What does it take to get into Harvard? Around $4, plus commission. Massachusetts-based Harvard Bioscience(HBIO) has long been a leading manufacturer of apparatus and scientific equipment, but, with a market capitalization of just $115 million, it has flown under the radar of many investors. Founded in the basement of Harvard Medical School in 1901 by Dr. William T.… Read More »
Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL (AOL), recently sat down with Business Insider’s Henry Blodget for a little chat and self-congratulations. I think he must have had his arm checked out post-interview after patting himself on the back so much for his performance in unraveling one of the ‘worst mergers in history’. To be fair, Mr. Armstrong certainly deserves… Read More »
Immofinanz(IMMZF) is a large, Vienna-based real estate company you probably haven’t heard of, though it operates on a massive scale. CEO Eduard Zehetner reiterated in a recent interview that the company plans to spin off Buwog, its residential real estate unit, by 2014. Zehetner said the company plans to acquire more German apartments and proceed with a separation… Read More »
Nobody is safe these days from activist investors, not even 100+ year old family businesses. Relational Investors, who successfully pushed for a spinoff at L-3 Communications (LLL), has set its sights on a new target, specialty steel and bearings maker Timken Co. (TKR). The investment firm, headed by Ralph Whitworth, announced in a recent 13D filing that it… Read More »
Elan (ELN) shareholders approved the separation of its drug discovery business, Prothena, at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) last week. The company also released an updated timetable for the transaction and the distribution will take place on December 20th, with shareholders of Elan receiving 1 share of Prothena for every 41 shares of Elan owned as of the… Read More »
Telecom Itailia’s(TI) turbulent flirtation with the spin off of its fixed line assets took another shaky step forward as the company has engaged Morgan Stanley to advise on the process. Telecom Italia would be the first privatized European telecom to take such a step. Most likely the company would take outside investment in the fixed line assets and… Read More »
On Friday, Abbott(ABT) announced the effectiveness of the registration statement for its AbbVie(ABBV) spin. As we discussed previously, Abbott shareholders will get one AbbVie share for each Abbott share that they own. The new shares are to be distributed on January 1. Shares in the new company began trading on a when issued basis today, as did Abbott… Read More »
Discussions of a possible spinoff by Telecom Italia(TI) have been a rocky road with nary a marshmallow in sight. A month ago, Reuters reported the spinoff was ‘stalled’. Egyptian Billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who has proposed injecting $3.9 Billion into the company is opposed to the plan. Sawiris told Reuters he was also opposed to a current plan to… Read More »
Nelson Peltz is a name that comes up not infrequently in the world of spinoffs. We reported in August, that, after protracted discussions, he had gained a board seat at Ingersoll Rand (IR) and was pushing for the company to split into three publicly traded firms. Today, Ingersoll Rand announced that it will be combining its residential and… Read More »
We’ve previously written about Barnes & Noble (BKS) separating its Nook division in preparation for a possible spinoff (here, here, here and here). Spinoff king John Malone has some involvement. We guess what was really missing was for a man with no history as an activist, who has not disclosed any stake in the company, to present some… Read More »
It’s an old story – when will Edward S. Lampert, genius hedge fund manager, finally figure out how to create value out of the cobbled together pile of assets known as Sears Holdings (SHLD)? Recently, Lampert has gone from lackadaisical to peripatetic, spinning off Orchard Supply (OSH), Sears Hometown And Outlets (SHOS), and part of Sears Canada (SCC.TO). … Read More »
You can’t win them all. Activist investor Carl Icahn suffered another defeat yesterday in his war on the Oshkosh Corporation (OSK) as only 22% of shareholders agreed to his tender offer. As you will recall (or if you don’t, check out our earlier pieces here and here), Mr. Icahn wanted the company to spin off its lift equipment… Read More »
It’s not easy being analog in a digital world, just ask Kodak. This is the predicament that Osram finds itself in. With 39,000 employees in 44 plants in 16 countries- but only two plants which manufacture LEDs, no wonder that parent Siemens(SI) was forced to spin the division off when it couldn’t find a buyer. It was announced… Read More »
Cookson Group (CKSNY) shareholders overwhelmingly approved the planned demerger of the company’s performance material division, Alent, at the shareholder meeting earlier this week. What a surprise! The demerger will be effective on December 19th and Cookson shareholders will receive one share of Alent and one share of the newly named Vesuvius for every share of Cookson owned. Both… Read More »
Not too long ago, Treasury Wine Estates(TSRYY) was a subsidiary of Fosters(FGL.AX). Since its own spin, it has been dogged by discussions that it should spin its profitable Penfolds business off as a separate firm. Though Treasury doesn’t break out numbers Speculation about a spin-off was given a boost last week when Macquarie analyst Greg Dring published a… Read More »