Category Archives: Uncategorized

Barron’s: Magazine Spinoff Good For Time Warner, But Stock Price Is Too High Right Now

In June, 2012, Barron’s wrote a favorable article about the prospects of Time Warner(TWX).  A year later, with the stock up 63%, Barron’s revisits, and though it continues to like the company’s prospects, it concludes that the stock has gotten ahead of itself.  Barron’s does believe that the upcoming spin off of Time Warner’s magazine publishing division will… Read More »

Dover Corporation Knowles Best- Knowles To Be Spun Off In 2014

No, Beyonce isn’t pregnant, but there is a new Knowles, well…a Knowles Corporation coming next year following Dover Corporation’s (DOV) announced spin off of its communications technologies business. The new company is ‘expected to be an industry leader’ in acoustic components (ex. MEMs microphones, speakers, receivers and transducers) and communication infrastructure components. According to a company presentation (the one dated May 23rd), on… Read More »

Zoetis, Newly Spun Off From Pfizer, To Join S&P 500

As we have written about previously, Pfizer(PFE), after conducting an IPO of 20% of Zoetis(ZTS) in January, has launched an exchange offer whereby shareholders may elect to exchange their Pfizer shares for Zoetis shares.  The offer is expected to be completed this week, and, as a result, the S&P has decided that it is time for Zoetis to… Read More »

With Shareholder Approval In Tow, News Corp Split On Track For June 28th

A few more milestones have been crossed on News Corp’s (NWSA) path to spinning off its publishing business. This past week, the company received shareholder approval in order to change its certificate of incorporation. The move was necessary in order to facilitate the spinoff of its publishing business, commonly referred to as the new News Corp. A few weeks prior to… Read More »

Orchard Supply Taken Out To The Woodshed- Will Sears Holdings Reap What It Sowed?

Eighteen months after it was spun off from Sears Holdings(SHLD), Orchard Supply Hardware(OSH) announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and had reached an agreement for Lowe’s Companies (LOW) to acquire most of its assets.  We had been bullish on Orchard at the time of the spin. We were wrong. In its press release the company… Read More »

The Economist’s Schumpeter Looks At What Companies Can Do Culturally For Spinoff Success

We often mention how long the spinoff process can take. There are a lot of reasons for that including paperwork, but basically it isn’t easy to carve out a brand new entity. There is a lot of internal work and planning that needs to get done during that period to ensure a smooth transition. Nothing sexy and the… Read More »

Will IRS REIT Review Affect Upcoming Spinoffs?

Delays could be on the horizon for CBS’ (CBS) upcoming North & South American outdoor advertising spinoff. The IRS has apparently formed an ‘internal working group’ to study its current standards of what type of companies can qualify for REIT status. The news came out late last week when both Lamar Advertising (LAMR) and data storage company Equinix Inc… Read More »

A Steal Of A Deal? Dole Takes Another Path: 90 Year Old CEO Murdock Offers To Buy Firm For $12 Per Share

Last May, we wrote about a strategic review at Dole Food Co(DOLE) that we thought might lead to a spinoff. We haven’t followed up until now and there’s been lots of activity, none of it involving a spinoff, culminating in an offer this morning by Chairman and CEO David H. Murdock to purchase the 60% of the company… Read More »

Barron’s: Check Out Crimson Wine…For The Discounts?

Barron’s had a couple of pieces on spinoffs a couple of weeks ago, one of which focused on Leucadia’s (LUK) recent spinoff of the Crimson Wine Group (CWGL), its small winery business. For a ‘refresher’ on the transaction, check out our earlier coverage here and here. The company is listed on the OTC Pink Sheets and currently trading at… Read More »

Pfizer To Uncage Zoetis Stake Via Exchange Offer

Updated 06/04/13 16:43 That didn’t take too long to decide. During its latest conference call, Pfizer (PFE) indicated it was still mulling its options for how to deal with its remaining ~80% stake in Zoetis (ZTS), its former animal-health business whose IPO was earlier this year. The company had been considering a spinoff, but in the end it… Read More »

Ceasars Revving Up The Growth Engine

Ceasars Entertainment (CZR) is certainly getting creative in order to deal with its massive debt pile. As this piece notes, the company has already refinanced some debt, pushed back maturities and even attempted to redefine its leverage ratios. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been enough ‘relief’, so the company’s announced a new plan to issue subscription rights to shareholders. The rights would… Read More »

Covidien Board Approves Mallinckrodt Spin For June 28

Last Friday, Covidien (COV) announced that its Board Of Directors had given final approval for its long-planned spinoff of Mallinckrodt. Shareholders of record of Covidien as of June 19 will receive one share of Mallinckrodt (MNK) on June 28 for every eight shares of Covidien that they own. The company expects that both Covidien and Mallinckrodt will begin… Read More »

Dean Foods Sets Distribution Ratio For WhiteWave Spinoff, Will Exit S&P 500

In October, when Dean Foods(DF) sold a stake in WhiteWave(WWAV) in an IPO, the company disclosed that it planned to spin off its remaining stake. Six months later, the company has set Thursday, May 23 as the distribution date for most of that stake.  For each share of Dean Foods they own, shareholders will receive 0.25544448 shares of… Read More »

Newcastle Completes Spin of New Residential Investment Corp

Newcastle Investment Corp (NCT) recently completed the spinoff of New Residential Investment Corp (NRZ) on May 15th. The spinoff, first announced in January, created two separate REITs, with NRZ focused on the residential side and NCT playing in the commercial space. More specifically, NCT invests in two areas: Real Estate & Other Debt and Senior Housing (literally housing… Read More »