Immediately after closing the sale of Red Lobster to Golden Gate Capital, Darden (DRI) began begging for forgiveness from its spurned activist shareholders. CEO Clarence Otis got sacrificed at the altar resigned and the company announced that it would let Starboard nominate three members to its board who would run unopposed. Starboard was not satisfied with this offer though and… Read More »
Supposedly addicts make great repeat customers, but unfortunately for Reckitt Benckiser (OTC:RBGLY), they (or at least insurers and pharmacies) are quite price sensitive. That seems to be one of the underlying reasons behind the consumer brand giant’s recent announcement of plans to spin off its pharmaceuticals business. The majority of the units’ $1.3b in revenues come from sales of… Read More »
GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) CEO Sir Andrew Witty recently sat down with the Financial Times and the discussion included some talk about the future of its consumer health business. Although Mr. Witty mentioned that he is open to the idea of a spinoff at some point, the company was not currently pursuing the idea. There has been some spinoff speculation… Read More »
With the $2.1b sale of Red Lobster to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital all wrapped up, the battle for Darden (DRI) has officially entered the next phase. For a quick and abridged refresher on the situation, the ailing restaurant company was recently assailed by two activist firms pushing for numerous changes including a spinoff of its slower growing restaurants, Red Lobster… Read More »
In this issue of the Index Change roundup, Noble Corporation’s (NE) upcoming standard spec rig spinoff, Paragon Offshore, will be added to the S&P Smallcap 600. Noble will remain in the big boy S&P 500 index so there is the possibility of forced selling in this case. As a result of the transaction, Paragon will boot #600 ranked… Read More »
Tribune (TRBAA) is all set to spin off its publishing assets, Tribune Publishing, after the company’s board of director’s formally approved the move a few weeks ago. The spinoff is set to take place on August 4th to shareholders as of July 28th. The new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker ‘TPUB’ and both Tribune shareholders and warrant… Read More »
Less than a week after the completion of an exchange offer that fully separated it from former parent CBS (CBS), and its subsequent conversion to REIT status, CBS Outdoor (CBSO) has announced a major acquisition which will grow the company’s footprint significantly. The company will be purchasing approximately 1100 billboards from Van Wagner Communications, LLC for $690 million in… Read More »
Titans of the hedge fund industry, including John Paulson, Carl Icahn, Nelson Peltz (and many more), gathered at the Pierre Hotel this past Wednesday for CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference. There was a lot of Fed talk (Stanley Druckenmiller is not a fan), musings on the economy and of course, the proverbial ‘talking up the book’. It took a… Read More »
August’s spinoff calendar keeps getting busier. Demand Media (DMD) recently announced that its board of directors has approved the spinoff of its domain name business, Rightside Group. The distribution will take place on August 1st, to shareholders as of July 25th. A ‘When Issued’ market will also emerge on or about the 25th. The new company will trade… Read More »
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) is making progress on its upcoming California asset spinco. The company recently began filling out the leadership team at California Resources Company and it’s worth noting that it turned to company veterans to fill the top posts. Todd Stevens, currently VP of Corporate Development, will become President and CEO and William Albrecht, President of the company’s… Read More »
Noble Corporation’s (NE) board of directors approved the spinoff of its standard spec drilling units, Paragon Offshore. The distribution is expected to take place on August 1st, which is just a few months after the company decided to scrap its plans to IPO the unit. Impressive turnaround on Plan B. The new company will trade on the NYSE… Read More »
Just a few days before officially notching a victory at Timken (TKR), Relational Investors unveiled its latest target: The Manitowoc Company (MTW). The activist firm announced that it had acquired over 8.5% of the historic manufacturer of ice machines and crane equipment and urged the company to consider a spinoff of its foodservice business. The company operates under two business segments, foodservice and… Read More »
REITs have been extremely popular investments over the past few years as investors desperately thirst for yield. Not surprisingly, the space has attracted the interest of some ‘non traditional’ companies including data storage titan Iron Mountain (IRM), whose board of directors just approved REIT conversion plans following a favorable IRS ruling. Some other ‘non traditional’ companies, such as billboard… Read More »
The end of June is shaping up to be another busy period in the spinoff world. That means S&P has also been very busy rejiggering its indexes in order to accommodate the new companies. Here is a roundup of the recent activity: 1) Rayonier (RYN) completed the spinoff of its advanced materials company, Rayonier Advanced Materials, on Friday.… Read More »
You may not know Masco (MAS) but they’re in your bathroom, they’re in your kitchen, they’re even in and on your walls. With brands such as Delta faucets, Behr paints, KraftMaid cabinets, and one of the largest installers of insulation products, Masco grossed $8.2 billion in revenue in last year, down from a 2006 peak of $12.7 billion.… Read More »