Bought: Tronc, Virgin America and NXP Semi

The M&A space are full of opportunities, but there are also plenty of land mines out there. I recently entered into a couple of high risk / high reward positions. (1) Tronc (Ticker: TRNC) (~8% position) at an average price of $17.11. All signs indicate that Gannett (Ticker: GCI) is very close to acquiring Tronc at a price of $18.50 to $19 per share. An announcement should occur shortly. (2) Virgin America (Ticker: VA) (~13% position) at an average price of $53.43. This company is being acquired by Alaska Air for $57 per share in cash. Anti-trust jitters are causing the spread to widen. Obviously I see this deal getting anti-trust approval. And finally (3) NXP Semiconductors (Ticker: NXPI) (~8% position) at an average price of $102.28. This is a perfect fit for Qualcomm (Ticker: QCOM) and can see a $120 deal getting struck. Now, just wait and see how things evolve…