資本配置而言，我想說，正如我們在一些準備好的評論中提到的那樣，當我們考慮新投資時，我們必須從一些上市公司投資中重新分配資本投入這些投資或股東資本回報。

Clearly, Dun & Bradstreet and Alight are some of the biggest positions. So just kind of depending on the cadence and when that is, we'll have to think about kind of all the different things that are going on as we think about allocating that capital.

顯然，Dun & Bradstreet 和 Alight 是最大的倉位之一。因此，這取決於節奏，當我們考慮分配資本時，我們必須考慮正在發生的所有不同的事情。

Okay. Thank you. And then I guess the other follow-up would be capital allocation. I guess you're buying back stock, but is there a read into that as far as maybe there might not be as many opportunities? Or how do you kind of prioritize buying stock versus returning capital to shareholders? Thanks.

好的。謝謝。然後我想另一個後續行動是資本配置。我猜你正在回購股票，但是否有對此進行解讀，因為可能沒有那麼多機會？或者你如何優先考慮買進股票並向股東返還資本？謝謝。

Yeah. Look, I think we've returned quite a bit of capital to shareholders over the first two quarters between the tender and the dividend. I think we like instituting the dividend, because it's consistent capital; it's return to shareholders on every quarter. And obviously, in the first quarter, we bought back about 9.7 million shares. So we're -- which is a big chunk for us. So we're letting that kind of, I'll say, settle out and see how that -- see kind of where we are.

是的。看，我認為在前兩個季度的投標和股息之間，我們已經向股東返還了大量資本。我認為我們喜歡設立股息，因為它是一致的資本；它是每個季度股東的回報。顯然，在第一季度，我們回購了約 970 萬股。所以我們——這對我們來說是一大塊。所以，我想說的是，我們要讓這種情況穩定下來，看看情況如何——看看我們現在所處的位置。

But we believe that the strategy that closes the discount is both a combination of capital returns to shareholders including share buyback, as well as basically investments that are growing NAV. And we believe those are most likely private company investments where we can reallocate some of the capital from the public companies into those.

但我們認為，結束折扣的策略既是股東資本回報（包括股票回購）的結合，也是資產淨值成長的基本投資的結合。我們認為這些很可能是私人公司的投資，我們可以將上市公司的部分資本重新分配到這些投資中。

I don't have a specific view on the allocation. It's more of -- I think we look at it on a case-by-case basis as we have investments and as we look at kind of where our stock is trading, and we make a decision how we want to allocate that capital. But we believe it's a combination of both of those things.

我對分配沒有具體的看法。我認為，當我們進行投資時，我們會根據具體情況來看待它，當我們關注我們的股票交易情況時，我們會決定如何分配這些資本。但我們相信這是這兩件事的結合。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

肯尼斯李，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Hey, good afternoon. And thanks for taking my question. Just one follow-up on the previous question there and perhaps just to put a finer point on it. And what's kind of -- I realize you can't talk too much about the D&B strategic review. But if there was a potentially sizable monetization of your public portfolio holdings, at this point, would you lean towards returning the bulk of that excess cash towards repurchases or allocating towards newer investments just given the current environment? Thanks.

嘿，下午好。感謝您提出我的問題。只是對上一個問題的一個後續行動，也許只是為了更好地闡述它。我知道你不能談太多 D&B 策略審查。但是，如果您的公共投資組合持有量可能有相當大的貨幣化，那麼在當前環境下，您是否會傾向於將大部分多餘現金用於回購或分配給新的投資？謝謝。

Look, I think we have to think about that when something actually comes up and kind of what is going on. But in general, we believe it's a combination of both kind of the share buybacks and the dividends as well as kind of investments in businesses. So what the percentage allocation is and all of that, I think, we'd have to think about that when the situation comes up, but it's a combination of those two things.

聽著，我認為當事情真正發生時我們必須考慮這一點以及正在發生的事情。但總的來說，我們認為這是股票回購和股息以及企業投資的結合。所以，我認為，百分比分配是什麼以及所有這些，當情況出現時我們必須考慮這一點，但它是這兩件事的結合。

Got you. Okay. And then for my follow-up, and this one is about the JANA partnership here. More broadly, in the context of the partnership, what's the playbook here? What could we expect in terms of a potential transaction or investment going forward?

