Month: June 2016

Rio Tinto Reorganizes- Is It Preparing For A Spinoff?

Rio Tinto (RIO) and its new CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques are shaking things up. The mining behemoth unveiled a brand new organizational structure along with a set of new executives to drive the company forward during a difficult period. The company will now have four product groups and coincidentally a whole bunch of ‘non core’ assets ended up grouped together… Read More »

SuperValu’s Save-A-Lot Spinoff To Cost-Shareholders-A-Lot

Supermarket operator SuperValu (SVU) revealed some new details this week about the potential spinoff of its discount operator Save-A-Lot in an amendment to its initial Form 10 filing. The big news is that instead of a tax free spinoff of ~80% of the company, shareholders will only receive 60% of the company and as a result, the spinoff will be… Read More »

Baupost’s Seth Klarman Thinks Spinoffs Are ‘An Interesting Place To Look’

Marketfolly recently posted a talk with The Baupost Group’s Seth Klarman from 2009, which some may remember as quite an interesting time in the markets. Mr. Klarman is considered one of the ‘great’ value investors and his words and writings are devoured by both aspiring and professional investors alike. The talk hits on a number of interesting areas (and… Read More »

IRS’ New Rules Slam Door On REIT Spinoff Loophole

Given their increased popularity and media coverage, spinoffs have recently received a lot of attention from regulatory bodies such as the IRS. In fact, one of the under reported items coming out of last year’s budget battle was Congress taking a stand against non-real estate companies spinning off REITs. Essentially, the bill requires a spinoff to wait 10… Read More »

Hertz’s HERC-ulean Spinoff Set For June 30

After years of accounting related delays and management changes, Hertz’s (HTZ) spinoff of its equipment rental business, Herc Holdings, has finally been approved by the company’s board of directors. The mechanics and distribution ratios of the transaction are a bit kooky due to Hertz’s complex corporate structure: Stockholders of record as of the close of business on the record… Read More »

Zedge Drops Late On First Day Of Trading After Spinoff Completion Creating Attractive Opportunity

Yesterday, Zedge(ZDGE) completed its spinoff from IDT(IDT). The press release is short on details, focusing on the usual boundless optimism associated with a new spinoff. Tom Arnoy, co-founder and CEO of Zedge, said, “Since our inception, we have been focused on developing an exceptional service that enables Zedgers to express their identity, feelings, tastes and interests on their… Read More »

Heartbreakup Hotel- Hilton Will Split Into Three Publicly Traded Companies Later This Year

Hilton Worldwide Holdings(HLT) announced this morning that it has filed Form 10 registration statements for two previously announced spinoffs of its real estate and timeshare businesses.  CEO Christopher J. Nassetta said the spins will be completed later this year. Following the transactions, Nassetta will continue to lead Hilton, which will be an asset-lite fee-based business. On a pro forma… Read More »

Eric Schmidt: “[Alphabet Breakup is] about as unlikely as anything I imagine”

Eric Schmidt has a message for investors who think that Google’s shift to the Alphabet(GOOG) holding company structure and businesses increasingly far afield from search indicate a future breakup- don’t hold your breath. Schmidt, Alphabet’s Executive Chairman, spoke on the topic last week. When asked during Bloomberg’s Breakaway Summit on Wednesday whether the multifaceted company with a plethora… Read More »