IDT (IDT) is a serial spinner. Over the life of this blog alone the telecommunications company helmed by former hot dog stand operator/current billionaire Howard Jonas has spun off oil & gas assets (Genie Energy, GNE), ringtones (Zedge, ZDGE) and intellectual property/spectrum assets (Straight Path Communications). Quite an odd assortment of assets for a telecom company, but it… Read More »
Maybe at Alice’s Restaurant you can get anything you want, but Arlo only makes security cameras. The buisness, which Netgear(NTGR) launched in 2014, had revenue last year of $378 million, compared to $1.03 billion for the rest of the company. This was double Arlo’s 2016 revenue, while the rest of the company is flat. Netgear management, wishing to take… Read More »
Hedge funds get rich using OPM (other people’s money) so why not use OPW (other people’s work) to generate some ideas? Might be helpful if volatility is back… Clark Street Value takes a look at two upcoming real estate related spinoffs. The first is Spirit Realty Capital’s (SRC) upcoming ‘bad asset’ portfolio spinoff. It will consist of properties… Read More »
Even before Time Warner(TWX) spun it off in June 2014, Meredith(MDP) was in talks trying to effect a Reverse Morris Trust transaction. Over the subsequent years, Time repeatedly was the subject of buyout discussion, and Meredith was always in the mix. Well after five years, Meredith finally got its prize. On January 31, Meredith closed its $2.8 billion… Read More »
Boats, billiard tables and fitness equipment. Three years after the sale of its iconic bowling business, Brunswick(BC) continues to house a diverse and unconnected set of products. When a company is in such disparate businesses, it is only a matter of time before an activist investor comes along, urging a spinoff. That day arrived for Brunswick last week,… Read More »
It’s a new year (relatively speaking at this point) and some readers are likely evaluating their investment strategies for 2018. If you can stomach a healthy dose of volatility then Mohnish Pabrai has just the thing for you – a concentrated portfolio of spinoffs! For those wondering, Mr. Pabrai founded both the Dhando Fund and Pabrai Investment Funds… Read More »
One year after its Chapter 11 filing and a decade after a private equity buyout, Avaya(AVYA) is, once again, a public company. The company had declared bankruptcy beset by $6.3 Billion in debt and mounting losses. In December, it completed its restructuring and began trading OTC. In January, less than a month later, Avaya stock gained a listing… Read More »
Last week, we noted a few examples of the ‘ugly spinoff’ phenomenon where really ugly looking spinoffs end up performing really well. These businesses often have dim growth prospects, low margins and are often initially larded up with debt or other legacy problems. Despite those challenges, the ‘bad business’ stocks often do well as the companies finally have… Read More »
It’s that time of year again where thanks to sites like Market Folly we mere mortals get to enjoy the vast wisdom contained in hedge fund year end letters. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital is always a good one to read although this past year was a challenging one for the value investor. The fund returned <2% in 2017… Read More »
Lets keep the momentum going and take a look at what is going on in the world of spinoffs: Blackhawk Networks (HAWK), a 2014 spinoff from Safeway (which has since been acquired), is being acquired by private equity firms Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners for $3.5b or $45.25 per share. P2 Capital is already a shareholder with… Read More »
It was just one year ago when Biogen(BIIB) spun off hemophilia and blood disorder specialist Bioverativ(BIVV). With the stock trading in the 40s post-spin, we highlighted some disparate analyst opinions of the spin. The most bullish, Gabelli & Company, has a price target of $58 for Bioverativ stock. This past Friday, Bioverativ stock closed at $64.11, above Gabelli’s… Read More »
Jack In The Box (JACK) will sell Qdoba, its Mexican themed restaurant brand, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $305m cash. JACK actually acquired Qdoba for $45m back in 2003, so the company was able to do some nice things with it over the years. Unfortunately, the brand has struggled to grow recently and same store… Read More »
Delphi Automotive’s (DLPH) board of directors formally approved the spinoff of its powertrain business earlier this month and set today, December 4th as the distribution date. Shareholders as of November 22nd will receive 1 share of the new Delphi Technologies for every 3 shares of Delphi Automotive currently owned. Immediately after the spin, the parent company will rename… Read More »
Investors are taking gun and ammo manufacturer Vista Outdoor(VSTO) out back and shooting it. Vista stock, which was above $50 in July 2016, was down nearly 30% last week after an awful earnings report, and now trades just over $14. The company, which was spun off in 2015 by Alliance Techsystems as part of its Morris Trust merger… Read More »
Lets take a look at some recent spinoff news from the large asset manager: 1) Horizon Kinetics Likes Conduent (CNDT) At the very end of 2016, Xerox (XRX) spun off its business process outsourcing unit Conduent. After an initial dip, shares have recovered, but overall, the stock has mostly been flat since the spinoff. That isn’t a terrible outcome… Read More »