Author Archives: Inelegant Investor
Cree(CREE), a leader in LED lighting also has a North Carolina-based Power & RF business which has no overlap with the core business. In May, the company announced that it planned an IPO of the Power & RF business, and that it had filed with the SEC towards that goal. The company plans to sell a minority stake… Read More »
Verizon(VZ) is a proto-spinoff. At its core rest two of the original baby bells, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, although it didn’t take on the Verizon moniker until after its merger with GTE(as part of that merger, GTE spun off Genuity). Verizon later purchased other spinoff related companies such as Alltel, which had spun off its wireline business into… Read More »
Just two months after its spinoff from Baxter International(BAX), as it continues to reject acquisition interest from Shire(SHPG), Baxalta(BXLT) is in talks to acquire Ariad Pharmaceuticals(ARIA). Ariad jumped 42% on the news last Friday, valuing the oncology company at nearly $2 billion. What is driving this potential acquisition? Is it the “Promise of the Baxalta Spark“? Perhaps it’s… Read More »
Abbott Labs(ABT), which spun off AbbVie(ABBV) in one of the largest spinoffs in recent years, is preparing to make a $25 billion bid for St. Jude Medical(STJ) according to a report in the Financial Times. Abbott and St Jude, which is based in St Paul, Minnesota, already have a strong alliance in the field of cardiovascular devices, and… Read More »
Yahoo(YHOO) investors may be learning a costly lesson in the dangers of tax efficiency. Under pressure from investors to maximize the value of its Alibaba(BABA) stake, the company unveiled a plan to spin off the stake, with a small business unit, as Aabaco Holdings. The spinoff was intended to avoid paying $12 billion in taxes. For months, however… Read More »
The Summer of Spin kicked off a little over one month ago, but already one of the spinoffs might be acquired. Shire(SHPG) unveiled an offer to acquire last month’s Baxter International (BAX) spinoff, Baxalta(BXLT). According to the release, Shire contacted Baxalta in early July- immediately after the spinoff, met briefly on July 10, but Baxalta has not seriously considered… Read More »
More spins mean more work for the folks at S&P Dow Jones Indices. With the completion of Barnes & Noble’s(BKS) spin of Barnes & Noble Education(BNED) this weekend, Barnes & Noble Education will join its parent in the S&P SmallCap 600, replacing A.M. Castle & Co(CAS). The change will maintain the index’s current ampersand level. With the completion… Read More »
More Summer Of Spin action as Lumentum and Viavi step into the light. A decade after shedding the unwieldy JDS Uniphase(JDSU) name for the alphabet soup JDSU, the former dotcom bubble will say goodbye to this name as well as it splits into Lumentum Holdings and Viavi Solutions this weekend. The stock, which traded at over $1000 in… Read More »
As it continues along its primrose path to irrelevancy, Barnes & Noble(BKS) will complete its long-discussed spinoff of Barnes & Noble Education this weekend. Though the company had formerly combined its NOOK with the College business, it opted, in the end, to retain the NOOK business, and just hired Fred Argir to lead that business. It should be… Read More »
Following in the time honored tradition of Yellow Pages locksmiths, Yahoo(YHOO) has opted to name its upcoming spinoff Aabaco Holdings. Perhaps if they stick enough A’s in the name, they can get tax free status for the spin. Though no uplifting corporate message was given for the name, which presumably rhymes with tobacco, it appears to be a… Read More »
With all the spinoff excitement, Forbes looks ahead at the next brands that might be granted independence by their corporate overlords. Ebay(EBAY)’s StubHub. StubHub dominates live event ticket reselling. On the heels of a successful spinoff of PayPal, perhaps Ebay will go back to the well and spin off StubHub. Time Warner(TWX)’s HBO. Time Warner is no stranger… Read More »
A year after its spinoff from National Oilwell Varco (NOV), NOW Inc.(DNOW) continues to roll up distributors with the acquisition of Odessa Pumps, its eighth acquisition since the spin. Robert Workman, President and CEO of NOW Inc., commented, “The addition of Odessa Pumps and Equipment not only offers DistributionNOW the ability to expand our products and services offerings… Read More »
The drama surrounding Yahoo(YHOO)’s proposed spinoff of its Alibaba(BABA) stake continues. Though the company has said it is pushing forward and is optimistic, Barron’s reports that Morgan Stanley feels a 0% probability of the deal is priced in at the current stock price. The sentiment on the stock is now as if they’ll never make the spin happen,… Read More »
With $6 billion in cash burning a hole in its wallet, PayPal(PYPL) will not slow its aggressive acquisition program after its purchase of Xoom(XOOM). Dan Schulman, who will be CEO of PayPal following its July 17 spinoff from Ebay(EBAY), told the Financial Times that acquisitions would be a priority, as PayPal uses the $6bn war chest that is… Read More »
Amidst this great Summer Of Spin, what are the best prospects? According to Forbes’ Antoine Gara, who has also noted the flurry of spinoffs: PayPal and Baxalta(BXLT). About PayPal: PayPal is a leader in online payments, with high margins and strong revenue growth. It could prove valuable to tech giants like Google, Apple, Microsoftand Facebook, who are all toying… Read More »