Inelegant Investor

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What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been! With Corteva Spinoff Complete, DuPont Is Once Again DuPont

A recent piece in Barron’s notes that “Sanford Bernstein analyst Jonas Oxgaard recently called the DowDuPont merger and 3-way split the “most complicated action in corporate history.”” It goes on to note, regarding the scale of the transactions: Oxgaard’s claim is difficult to verify, but it doesn’t feel far from the truth. Consider, legacy-Dow and legacy-duPont announced their intention to form the largest… Read More »

It’s All In The Jeans Now- Kontoor On Its Own As VF Corp Completes Spinoff

Kontoor Brands(KTB) may be on its own now, but it has its parent’s jeans. VF Corp(VFC) completed the spinoff of its jeans business on Wednesday, May 22, after the close. Kontoor, which includes brands such as Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic, will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 today. VF shareholders received one share of Kontoor… Read More »

S&P SmallCap 600 Changes Into Something A Little More Comfortable With Kontoor Brands

Orion Group Holdings(ORN) is a specialty construction company operating on Marine projects. Of late, its stock has taken a beating, and it is now too small for the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. On Friday, it will be removed from the Index, to be replaced by the newly spun off denim company Kontoor Brands(KTB). VF Corp(VFC) will complete its… Read More »

GE Sells Stake In Wabtec As Former GE Exec Named Wabtec CEO, Labor Concerns In Erie Persist

Months after the spinoff of its transportation unit and its subsequent merger with Wabtec(WAB), GE(GE) has sold 25.2 million shares of Wabtec stock in a public offering at $73.50 per share. The offering had originally been set at 12.5 million to 14.375 million shares but was quickly upsized, presumably due to robust interest. GE continues to own around… Read More »

Escape- DowDuPont Likes Corteva Coladas- Spinoff And Name Change Set For June 1

It seem like just last month that DowDuPont(DWDP) completed the spinoff of Dow(DOW). As was planned from the moment Dow and DuPont merged just a few short years ago, DowDuPont has one more spinoff to complete before it changes its name back to DuPont(or DuPont de Nemours, Inc., to be precise), and its ticker back to DD. DowDuPont’s… Read More »

Ingersoll Rand and Gardner Denver To Put Their Whole Selves In, Reverse Morris Trust It All Around

That’s what it’s all about. How do you sell off part of your business and not pay taxes? The answer, of course, is a reverse Morris Trust transaction. Ingersoll-Rand(IR) is an Ireland-based industrial conglomerate with a $30 billion market cap and 49,000 employees. Ingersoll Rand is no stranger to these pages, having spun off its security business as… Read More »

Corporate Spinoff Monthly Roundup – April 2019

Another month is almost in the books so lets recap the recent spinoff activity and also take a look at what spinoffs the next month will bring: Spinoffs Completed Prior Month Some big spinoffs in April. April 1st – after several years of merger integration work, DowDupont (DWDP) began breaking itself up last month with  the spin off… Read More »

She DRiV Me Crazy- Tenneco Spinoff On Track For Second Half Of 2019

We thought it was unusual that Dow and Dupont merged into DowDuPont(DWDP) with the plan from the start being to break back up into three companies: Dow(DOW), DuPont, and Corteva. Yet here we are not a month later discussing a similar situation. Last year, Tenneco(TEN) purchased Federal Mogul from Carl Icahn with plans to spinoff the combined aftermarket… Read More »

Versum Jilts Entegris At The Altar, Runs Off With Merck KGaA

When last we left Versum(VSM), the Air Products(APD) spinoff was insisting it was sticking by its merger agreement with Entegris(ENTG), come Hell or high water. Versum had dismissed Merck KGaA’s(MKKGY) all cash $48 a share bid, and Merck was preparing to go hostile. Fast forward a month, and the hostilities have ended with Versum firmly in Merck’s arms… Read More »

Barron’s Likes Alcon’s Prospects In Emerging Markets, Thinks It Could Lead to Bausch Spinoff

Last week, Novartis(NVS) completed its spinoff of Alcon(ALC). Less than a decade ago, Novartis had purchased Alcon from Nestle(NSRGY), but new leadership decided to reverse the transaction. In an article this weekend, Barron’s suggests that there is more than meets the eye to Alcon. Barron’s notes that, on the surface, Alcon looks expensive. For now, Wall Street is… Read More »

His Hand Slowly Traced The Kontoor Of Her … Wrangler Jeans

What the VF(VFC)? The clothing conglomerate moved closer to completing the spinoff of its denim business as Kontoor Brands recently with the filing of a Form 10. Kontoor will comprise the Wrangler®, Lee® and Rock & Republic® brands, and the VF Outlet business.  Kontoor stock is expected to trade under the KTB ticker symbol. The spinoff, which is on track to be completed… Read More »

Alcon Air – Novartis Unlocks The Cage And Alcon Has To Fend For Itself

A cross-country flight transporting a motley collection of violent and dangerous criminals? What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, until they take over the plane mid-air. Good thing Nicholas Cage is there. Oh, wait, that’s Con Air. Really, nothing to do with this morning’s completion of the Alcon (ALC) spinoff from Novartis (NVS), but it’s making us giggle. Go… Read More »

Altaba, The Spin That Never Happened, Will Become The Company That Isn’t

Much ink was spilled, on these pages and countless others, discussing Yahoo’s plan to spinoff its stakes in Alibaba(BABA) and Yahoo! Japan as an independent company. For much of 2015, the company planned to spin off this stake, together with a Yahoo’s small business unit as Aabaco Holdings. The small business unit was included to maintain the tax… Read More »

DowDuPont Goes Dow The Rabbit Hole- Dow Spinoff Is Complete, Corteva Set For June

Some combinations are long-lived. Procter & Gamble(PG) became partners in 1837. Others are over before they began. Dow and DuPont merged 18 months ago to form DowDuPont(DWDP). From the time the deal was announced 18 months earlier, they planned to break up. Now, after shuffling around some businesses, they have taken the first step in their breakup process.… Read More »

Barron’s Sees Value In Dow Spinoff

DowDuPont(DWDP) celebrates its last trading day intact today. After the bell, it will spin off Dow(DOW), and on June 1, it will spin off its agriscience business as Corteva. Shareholders will receive one share of Dow stock tonight for every three shares of DowDuPont stock owned. It has been a complicated road to get here. CEO Ed Breen… Read More »