For followers of John Malone and his family of companies, frequent restructurings are nothing new. And he continues to provide special situation investors plenty to do. On the heels of the announced Starz spin, Liberty Interactive executed a previously announced splitoff of the company into new tracking stocks Liberty Interactive (LINTA) and Liberty Ventures (LVNTA). Since the company is remaining one… Read More »
Back in January, we reported that Comverse Technology(CMVT) would be spinning off subsidiary Comverse, Inc., leaving the parent with majority ownership of Verint(VRNT), as well as Starhome, a private company. We speculated at the time that the company would then follow up by distributing its Verint shares and winding down the holding company. Today, it was announced that… Read More »
What do you do when your drug discovery costs swamp your profits from a successful marketed drug. If you’re Elan Corporation(ELN), you spin off your drug discovery business with a bundle of cash, keeping your marketed drugs and late stage pipeline. Elan, an Irish biotech firm, is driven largely by Tysabri,a multiple sclerosis drug marketed with Biogen Idec(BIIB).… Read More »
Carl Icahn is not a patient man, but he also doesn’t easily give up. Throughout his storied career, he has profited from forcing companies to make tough decisions to unlock value. Icahn, who owns 9.64% of Oshkosh Corporation(OSK), lost a bruising proxy battle for six seats in January. At the time he had urged the company to reverse… Read More »
In the largest one day gain on a spinoff announcement we can recall, Dean Foods(DF) jumped over 40% yesterday after announcing it would be spinning off its WhiteWave-Aplro business. The Wall Street Journal reports that this is due to excitement about the company’s smaller organic business “which accounts for less than a fifth of group sales, but 40%… Read More »
Long time stock columnist Gene Marcial(now of Forbes) thinks McGraw-Hill(MHP) is “the new and potentially robust growth- and-value stock play, as it gets closer to splitting up into two companies“. Marcial says that the stock , which has risen from $34 last August to over $49, may have more room to go up in the next year. Some bulls… Read More »
Some companies just can’t stop maneuvering. Less than a year after being spun out of IDT (IDT), Genie Energy (GNE) announced that it is launching an exchange offer for up to 8.75m of its common shares. Before digging into the offer, it is worth familiarizing oneself with some background information on the operations. For a fuller description check… Read More »
John Malone is at it again. Liberty Media Company(LMCA), a former tracking stock that was spun out from his core Liberty Interactive(LINTA), will be spinning off its Starz subsidiary. The Starz spinoff will contain the operating assets of Liberty Media, including the Starz and Encore premium cable networks. Liberty Media’s assets after the spin will primarily be its… Read More »
After the close this afternoon, together with reporting its earnings, Dean Foods(DF) announced it would conduct an IPO for part of its WhiteWave-Alpro division, and subsequently distribute the rest to its shareholders. We have not yet read through the S-1 filing, which can be found here. From the earnings release, we learn: Separately, Dean Foods announced today that… Read More »
There are many hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, and zoetic is not one of the more common. The word, meaning “of or relating to life”, is the inspiration for Zoetis, the new name for Pfizer’s (PFE) soon to be independent Animal Health business. After over a year of speculation as to how Pfizer would… Read More »
With spinoffs ‘hot’ right now, there is plenty of speculation as to what the next one will be. The Motley Fool’s Michael Lewis recently offered his opinion, suggesting that DirectTV (DTV) spin off its Latin American operations from its slower growth US business. The idea is that the Latin American markets are showing higher subscriber growth, the pay-TV… Read More »
Rejoice, oh lovers of oddly named companies. Prepare, chronic mis-pronouncers. The North American Grocery business of the crafty Kraft(KFT) will be spun off and trade under the new ticker KRFT. The stub will be renamed Mondelez(this rhymes with Oh Puhhleez) International, despite our valiant efforts to stop this awful name, and trade under the ticker MDLZ. Speaking of… Read More »
Remember dial up internet? Remember Juno and NetZero? United Online(UNTD) owns both brands and continues to generate cash flow from its legacy dial up business, though it continues to decline. The company has used this cash to pay a nearly 10% dividend, and to diversify its revenue stream by acquiring other businesses. Yesterday, United decided it was time… Read More »
It can be tough to stay on top of spinoff related news due to the time lag between announcement and completion. Months can often pass before new, useful information is released leading to lost interest. That must explain the lack of reader feedback on Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (ORSCY) planned separation of its construction business from its fertilizer… Read More »
Tough times for Genworth Financial (GNW) shareholders. The name was one of the worst performing stocks in Q2 and unfortunately Q3 might not be much better. The name was punished again, down over 9% at some points, after several disappointing comments made by acting CEO Martin Klein during Tuesday’s Q2 earnings call. Mr. Klein noted that a spinoff… Read More »