The boom in spinoff activity over the past few years has been aided greatly by the boom in activist investing. In this edition of Odds & Ends we check in on some activists. Other hedge funds may be shuttering, but it seems this segment remains hot! When something works, the financial industry knows how to milk it, but… Read More »
GE (GE) is set to close the restructured merger agreement for its transportation business with Wabtec (WAB) on February 25th. As a result, the 25th will also be the distribution date for GE’s transportation business spin off which will be immediately merged into Wabtec. The end result will be a more vertically integrated freight car business that is… Read More »
Sometimes it’s nice to take a break and let someone else do the work. In this week’s edition of Odds & Ends, we highlight some other sites that have dug a bit deeper into some upcoming or recent spinoff companies. It’s not quite OPM (other people’s money), but it’s always great to building off the work of others!… Read More »
Do public companies also get 15 minutes of fame? Helios & Matheson Analytics (HMNY) was a sleepy and tiny data analytics company that made a splash after acquiring MoviePass in the summer of 2017 and slashing the price from $50 to under $10/month, less than the cost of a single movie ticket in most places. Unfortunately, the blaze… Read More »
Based on reader suggestions we are going to try something new this month. We update our tables as new information is released, but we recognize that not everyone is constantly hitting refresh in order to see when a distribution date might get posted (please do so in the future though). Going forward, at the end of every month… Read More »
With GE’s (GE) share price in freefall and concerns about its debt levels, the company began offloading assets left and right. One disposal arranged by short lived CEO John Flannery was the spinoff of its transportation business via Reverse Morris Trust by subsequently merging it with Wabtec (WAB) to form a leading freight car powerhouse. Manufacturing and servicing all done in… Read More »
Active management may be under attack, but don’t tell that to Barron’s. Every year the venerable paper hosts an investor roundtable featuring some of the industry’s leading voices and largest active asset managers. The day long event offers a chance to hear their thoughts on a wide variety of topics including the economy and pressing global issues. Readers… Read More »
Let’s kick off the week with some deal talk. Last week we touched on Apollo’s (APO) potential buyout of Arconic (ARNC) and if completed, it would just be another example of spinoff/parent company being taken out. Once the separation announcement is made or even the ‘strategic alternatives’ one, the market knows that a sale is possible. In that vein,… Read More »
The WSJ is reporting that Arconic (ARNC) is nearing a deal with private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO) to be taken private. While the exact deal value is unknown right now, estimates peg Arconic’s value at over $10b or between $21 and $22 per share. The price represents a modest premium to recent close, but the name… Read More »
Another serial spinner is at it again. In 2010, James Dolan spun off Madison Square Garden from its Cablevision empire in order to better value its sports and entertainment related businesses. Five years later the regional sports businesses got their own turn to shine via the spin off of MSG Networks (MSGN). Three years later and the Madison… Read More »
It may be a new year, but we are reviving our series of popular Odds and Ends pieces. In this end of week edition, we hear from CEOs of spin off related companies. The buck has to stop somewhere so why not hear it straight from the top? The WSJ recently featured a chat with Ed Breen, the… Read More »
Happy New Year to all of our readers! 2018 is now officially history and it will be remembered as a year of increased volatility that ultimately left some portfolios quite damaged. That includes Mohnish Pabrai’s Spinoff Portfolio and its (backtested) historically S&P crushing results. Pabrai is a legendary fund manager and author of The Dhando Investor. In one of… Read More »
Genuine Parts Company (GPC) announced last month that it will spin off its business products division, S.P. Richards, and immediately merge the new entity with Essendant (ESND) via the tax efficient Reverse Morris Trust. The deal will allow GPC to more fully focus on its ‘core’ automotive (via NAPA) and industrial products, areas in which it has been… Read More »
Grab your cup of coffee and kick off the week with some Odds and Ends: Late last year, Pfizer (PFE) announced it was considering its ‘options’ for its consumer health division. The early buzz was all about a sale though and the maker of Advil and Centrum has since been running a sales process with a rumored desired… Read More »
Tenneco (TEN) has agreed to purchase Federal Mogul from Carl Icahn for the hefty price of $5.4b. The total tag includes the assumption of debt and a mix of both cash and stock. Mr. Icahn is expected to remain a shareholder of Tenneco into the future and will own approximately 36% of the company. The deal is expected to… Read More »