Papa John’s International Inc. said Wednesday that Starboard Value L.P.’s investment in preferred shares will converted to common stock, with the pizza seller repurchasing 31% of the preferred shares before the conversion. In 2019, Starboard had invested $250 million in Papa John’s Series B convertible preferred stock with a total yield of about 5.4%, which were convertible to common stock at Starboard’s option at a conversion price of $50.06. The stock closed Tuesday 93.8% above the conversion price at $97.01. At the time of the investment, Starboard’s stake on a as-converted basis represented about 13.2% of the outstanding common stock. With Papa John’s repurchase of preferred shares, Starboard’s stake will be about 9.5% of the outstanding common stock. After the repurchase and conversion, the number of outstanding shares will increase by 3.5 million shares. The company will record a $110 million charge as a result of the transactions. Papa John’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trading, has lost 11.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.5%.
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