Well that didn’t take long to get back on track. After shareholders overwhelmingly approved Siemens’ (SI) Osram lighting spinoff, the transaction was quickly derailed by a lawsuit. A small group of shareholders claimed the meeting was invalid due to acoustics issues, a charge which Siemens considered ‘without merit’. A Munich judge agreed with the company and tossed the complaint stating the… Read More »
News of Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management ridding itself of all Kraft related positions turned out to be off…very off. In an amended Q4 13F filing released last week, the hedge fund revealed a large stake of over 19 million shares (a bit more than $600m worth) in Kraft’s international snacks spinoff Mondelez International (MDLZ). There was still… Read More »
When discussing spinoffs, analysts often toss in a comment about how the new slimmed and focused companies will be more attractive acquisition targets. After all, who doesn’t like the idea of a relatively quick exit with a nice premium? Sometimes they are right though and the most recent one to be acquired is Sara Lee spin DE Master… Read More »
In 2007, it was all smiles as Peabody Energy(BTU) spun off Patriot Coal(PCXCQ). But loaded with debt and retiree health and pension obligations, Patriot filed for bankruptcy in July 2012. Now, Patriot and its creditors, led by the United Mine Workers of America, are investigating whether the spinoff was a fraudulent transfer which might give Peabody back the… Read More »
In 2006, Sara Lee, now Hilshire Farm(HSH), loaded up HanesBrands(HBI) with lots of debt and spun it off. Seven years later, after weathering a financial crisis, steadily paying down debt and improving profitability, the company has announced it will pay a quarterly dividend of $.20, beginning in June. The dividend will be paid on June 3, to shareholders… Read More »
We love all our posts equally, really we do. It’s just that some posts are more equal than others. We take a guilty pleasure in writing up nanocap stocks that have decided to pursue a spinoff. While we have seen many nanocaps with value(and we own significant stakes in several), we have yet to see a spinoff in… Read More »
Thanks to several alert readers who point out that, while we were asleep at the wheel, Valero(VLO) announced the final details of its CST Brands spinoff. It was just last week that we reported the company was two steps away. Those steps are now complete. Valero issued a press release on April 4, confirming that it had received… Read More »