明白你了。好的。接下來是我的後續內容，這是關於 JANA 合作夥伴關係的。更廣泛地說，在合作關係的背景下，這裡的劇本是什麼？我們對未來的潛在交易或投資有何期望？

And I realize you can't talk too much about the Rapid7 investment. But is this like we could see a potential co-investment where Cannae makes investment in equity along with some other investment firms? Just want to get a better sense of how future investments or transactions could emerge. Thanks.

我意識到你不能談太多 Rapid7 投資。但這是否就像我們可以看到 Cannae 與其他一些投資公司一起進行股權投資的潛在聯合投資？只是想更了解未來的投資或交易將如何出現。謝謝。

No, I think -- I mean, look, I think -- I mean you understand our capital base. So it kind of depends on the size of the business that we're looking at. What that business needs, whether it's -- ideally, it would be an acquisition opportunity but could it be another capital solution?

不，我想——我的意思是，你看，我想——我的意思是你了解我們的資本基礎。所以這在某種程度上取決於我們正在考慮的業務規模。該業務需要什麼，理想情況下，這將是一個收購機會，但它是否可以成為另一種資本解決方案？

And then depending on the size, we would look to partner with different firms, similar to what we did -- what we've done with D&B or other take privates of businesses in the past. So again, how the exact playbook and how it plays out is a bit TBD given the early stage of the partnership, but it's relying on the skills of JANA to enact change and utilizing Cannae as a capital source and a potential acquisition partner to find attractive investments.

然後根據規模，我們會尋求與不同的公司合作，就像我們過去與 D&B 或其他私有化企業所做的那樣。再說一遍，考慮到合作夥伴關係的早期階段，確切的劇本如何以及如何發揮作用還有待確定，但它依賴於JANA 的技能來實施變革，並利用Cannae 作為資本來源和潛在的收購合作夥伴來尋找有吸引力的投資。

Okay. Got you. And just one last quick one, if I may. And this regards to the impairment charge you took for Sightline in the quarter there. And in terms of the specifics driving the impairment, it sounded as if there was a -- if I got it right, a lack of progress in terms of development of a new product. Was there any kind of changing industry conditions or anything that changed in terms of potential adoption by the industry that also drove the impairment? I just want to get a better understanding there. Thanks.

好的。明白你了。如果可以的話，我只想說最後一件事。這與您在該季度為 Sightline 收取的減損費用有關。就造成損害的具體細節而言，如果我沒猜錯的話，聽起來似乎是在新產品的開發方面缺乏進展。是否存在任何類型的行業條件變化或行業潛在採用方面的任何變化也導致了減值？我只是想更好地了解那裡。謝謝。

I can take that one, Ryan, if you want. It's a little bit backwards, Ken. It's more of some of their legacy products were not getting the traction that they wanted. While they're developing, they can get a new product in development as well. But the combination of those two put quite a bit of pressure on them as far as cash flow from operations and profitability in the short run.

瑞安，如果你願意的話，我可以拿走那個。這有點倒退了，肯。更多的是他們的一些遺留產品沒有得到他們想要的吸引力。在開發的同時，他們也可以獲得正在開發的新產品。但這兩者的結合給他們的營運現金流和短期獲利能力帶來了相當大的壓力。

Thank you. And it appears that we have no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Ryan Caswell for closing remarks.

謝謝。目前看來我們沒有其他問題了。現在，我將把電話轉回給瑞安·卡斯韋爾（Ryan Caswell），讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator. To conclude, we have taken significant steps through the first six months of the year to position Cannae for success, which we believe will lead to NAV growth and narrowing our share price discount. We remain confident that we are on the right path and are excited with the opportunities that we have in front of us to create value for our shareholders. Thank you again for your time today.

謝謝你，接線生。總而言之，我們在今年前六個月採取了重大步驟，以使坎尼取得成功，我們相信這將導致資產淨值增長並縮小我們的股價折扣。我們仍然相信我們正走在正確的道路上，並對我們面前的為股東創造價值的機會感到興奮。再次感謝您今天抽出時間。

Thank you. This does conclude today's Cannae Holdings second-quarter 2024 earnings call. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

謝謝。今天 Cannae Holdings 的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連線。