Earlier this year Novartis (NVS) CEO Joe Jimenez said the company was considering a sale or a spinoff of Alcon, its surgical equipment and eye care business. The company paid a hefty penny (actually ~$50b worth of pennies) to acquire the business back in 2010, but as with a lot of M&A, things haven’t gone as planned. Many… Read More »
Lets close off the week with some happenings in the world of spinoffs: 1) Spinoffs Are Popular On The Johannesburg Exchange Every so often, a reader writes in to the site to let us know that our international coverage is weak (some use nicer language…others less nice). To which we reply thanks for reading and that volunteers are… Read More »
In this edition, we provide a few updates to some of our recent articles focusing on activist activities: 1) Sachem Head vs. Shire Pharmaceuticals (SHPG) Shire Pharmaceuticals announced this summer that it was considering its ‘strategic options’, including a potential spinoff, for its neuroscience division in order to better focus on its rare diseases business. Unfortunately, the company’s stock has… Read More »
The automotive space is undergoing a tremendous amount of change and the forecast calls for more turbulence. I mean, Google’s Waymo is advertising! It’s been interesting to watch the different approaches taken by the OEMs though. For example, GM (GM) has been very active in both electrification (despite the hype differential its Bolt outsells Tesla’s Model 3) and… Read More »
Tidjane Thiam’s tenure at the top of Credit Suisse (CS) has hardly been a picnic. Big lawsuits, struggling business units and a difficult overhaul has left the stock well below where he inherited it despite strong gains this year. The company is only two years into its grand ‘3 year plan’ which entails cutting costs, reducing the size… Read More »
Way back in 2013, Pfizer (PFE) CEO Ian Read plotted a future course that could have included a spinoff several years down the line. Since then there have been constant rumors and speculations about possible breakups and portfolio changes, but those were ultimately rejected. Last week though, the company shifted gears by formally announcing that it is considering its… Read More »
Delphi Automotive (DLPH) announced it was spinning off its powertrain segment back in May in order to better highlight its burgeoning electronics business. Now the two ‘new’ companies have names and oh boy, they’re ‘good’ ones. Lets start with the electronics business will be called Aptiv and will trade under the ticker ‘APTV’. No, no one is being… Read More »