Our Story

metronuclear LLC is a deep value investment partnership that awaits then exploits market dislocations, uses algorithms to make investment decisions, and engages management teams to reduce price-value gaps. Originally established to supply physical uranium concentrates to US nuclear plants receiving state-level subsidies, metronuclear invests in German companies that are overlooked and undervalued.

Our Journey

Our founder pioneered uranium trading at two global investment banks and later launched metronuclear when New York and Illinois approved annual ratepayer subsidies for nuclear power plants. We have engaged practically every corporate owner of a nuclear power plant fleet in America. In each case, metronuclear was singularly responsible for the owner’s nuclear fuel team meeting its diversity team for the first time ever. While waiting for these corporate owners to make their nuclear fuel supply chains more diverse, inclusive, and thus more resilient, we pivoted to deep value investments, starting with European and German bank shares (and/or proxies thereof) that traded at historically large discounts to their tangible net asset value. We gradually expanded to other sectors with companies whose share prices have dislocated from their underlying value.

Our Investments

metronuclear’s main investments are in Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft and Puma Societas Europaea.

Commerzbank

Commerzbank is Germany’s second-largest listed bank, the market leader in Mittelstand banking, and the parent of leading digital bank-broker comdirect. Its mBank subsidiary is Poland’s fifth-largest bank. And its CommerzVentures venture capital platform has invested successfully at an early stage in fintech unicorns.

metronuclear correctly anticipated Commerzbank’s reascension to Germany’s DAX 40 blue-chip index and the subsequent positive re-rating of the bank’s shares by the sell-side equity analyst community.

metronuclear maintains a cordial and constructive dialogue with Commerzbank and is fully supportive of its management team, corporate strategy, and independence. We introduced the #BetOnBettina hashtag to social media in support of Commerzbank’s dynamic Chief Executive Officer, whose candidacy for the role we publicly supported with mentions in German media.

UniCredit SpA, Italy’s second-largest bank, has acquired a 28 percent economic stake in Commerzbank, has received regulatory approval to acquire up to 29.9 percent of Commerzbank, and has suggested it may seek a complete takeover in future. metronuclear believes independence under the stewardship of CEO Bettina Orlopp creates the greatest long-term value for all Commerzbank stakeholders, which includes shareholders, customers, and employees. We believe the most expedient means by which Commerzbank can dispatch UniCredit and ultimately remain independent is selling mBank. Commerzbank could use the net sales proceeds of an mBank sale to finance a “super-buyback” of its own shares. Alternatively, Commerzbank could offer to swap its mBank shares for UniCredit’s Commerzbank shares, subject to a standstill agreement.

In the first quarter of 2025, Commerzbank earned 834 million euros in profits, the highest level since 2011, and achieved a return on tangible equity of over 11 percent. Against the backdrop of a robust Tier 1 common equity (CET1) ratio of 15.1 percent that exceeds minimum requirements by a healthy 486 basis points and is amongst the highest in the bank’s peer group, the bank intends to return more than 100 percent of its full year 2025 profits to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks.

Puma

Puma is the world’s third-largest sportswear brand (after Nike and Adidas) and, like Commerzbank, is based in Germany. Its founder was the brother of the founder of Adidas, whose current CEO was formerly Puma’s CEO.

Groupe Artemis owns around 30 percent of Puma and around 40 percent of Kering, which owns luxury brands Balenciaga, Gucci, and YSL. Puma collaborates with Balenciaga to create co-branded fashion collections, giving them a distinct competitive advantage over competitors who lack direct access to similar luxury brands.

Since metronuclear began building its own stake in Puma, two global investment banks disclosed Puma stakes exceeding five percent each, likely representing institutional investor client interests.

metronuclear believes Puma is overlooked and undervalued. We are fully supportive of Puma’s management team (including the new CEO, who is an Adidas alumnus), brand strategy, and product mix. We have initiated a cordial and constructive dialogue with Puma focused on strategic partnerships, cost optimization, and pricing strategy, each of which has the potential to unlock significant shareholder value in our view. A financial sponsor recently acquired a Puma competitor with sales comparable to Puma’s sales at a valuation of around three times Puma’s market capitalization at the time of acquisition. Sales equivalence notwithstanding, the competitor is significantly more profitable than Puma, suggesting Puma would benefit from continued focus on optimizing costs that are fully within its management control function.

Our Team

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Roy Adams

  • Founder and Chief Investment Officer of metronuclear
    • Originates, executes, and manages deep value investments
    • Performs research function for geopolitics, macroeconomics, equities, and commodities
    • Engages investment targets’ management teams to reduce price-value gaps
    • Scaled investments in Commerzbank and Puma during periods of extreme market volatility
    • Developed deep value algorithm and uranium term and option pricing models
    • Orchestrated pivot from physical uranium market to German stock market
  • Pioneered uranium trading at Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers in UK and US with customers spanning 5 continents
    • Financial Times: Adams left Deutsche Bank to work with two non-profits and later to invest privately in uranium miners and European and German banks
    • Reuters: Deutsche Bank’s global uranium trading business was long-term supplier of uranium to utilities, profitable each year of its existence, and later sold to Australian bank Macquarie
    • Originated and executed first-ever long-term physical uranium supply contract between a bank and a nuclear utility
    • Traded first-ever financially-settled uranium swap with institutional investors
    • Arranged first-ever financially-settled uranium swap with a nuclear utility, covering a quarter of its annual fuel requirements
  • Graduate of NYC Public Schools K-12 (valedictorian at every level), Mathematics and Science for Minority Students Program at Phillips Academy Andover (Honors), Yale University (Varsity Football), and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (Edward Tuck Scholar)
  • Member of the Board of Directors and Audit & Finance Committee for PENCIL Inc., an educational charity that connects NYC Public School students to success