Author Archives: Inelegant Investor
Quick updates on two situations we wrote about with a spin and its former parent. Last week we reported that Tronc(TRNC) was close to a deal to buy Us Weekly for over $100 million. Tronc, formerly Tribune Publishing, is a spinoff of Tribune Media(TRCO). This week, reports indicate that Tronc’s discussions with Wenner Media over Us Weekly have… Read More »
Citrix Systems(CTXS) stock rose 6.8% yesterday, almost all towards the end of trading, as rumors circulated that the company had hired Goldman Sachs to find a buyer. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to sound out buyers including private equity firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t… Read More »
Last Friday we wrote about Tronc(TRNC), the company formerly known as Tribune Publishing. Catching up on our reading, we came across a bullish piece from last week’s Barron’s on Tronc’s former parent, Tribune Media(TRCO). Despite a 30% increase in the last month, in part on speculation of a sale of the company, Barron’s continues to see significant upside… Read More »
Somehow, we never got around to talking about one of the worst names for a spinoff that we can recall. Of course, we are talking about tronc(TRNC). Tribune Media(TRCO) spun it off as Tribune Publishing, but, after Michael Ferro took over, it changed its name to tronc, which sounds like the name of a reptilian villain that… Read More »
Time, Inc.(TIME) CEO Rich Battista has big plans for the transformation of the venerable magazine publisher, but it is doubtful that he will be given the time to execute on them. Battista became CEO late last year, replacing Joe Ripp, who had led the company since its 2014 spinoff from Time Warner(TWX). Rich Battista, the new chief executive… Read More »
Following its spin off from Biogen(BIIB) in January, Bioverativ(BIVV) had merely four Directors- CEO John Cox and three independent Directors. This represented an unusually small Board for a company with a market cap of over $5 billion, and it was probably inevitable that the Board would grow. Last week, Bioverativ added a fifth director, Anna Protopapas. Ms. Protopapas… Read More »
JDS Uniphase,(JDSU) Dot Com Boom And Bust Survivor: What Happened to it? Many investors still wonder what happened to JDS Uniphase after the dot-com boom. The once high-flying fiber optics stock was broken up into Viavi and Lumentum, and the story didn’t stop there. Here’s how the pieces fit together today. Judging by search queries and questions that… Read More »
Even before Biogen(BIIB) completed its spinoff of Bioverativ(BIVV), ValueAct Capital began buying “when-issued” stock in the new company. The hedge fund has continued to buy both stock and forward contracts and has now accumulated a 7.1% position in Bioverativ. The shares were purchased at between $40 and $45 per share. As Bioverativ stock has now risen above $50,… Read More »
In April 2016, Community Health Systems(CYH) spun off Quorum Health Corp(QHC). Quorum borrowed $1.2 billion and paid it as a dividend to Community Health prior to the spinoff, a large sum considering Quorum’s current market cap of $245 million, down precipitously from its debut, but more than double its November lows. Reuters reports that hedge fund Q Investments… Read More »
Nelson Peltz is legendary for successfully pushing for structural change at large companies. This has often resulted in spinoffs of disparate divisions. Last week, Peltz’s investment vehicle, Trian Fund Management, disclosed a $3.5 billion stake in Procter & Gamble(PG). Peltz steps into the shoes of Bill Ackman, who several years ago took an activist position in P&G, only… Read More »
La Quinta Holdings(LQ) announced last month that it “is pursuing the separation of its businesses into two stand-alone publicly traded companies, which could involve spinning off our owned real estate assets as a separate company.” La Quinta further stated “There is no assurance that the separation of the Company’s business will occur. ” CEO Keith Cline waxed on… Read More »
The good news for Biostage(BSTG) shareholders is that the company is not quite dead yet. With cash set to run out in the second quarter and several quarters away from early stage clinical trials for its esophageal implant , Biostage stock has been swiftly moving downward. From over $2 per share last May, to over $0.70 at Wednesday’s… Read More »
What’s that? Not familiar with Cementos Pacasmayo(CPAC)? That’s ok, neither were we, until we came across it during a late night googling session. All of the slides below are taken from the Cementos Pacasmayo’s investor presentation. Cementos Pacasmayo is the dominant cement company in Northern Peru. Spinoff of Fosfatos del Pacifico In partnership with a subsidiary of Mitsubishi,… Read More »
Humans are nothing if not pattern recognition machines. Even in random data, we see patterns. So Bloomberg’s report that Jorge Paulo Lemann’s 3G is expected by some to be ready to do another large deal is no surprise. Never mind that the supposition is based on a mere two data points: two years separated 3G’s 2013 acquisition of… Read More »
Teva Pharmaceuticals(TEVA), the world’s largest producer of generic drugs, is in turmoil. Last week, the company lost a key patent ruling regarding its blockbuster drug, Copaxone. Copaxone, which can maintain remission for multiple sclerosis patients, accounts for one-fifth of Teva’s revenue. The introduction of generic competition, which now seems likely, will result in a major drop in revenue… Read More »