Author Archives: Inelegant Investor
It’s been a rough year for Akzo Nobel(AKZOY). First, Elliott Management got involved. The activist fund was pushing for a breakup of the Dutch chemicals company. However, when US rival PPG(PPG) showed up with an offer to buy the whole company, Elliott began pushing the offer over management’s resistance. AkzoNobel was successfully able to leverage Dutch protectionism to… Read More »
We don’t know much about the lithium space, but we know that if you want to understand it and get great analysis of the players involved, there is no better place than The Lithium Spot. So we asked them if they could share some thoughts with our readers about FMC Corporation’s plans to spin off its lithium business.… Read More »
Four months after its failed sale process, Time Warner(TWX) spinoff Time, Inc.(TIME) is pursuing the part of its strategy described as “selective portfolio rationalization”. Bloomberg reports that CEO Rich Battista stated in an interview that these “wonderful brands” need a new home so that Time can invest elsewhere. In the interview, Battista called the three publications “wonderful brands”… Read More »
It looks like Rich Battista will get his chance to dilate Time,Inc.(TIME) after all. After months of speculation and talks, beginning just after he began as CEO last fall, Time announced on Friday that its Board had determined not to sell the company at this time and to instead continue pursuing Battista’s strategic plan. What is the key… Read More »
Time, Inc.’s(TIME) brief interlude as a public company following its 2014 spinoff from Time Warner(TWX) appears to be coming to a close. Rumors about Meredith(MDP) interest in some or all of Time have been rampant for years. Speculation that a sale was near increased dramatically with reports last November that a group led by Edgar Bronfman, Jr. had… Read More »
In discussing what became Tronc’s(TRNC) failed bid for Us Weekly, we mentioned that LA billionaire and Tronc Vice Chairman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong was not being renominated to Tronc’s Board. At the time we speculated as to why this was and whether it signified a rift between former allies Soon-Shiong and Tronc Chairman Michael Ferro, Jr. Subsequent event have… Read More »
In the nine years after since a scuttled $6.4 billion acquisition by private equity firm Blackstone, Alliance Data Systems(ADS) has done well, with a current market capitalization of $13.5 billion. The company has attracted the interest of ValueAct Capital which has acquired a 10.5% stake. In an amended 13D filed with the SEC on Monday, ValueAct disclosed that… Read More »
Last month, we reported that Macy’s(M) outgoing CEO Terry Lundgren was working to head off a proxy fight with Jeff Smith’s Starboard Value. Lundgren was said to be looking to Hudson’s Bay Company(HBAYF) as a white knight under renewed pressure from Starboard to spin off or otherwise monetize its real estate. A month later, Hudson’s Bay is out… Read More »
There are worse names in the spinoff world, but Edgewell Personal Care(EPC) is a fairly bad one. Made worse, no doubt, by the company’s tortured explanation of its deep meaning. Edgewell, which owns such personal care brands as Schick, Skintimate, Hawaiian Tropic, and Playtex, spun off Energizer Holdings(ENR) in July 2015. Edgewell stock has underperformed since, recently down 20% from… Read More »
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 »