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....
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...
Read More »
We previously wrote about chatter that Pepsi(PEP) might spin off its Frito-Lay snack division, and Pepsi’s subsequent decision not to. But that was before Relational Partners got involved. The firm disclosed that it had accumulated .6% of the company. The company confirmed that “the company had ‘constructive meetings’ with the hedge fund and called...
Read More »
Spin is not a word you typically want associated with aircraft, but if a report by Reuters is correct, investors in Textron(TXT) may soon own shares in a Bell helicopter or Cessna aircraft spinoff. Citing “sources familiar with the situation”, Reuters says that the company is conducting a strategic review which may result in...
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 situation) to jettison non-core business units...
Read More »
