It would be unfair and inaccurate to blame all of Hewlett Packard’s(HPQ) problems on Carly Fiorina. After all, her successor as chairwoman, Patty Dunn resigned after presiding over illegal spying on Board members and journalists. Mark Hurd, CEO at that time, later resigned amidst allegations of improper payments to a contractor with whom he had a personal relationship.… Read More »
It looks a bidding war has emerged for Starwood Hotels (HOT), with three Chinese players and Hyatt Hotels (H) all chasing the well respected hospitality brand. Kudos to those i-bankers for drumming up the interest, especially given the fact that the Chinese government rarely lets its corporate citizens get into bidding wars. While M&A is always exciting to… Read More »
A few small hits for a tough New York Thursday (at least for us Mets fans): Era Group (ERA), the helicopter focused spinoff from Seacor (CKH), got hit hard this week on news that Petrobras (PBR) was dropping its helicopter transport services. With falling oil prices and the company under intense scrutiny amidst a seemingly ever growing corruption scandal,… Read More »
For most Americans months away from their 80th birthday, life has long since settled into a post-retirement routine. For Carl Icahn, who will turn 80 in February, he’s just getting started, going after larger targets than ever. Last week, Icahn announced he was forming a Super PAC with $150 million of his own money to promote legislation to… Read More »
Though its stock price is still languishing at $13.17, below its initial post-spinoff price, Barron’s thinks Barnes & Noble Education(BNED) could be worth $25. Barron’s notes that Alex Fuhrman of Craig-Hallum Capital Group feels similarly. “It’s an attractive business with high barriers to entry because of the physical presence on college campuses and an early movement into the… Read More »
After successfully tossing out the entire board of directors at Darden (DRI) last year, Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund quickly moved on executing its agenda. After all, a dominating win like that sort of gives one that kind of mandate. One of the first moves was eliminating the ‘interim’ tag from CEO Gene Lee. Next came the expected… Read More »
A few short hits to kick off a new week: Yum! Brands (YUM) decided to spin off its China business and shareholders have generally reacted pretty favorably. The WSJ walks through the potential value propositions of both companies, but one class of investors is decidedly less excited about the move: bondholders. Barron’s points out that the new parent… Read More »
What a difference a week makes. Last week we reported that Valeant(VRX) was considering spinning off its Neuro drugs. Now, in the face of mounting conerns about its relationship with specialty pharmacies including Philidor, the company assures us that everything is ok. On a conference call this morning, CEO J. Michael Pearson told a questioner that the Neuro spin… Read More »
We failed to note it at the time, but on October 1, Blackstone(BX) completed the spinoff of several advisory businesses which combined with PJT Capital to form PJT Partners(PJT). Blackstone unit holders received one PJT share for every forty units of Blackstone held. The spinoff was structured to be tax free to unit holders. PJT Partners begins operations… Read More »
About two months ago we noted that McDonald’s(MCD) was under pressure to spin off its real estate holdings into a REIT. According to a recent interview with board member Miles White, the company has been evaluating what to do with its real estate for some time and a decision will be made shortly, possibly as soon as November’s Investor… Read More »
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Exterran Holdings (EXH) seems to have taken that motto to heart and is expected to finally complete the spinoff of its international services and global fabrications business on November 3rd. The company had been forced to delay its spinoff plans earlier this year due to a failed notes offering in… Read More »
The Federal Reserve formally approved Synchrony Financial’s (SYF) application to become a publicly traded savings & loan holding company. The approval is a key regulatory milestone for the company and its completion will pave the way for GE (GE) to finish separating the business via exchange offer. As its recent earnings report highlighted, GE has shifted its focus… Read More »
It’s been a rough road for Yahoo(YHOO)’s planned spinoff of its Alibaba(BABA) stake into Aabaco Holdings. After months of sniping with the IRS, culminating with the agency’s refusal to issue a private letter ruling, the company decided to move ahead anyway without the ruling and rely instead on the opinion of counsel. The company backed a Q4 date… Read More »
Amidst a brutal environment for IPOs, Fiat Chrysler’s(FCAU) IPO of 10% of Ferrari(RACE) seems to have bucked the trend. The IPO priced at $52, at the top of the $48 to $52 range, in the face of strong demand. At this price, Ferrari will have a market capitalization of nearly $10 billion. With a small float of just… Read More »
Sometimes there is just no stopping an idea full of momentum. After years of a spinoff idea being tossed around and pushed by all parts of Wall Street (sell side and buy side), Yum! Brands (YUM) has finally decided to pull the trigger and will spin off its China business into a standalone entity. While resistance appeared to… Read More »