We first discussed the idea that Ebay(EBAY) might spin off PayPal nearly four years ago, on October 28, 2010. More recently, the company and CEO John Donahoe repeatedly resisted withering attacks from legendary activist investor Carl Icahn, who began pushing for the spinoff early this year. Today, the company has reversed course, and announced that it will spin… Read More »
Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is poised to complete the spinoff of its dealer services business, CDK Global, on September 30th with ADP shareholders receiving 1 share of CDK for every 3 shares of ADP owned. ADP is currently an S&P 500 index constituent and will remain so following the distribution. CDK Global, which will trade under the ticker ‘CDK’,… Read More »
B/E Aerospace (BEAV) appears to be making significant progress on the upcoming spinoff of its consumables management segment, KLX inc. The company recently filed an initial Form 10 and while I haven’t had a chance to read through the entire document, it seems like the ‘Energy Technical Services’ segment is going to be a bigger focus for the… Read More »
While catching up on some older items in my news feed, I came across a couple of pieces from Tsachy Mishal’s Capital Observer blog about 2013 Leucadia (LUK) spinoff Crimson Wine Group (CWGL). Mr. Mishal is a bullish Crimson shareholder and actually attended the company’s Annual Meeting in Napa. Boy, it must feel great to expense that trip… Read More »
ADP (ADP) will spin off its dealer services business, CDK Global, on September 30th to shareholders as of September 24th. The new company will trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker ‘CDK’ and ADP shareholders will receive 1 share of ‘CDK’ for every 3 ADP shares owned. The dealer services business is ‘the largest global provider…of integrated information technology… Read More »
The Financial Times reports that Anglo American(AAUKY) has significant assets it would like to divest, CEO Mark Cutifani feels the company can do better by selling off assets piecemeal than by following in the path of BHP Billiton(BHP) and spinning them off to shareholders. But Mr Cutifani said the “portfolio work” at Anglo would entail a number of… Read More »
Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO recently unveiled a shareholder proposal that it sent to National Fuel Gas’ (NFG) management for consideration at its 2015 Annual Meeting. The firm wants NFG to hire an investment bank to explore the spinoff of its utility business, leaving the remaining parent company more focused on its E&P and pipeline units. The rationale is that a… Read More »
One of the big M&A stories of the summer was Rupert Murdoch-led 21st Century Fox’s (FOXA) unsolicited ~$80b bid for Time Warner (TWX). The deal would have created a media behemoth, but after facing resistance from Time Warner and shareholders, Fox yielded (for now) and announced a big buyback instead. A couple important items emerged from all of the… Read More »
A few months ago we highlighted a bid by private equity giant KKR for Foster’s spinoff Treasury Wine Estates (TWE.AX). The A$4.70 per share bid represented a nice premium (at the time) for the struggling spirits company which remains in the middle of a turnaround plan by new CEO Michael Clarke. The company wasn’t too enamored with the offer… Read More »
Dotcom darling (and subsequent flameout) JDS Uniphase (JDSU) announced plans to spinoff its Communications and Commercial Optical Products (‘CCOP’) segment into a standalone company. The move will create two companies: An optical components and commercial lasers company (“CCOP”) consisting of JDSU’s current Communications and Commercial Optical Products segment. The CCOP company, with its long-standing reputation for optical innovation… Read More »
Rumor (according to Bloomberg) is that Visteon (VC) is considering a breakup into two companies, with one entity focused on its electronics unit and the other on its climate business. The move shows just how far Visteon, itself a spinoff from Ford Motor (F) back in 2000, has come since seeking bankruptcy protection just five years ago. As part… Read More »
Exelis’ (XLS) board of directors recently approved the spinoff of its mission systems business, Vectrus and rumor is that Exelis’s parent company, ITT (ITT), is excited about becoming a grandparent despite the rather creative name choice. The spinoff will take place on September 27th to shareholders as of September 18th and the new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker… Read More »
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 »