Aimia Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the AMIA Inc. Second Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Albert Matuszek, Head of Investor Relations and Communication. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Lyra, and welcome everyone to this morning's call. Today's presentation is available on CDAR and on our website. Before we get underway, I would like to remind everyone to please review our forward-looking statements and the cautions and risk factors pertaining to the statements. My name is Albert Matusak, the Head of IR and Communications. With me on the call are speakers Phil Middleman, AMIA's CEO, Michael Lehman, our President, and Steve Leonard, our CFO. Phil will begin with our strategic highlights, followed by Michael, who will cover the performance of our investments, and hand over the call over to Steve to take you through the results of the quarter. We will have time for your questions at the end. With that, let me hand it over to Phil.

Thanks, Albert, and good morning to everyone on the phone and webcast today. This quarter marks a significant milestone for AMIA as we continue to execute our stated investment strategy. We are now the majority owner of two operating companies that we expect will provide revenue growth and strong cash flow generation for AMIA shareholders for years to come. After achieving a fully valued exit of PLM in late 2022, with a potential for up to an additional $27.5 million as an earn-out, we have successfully redeployed more than $450 million of capital in 2023. We are excited about our plans to drive further growth for both Bizetto and Toughropes, guiding these businesses to become global leaders in their respective markets. Our management teams are recognizing new opportunities to develop partnerships, both new and existing, that will expand our breadth of products, our wallet share with clients, and enter into new markets and geographies. As an example, Tough Rope's recent acquisition of U.S.-based Cortland Industrial significantly enhances Tough Rope's presence in the high-performance synthetic fibers and customized solutions to ropes, slings, and tether segments. Let me quickly recap the Bizetto and Tough Rope businesses. On May 9th, AMIA acquired Bizetto. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Falago, Italy, Bizetto is one of the world's largest ESG-focused providers of specialty sustainable chemicals, offering sustainable textile, water, and dispersion chemical solutions with applications in several end markets, including the textile, home, and personal care, plasterboard, and agrochemical markets. Under AMIA's ownership, Bizetto will seek to substantially expand into the Americas and other geographies organically and through accretive acquisitions, further diversifying Bizetto's historically European presence. Over the last five years, Bizetto has grown revenues organically and through tuck-in acquisitions and has more than doubled its EBITDA. The management team responsible for this success has remained with the business and have invested a substantial amount of their personal capital. AMIA invested $206.3 million for an equity stake of 94% in Bizetto, investing alongside the management team who purchased 6% of the company at the same valuation as AMIA. Concurrent with the closing, we secured debt financing of $139.5 million with a weighted average coupon of 8.1%. As part of its growth strategy, Pizzetto is currently in late-stage negotiations with an Americas-based target. This target aligns with Pizzetto's strategy of further diversifying its geographical presence in end markets while providing a manufacturing platform in the Americas and significant add-on business synergies. Moreover, it presents promising sales opportunities in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, that have otherwise been unavailable. Since we closed the Toughropes acquisition at the end of the first quarter of 2023, the leadership team has been busy working on various commercial and strategic initiatives that we expect will provide significant revenue and EBITDA growth. As part of a strategic plan, Toughropes acquired Cortland on July 11th for $26.6 million. This transaction accelerates Toughropes' access to high-performance, heavy industrial, and maritime markets that Toughropes has sought to enter. Cortland brings valuable design and engineering expertise, as well as synergistic opportunities in sales and operations, creating a stronger competitive position for toughropes in the U.S. and European markets. Cortland provides a highly recognizable brand in the industry. As such, the combined Cortland and toughrope businesses will be rebranded as Cortland. Returning to our other investments. Capital A reported strong growth in its aviation segments in the second quarter of 2023, and the company's valuation is beginning to reflect these results, with its stock price having recently achieved a new 52-week high. Once the business submits its remediation plan and exits from practice note 17, we expect to see further stock price gains. Cognitive successfully closed the sale of a non-core business on August 2, 2023, generating $9.4 million in net cash proceeds with a potential earn-out. In addition to this sale, Cognitive has also commenced an equity raise, which we will discuss in more detail next quarter. AMIA will not be participating in this raise. The company's expectation of achieving EBITDA profitability in Q4 2023 remains on track. Clear Media, while recovering, continues to face macroeconomic headwinds in China. During the course of the COVID lockdown and up to this point, the business continues to trim its operating cost structure and has exited lower-yielding advertising panels. As the economy in China strengthens, we expect that ClearMedia will benefit from its market-leading position as well as its improved cost structure. As a result of a slower growth trajectory, as Tradex focuses on achieving profitability, AME recorded a $25 million unrealized fair value loss on its investments in Tradex. We remain optimistic on the long-term opportunities for this business to succeed as it continues to develop its global cross-border trading. I would also like to highlight some recent changes to our board of directors. On July 10th, Tom Little joined as a new independent director, adding valuable expertise. In addition, Karen Bazian became our interim chair of the board, succeeding David Rosenkranz, who leaves after three years of distinguished service. We continue to actively pursue additional enhancements to our board of directors. And with that, let me turn the floor over to Mike to provide you some further updates on our investment portfolio. Mike?