Author Archives: Inelegant Investor
Two years after successfully fending off legendary activist Carl Icahn and his plan to break up the company, some think that Oshkosh Corp(OSK) management may be planning a spinoff of its own. Maureen Farrell of the Wall Street Journal reports on a recent note by CreditSights analyst Jeff Wichmann. Wichmann suggested that Oshkosh may be considering a spinoff… Read More »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvUVDTgPoI The dramatic explosion of Orbital Sciences'(ORB) Antares rocket on October 28 delayed a planned merger with Alliant Techsystems(ATK), but it will not derail it. Last April, Alliant announced it would spin off its sporting goods business and subsequently merge its defense business with Orbital. The sporting goods business will be known as Vista Outdoor,Inc. As might be… Read More »
After 31 rounds, the FCC’s AWS-3 auction has reached $36 Billion in bids. This has pushed up the value of Dish Network’s(DISH) shares, as the company already owns spectrum that, in the eyes of some analysts, is more valuable than what is currently being auctioned. In addition, TMF Associates identifies Dish as a major bidder in the current… Read More »
Late last month, Procter & Gamble(PG) announced that it would be divesting its Duracell business. At the time, its preferred outcome was to spin off the division to shareholders. The second step is the exit of the Duracell business. Although no decision has been made on the form of the exit, P&G’s current preference is a split-off of… Read More »
A subclass of spinoff that has proven popular, especially under activist pressure has been the spinoff of real estate assets into a publicly traded REIT. Civeo’s (CVEO) spin from Oil States (OIS) was one example, though the company has now opted against REIT status, as was Penn National Gaming’s (PENN) spin of Gaming & Leisure Properties (GLPI). Now,… Read More »
We wrote last week about Madison Square Garden Company’s(MSG) plan to explore a spinoff of its sports and entertainment business. The company is in the early stages of planning this transaction and there still remain many unanswered questions. Capital New York reports that CEO Tad Smith confirmed on last Friday’s earnings conference call that the company has not… Read More »
The Dolan family is at it again. Perhaps inspired by the master of the spinoff, fellow cable mogul John Malone, 2010 Cablevision(CVC) spinoff The Madison Square Garden Company(MSG) has announced that it is exploring spinning off its Media and Sports business from its Live Entertainment business. The company’s Board Of Directors unanimously approved the plan to explore the… Read More »
Lexology has a nice overview of tax inversions and the government response to them. Of particular note to us was one practice Treasury has sought to end, known as “spinversions”: No Spinversions. The U.S. entity would not be allowed to transfer its assets to its current foreign subsidiaries and then spin off those subsidiaries to its public shareholders… Read More »
Last month, Compuware(CPWR) agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. As part of the deal, Compuware committed to divest all shares of Covisint(COVS) that it retained after conducting an IPO within 60 days. Well within its window, Compuware announced on Friday that it would be distributing the shares at the end of the month. Compuware… Read More »
Only a few scant months ago, Civeo (CVEO) was born, spun out of Oil States International (OIS) after activist pressure from Jana Partners and David Einhorn. The plan was for the workforce accommodations firm to convert to a REIT, as we described in this May post: Looking ahead, Civeo is studying the possible conversion to REIT status however,… Read More »
We first discussed the idea that Ebay(EBAY) might spin off PayPal nearly four years ago, on October 28, 2010. More recently, the company and CEO John Donahoe repeatedly resisted withering attacks from legendary activist investor Carl Icahn, who began pushing for the spinoff early this year. Today, the company has reversed course, and announced that it will spin… Read More »
The Financial Times reports that Anglo American(AAUKY) has significant assets it would like to divest, CEO Mark Cutifani feels the company can do better by selling off assets piecemeal than by following in the path of BHP Billiton(BHP) and spinning them off to shareholders. But Mr Cutifani said the “portfolio work” at Anglo would entail a number of… Read More »
Less than a week after the completion of an exchange offer that fully separated it from former parent CBS (CBS), and its subsequent conversion to REIT status, CBS Outdoor (CBSO) has announced a major acquisition which will grow the company’s footprint significantly. The company will be purchasing approximately 1100 billboards from Van Wagner Communications, LLC for $690 million in… Read More »
You may not know Masco (MAS) but they’re in your bathroom, they’re in your kitchen, they’re even in and on your walls. With brands such as Delta faucets, Behr paints, KraftMaid cabinets, and one of the largest installers of insulation products, Masco grossed $8.2 billion in revenue in last year, down from a 2006 peak of $12.7 billion.… Read More »
Last month, we wrote about speculation that B/E Aerospace(BEAV) might result in the spinoff of assets. Today, the company announced that it will indeed split into two independent companies, one focused on Manufacturing, and one on Services. The company expects the spin off to occur in the first quarter of 2015. The co-CEO’s statement in support of the… Read More »