Cannae (NYSE:CNNE) used its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call to highlight portfolio changes, capital returns, and a newly articulated strategy aimed at improving transparency and narrowing the company’s investment focus. Management also reviewed 2025 operating results, liquidity, and several portfolio developments, including activity at its largest investment, Black Knight Football Club.
Portfolio actions and capital return
CEO Ryan Caswell said the company made “substantial progress” in 2025 executing strategic initiatives first outlined in 2024. A key development was the sale of Dun & Bradstreet to Clearlake Capital, which generated total proceeds of $630 million to Cannae.
On capital returns, Caswell said Cannae repurchased $323 million of stock in 2025, representing 17.4 million shares, or 28% of shares outstanding. The company also increased its dividend by 25% to $0.15 per quarter and paid $30 million in total dividends during the year.
New investments and the shift toward private, proprietary opportunities
Caswell said Cannae made new investments where it believes it can “help drive value.” In 2025, the company invested an additional $50 million in Black Knight Football Club and invested an additional $67.5 million in JANA Partners to increase its ownership from 20% to 50%.
With the sale of public securities such as Dun & Bradstreet, Caswell said Cannae’s portfolio is now “primarily investments in proprietary private opportunities that public investors otherwise wouldn’t be able to access,” and that the company intends to invest in structures where it can actively drive value creation.
Black Knight Football updates: club performance, transfers, and stadium plans
Management spent significant time discussing Black Knight Football Club (BKFC), describing it as the company’s largest investment and pointing to operating and on-field performance as evidence of value creation.
Caswell said AFC Bournemouth was in 8th place in the Premier League with 38 points through 27 matches at the time of the call. He also said that over the last two transfer windows, AFC Bournemouth generated over $400 million in transfer proceeds, which he attributed to third-party reports citing the second-highest net profit in European football.
On infrastructure, Caswell said the company recently received planning approval from the local council for a stadium expansion. Phase one is expected to be completed by the 2026–2027 season and would increase total capacity by approximately 1,500 seats, while increasing hospitality by 600 seats, or about 100%. Phase two is expected to be completed by the start of the 2027–2028 season and would increase capacity to over 20,000 seats, representing an approximately 80% increase in capacity.
In January, Caswell said BKFC acquired the remaining 60% of FC Lorient for approximately EUR 60 million through a combination of BKFC stock and cash, based roughly on a put/call structure from the 2023 purchase. BKFC now owns 100% of FC Lorient. Caswell said the club sat in 9th place in Ligue 1 and was in the quarterfinals of the French Cup. He also noted that Moreirense Football Club sat in seventh place in Portugal’s Primeira Liga with 33 points from 10 wins and three draws after 23 matches.
Strategic reset: focus, transparency, and governance
Despite the year’s transactions and capital return, Caswell said the board and management were “not satisfied” with the stock price and believe it does not reflect the intrinsic value of Cannae’s assets. Based on shareholder feedback, the board established updated strategic priorities intended to provide greater clarity and drive long-term value creation.
- Portfolio transformation and strategic focus: Cannae plans to accelerate the transformation of its portfolio to concentrate primarily on sports and entertainment-related assets. Caswell said the company intends to monetize non-strategic assets in a disciplined manner and is exploring strategic alternatives for its restaurant group.
- Enhanced operating performance and transparency: Beginning this quarter, Cannae is broadening reporting to provide greater visibility into asset-level operating value, operating results, and value creation initiatives. Management also said it will post an overview deck of Black Knight Football on its website with more details on strategy, clubs, and financials.
- Disciplined capital return: Management said returning capital remains a priority through a consistent quarterly dividend and potentially selective share repurchases, but that in the near term the board is prioritizing capital flexibility given the ongoing strategic transformation.
- Ongoing governance evolution: Caswell noted that four new independent directors joined the board in 2025 and that the board refreshed committees as part of efforts to improve governance and shareholder alignment.
Financial results and liquidity
CFO Bryan Coy reported fourth-quarter 2025 total operating revenues of $103 million, down 6% from $110 million in the prior-year quarter. Coy attributed the decline primarily to lower restaurant revenue due to generally lower guest traffic and nine fewer O’Charley’s locations that were closed during the year, partially offset by higher average guest checks. He added that the quarter also benefited slightly from higher lot sales and hospitality revenue at Brasada Ranch, the company’s Oregon resort.
Fourth-quarter total operating expenses were $127 million, down from $132 million a year earlier. Coy said 2025 operating expenses included $12 million of non-cash impairment charges mainly associated with right-of-use assets at certain O’Charley’s locations. Excluding that non-cash charge, he said operating expenses decreased by about $17 million, or 13%, reflecting lower restaurant costs, lower personnel costs, the absence of external management fees following termination of an agreement earlier in the year, and other corporate cost reductions, partially offset by higher professional fees tied to a recent proxy contest.
Below the operating line, Coy said net recognized losses were $8 million in the fourth quarter, largely comprising mark-to-market losses tied to the company’s exit from Paysafe. Equity in losses of unconsolidated holdings was $69 million, which Coy said largely represented Cannae’s share of Alight’s fourth-quarter results, including a large goodwill write-off.
For full-year 2025, Coy reported total operating revenue of $424 million, down from $453 million in 2024, reflecting fewer restaurant locations and associated revenue. Operating loss was $119 million in 2025 compared with $104 million in 2024. Coy said 2025 results reflected lower cost of revenue as well as $24 million of non-recurring management charges, $14 million of non-cash impairment charges at the restaurant group, and $5 million of increased professional fees associated with the proxy contest. Without these fees, he said operating expenses would have declined by approximately 27%. Coy added that results below the operating line in 2025 were largely influenced by non-cash impairments associated with Alight, offset in part by increases in the value of the company’s holdings in the CSI partnership.
On liquidity, Coy said Cannae ended the year with over $1.3 billion in total assets and $330 million of liabilities. At the corporate level, he said the company had over $147 million of cash and $48 million of fixed-rate, interest-only term debt that does not mature for more than four years. He also reiterated the expectation to receive $55 million in tax refunds in the summer.
In Q&A, management said it is reviewing individual assets for potential monetization consistent with the new sports and entertainment focus, and that it will provide updates when decisions are made. Caswell also said Cannae remains optimistic about its partnership with JANA Partners, though opportunities would need to fit within the company’s current strategic “box.” Discussing technology risk, Caswell said management has spent time evaluating AI impacts across the portfolio and characterized many financial services holdings as embedded with long-term contracts, while also working with portfolio companies on ways to implement AI for efficiency and reduce disintermediation risk.
Management also addressed valuation considerations for Black Knight Football, noting disclosure additions in the shareholder letter and referencing that stock issued in conjunction with the FC Lorient acquisition was marked at roughly a 12.5% premium to par value in its sum-of-the-parts approach. On SpaceX, Caswell said Cannae broke out the investment in its sum-of-the-parts and that the value used is based on the publicly announced transaction involving xAI; he added that, consistent with the company’s strategy, it “seems like it’ll be a source of cash” over time.
About Cannae (NYSE:CNNE)
Cannae Holdings, Inc (NYSE: CNNE) is a publicly traded diversified holding company that focuses on partnering with and investing in businesses across a range of industry sectors. The company seeks to identify attractive opportunities in both private and public markets, leveraging its capital resources and management expertise to support operational growth and value creation. Cannae’s investment strategy emphasizes companies in data and analytics, marketing services, healthcare technology, and payment processing.
Through its portfolio, Cannae holds controlling or significant minority stakes in companies that provide critical software, data and services to corporate clients.
