Month: January 2018

It’s Back! Grandbaby Bell Avaya Returns To Public Markets After Emerging From Bankruptcy

One year after its Chapter 11 filing and a decade after a private equity buyout, Avaya(AVYA) is, once again, a public company. The company had declared bankruptcy beset by $6.3 Billion in debt and mounting losses. In December, it completed its restructuring and began trading OTC.  In January, less than a month later, Avaya stock gained a listing… Read More »

An Ignoble Spinoff- Noble’s Insolvent Spinoff No Paragon Of Virtue

Last week, we noted a few examples of the ‘ugly spinoff’ phenomenon where really ugly looking spinoffs end up performing really well. These businesses often have dim growth prospects, low margins and are often initially larded up with debt or other legacy problems. Despite those challenges, the ‘bad business’ stocks often do well as the companies finally have… Read More »

David Einhorn Gives The Greenlight To Spins- Uniper, Chemours, Consol Energy, Brighthouse

It’s that time of year again where thanks to sites like Market Folly we mere mortals get to enjoy the vast wisdom contained in hedge fund year end letters. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital is always a good one to read although this past year was a challenging one for the value investor. The fund returned <2% in 2017… Read More »

Spinoff Odds & Ends: Blackhawk UP(and out), Swedish Spinoff- Getinje Arjo

Lets keep the momentum going and take a look at what is going on in the world of spinoffs: Blackhawk Networks (HAWK), a 2014 spinoff from Safeway (which has since been acquired), is being acquired by private equity firms Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners for $3.5b or $45.25 per share. P2 Capital is already a shareholder with… Read More »

Bioverativ(BIVV) To Be Acquired By Sanofi(SNY) At Huge 64% Premium

It was just one year ago when Biogen(BIIB) spun off hemophilia and blood disorder specialist Bioverativ(BIVV). With the stock trading in the 40s post-spin, we highlighted some disparate analyst opinions of the spin. The most bullish, Gabelli & Company, has a price target of $58 for Bioverativ stock.  This past Friday, Bioverativ stock closed at $64.11, above Gabelli’s… Read More »