Key Takeaways
- • Blue Orca Capital founder and CIO Soren Aandahl told the Sohn Tokyo 2026 conference that three backers of Toshiba's 2023 take-private are sitting on stakes worth 80% to 96% of their own market value, at the midpoint of his estimates.
- • Aandahl argues the windfall from Japan Industrial Partners' take-private of Toshiba, completed in late 2023, has not been priced in by the market.
- • Blue Orca, best known for short selling, presented all three companies as long ideas, a notable departure from the firm's usual short-report strategy.
- • The long case rests on balance-sheet figures that Aandahl believes other investors are reading from stale data.
Summary
At Sohn Tokyo 2026, Soren Aandahl, founder and chief investment officer of Blue Orca Capital, pitched three Japanese listed companies as long positions, arguing they hold a buyout windfall the market has not priced. According to Hedge Fund Alpha's account of the presentation, the three companies are backers of Japan Industrial Partners' take-private of Toshiba in late 2023, in which much of the equity came from Japanese listed companies. Aandahl estimates that the three now hold Toshiba stakes worth 80% to 96% of their own market value at the midpoint of his estimates.
Blue Orca is best known for short selling. Aandahl acknowledged the contrast, joking that "orcas are not leopards" and that he had brought three long ideas to make up for decades of shorting. He launched Blue Orca in 2018 to focus on global short investments, and says his firms have published dozens of reports over the past 15 years on listed companies that, in his view, misrepresented their results or misused investors' money. He also teaches a seminar at the University of Texas business school titled Fraud and Folly in Financial Markets.
The long thesis depends on figures Aandahl believes other investors are relying on stale balance sheets to evaluate. The source does not provide the names of the three companies or further detail on the valuation methodology, so readers should consult the full presentation for those specifics.
Blue Orca is best known for short selling. Aandahl acknowledged the contrast, joking that "orcas are not leopards" and that he had brought three long ideas to make up for decades of shorting. He launched Blue Orca in 2018 to focus on global short investments, and says his firms have published dozens of reports over the past 15 years on listed companies that, in his view, misrepresented their results or misused investors' money. He also teaches a seminar at the University of Texas business school titled Fraud and Folly in Financial Markets.
The long thesis depends on figures Aandahl believes other investors are relying on stale balance sheets to evaluate. The source does not provide the names of the three companies or further detail on the valuation methodology, so readers should consult the full presentation for those specifics.
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