Farewell Foodservice! Manitowoc’s (MTW) board of directors formally approved the spinoff of Manitowoc Foodservice, its foodservice equipment segment, last week. The new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker ‘MFS’ and on March 4th, shareholders will receive one share of MFS for every MTW share owned. A ‘When-Issued’ market is expected to begin on or around February… Read More »
In the middle of 2014, Relational Investors was busy notching another activist victory, this time at Timken (TKR), while also building up the case on its newest target, The Manitowoc Company (MTW). In short, the firm argued that a foodservice business selling machinery to restaurants didn’t have any reason to be paired with a crane equipment business. As… 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 »
‘Resistance is futile’ – The Borg Star Trek fans will no doubt recognize the famed motto of those nasty, robotic, intergalactic conquerors hell-bent on assimilation. What they won’t know is that the phrase is also rumored to be frequently muttered at company board meetings after Ralph Whitworth’s Relational Investors announces a stake. The activist firm has been quite a… Read More »
Take an activist investor, mix in a large, underperforming corporation with numerous business lines and you have all of the ingredients for a spin. Right? Well, roughly a year ago, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) began a process of ‘exploring options’ for its industrial packaging unit as part of its grand five year plan to improve operating performance and… Read More »
Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been going through quite the transformation over the past year or so after being egged on by activist investor Ralph Whitworth. The company sold a 51% stake in its decorative surfaces division last year and last week it announced that it was ‘exploring strategic alternatives’ for its industrial packing unit. This seems to fit… 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 »
In what appears to be another ‘win’ for activist investors, defense contractor L-3 Communications (LLL) announced that it will spin out its government services business in the first half of 2012. The company faced pressure from Ralph Whitworth’s Relational Investors (who are also involved in the ITT [ITT] situation) to jettison non-core business units in order to improve… Read More »