Harris’ (HRS) announced acquisition of smaller defense player Exelis (XLS) last week means that another spinoff has been scooped up and taken off the market, this time just a few years after achieving independence. Exelis is a unique example though as it was spun out of ITT (ITT) as part of a mega-spinoff that saw the creation of not… Read More »
Alliance Techsystems (ATK) is set to complete its merger with Orbital Sciences (ORB) today and just prior to the combination, the company will spinoff its outdoor sports segment, Vista Outdoors, in a tax free transaction. The new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker ‘VSTO’ and ATK shareholders will receive 2 share of VSTO for every… Read More »
Last November, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) spun off its California oil & gas holdings into a standalone company, the California Resources Corporation (CRC). Lets just say the new entity faced a lot of headwinds, but one thing few predicted was the coming plunge in oil prices. As a result, CRC has had a rough go of it on its own… Read More »
During a pair of special meetings, shareholders at both Alliance Techsystems (ATK) and Orbital Sciences (ORB) overwhelmingly approved their proposed merger. Nearly 100% of votes cast were in favor and hey, why should a rocket explosion spoil a good deal? Orbital shareholders will receive 0.449 shares of ATK common stock for each ORB share owned, effectively giving Orbital shareholders… Read More »
After months of sustained pressure, Yahoo (YHOO) finally unveiled plans to spinoff its stake in Alibaba (BABA) last week during its earnings call. A spinoff was chosen for its tax efficiency and in order to accomplish that goal, the company said that a small operating unit would need to be included as part of the transaction. At the time,… Read More »
Less than seven years after turning itself into a more diversified conglomerate with the purchase of Enodis, Manitowoc (MTW) reversed course and announced that it would separate its foodservice business from its crane equipment unit. The move comes after severe pressure from several activist investors, beginning with Relational Investors last summer and more recently from Carl Icahn who seemed… Read More »
Janney analyst Mark Kalikowsky is quite bullish on Taco Bell and recently raised his same store estimates for Taco Bell by four (4) percentage points. More interesting for us here is the fact that Mr. Kalikowsky also reiterated his thoughts that the chain should be spun off from its more globally focused parent, Yum Brands (YUM), which itself… Read More »
Ever since Alibaba’s (BABA) wildly successful IPO, investors have been wondering what Yahoo (YHOO) had in mind for its roughly $40 billion minority stake in the company. A sale would generate a lot of cash for the company, but also bring a monstrous $16 billion tax bill with it such as when the company unloaded shares during the… Read More »
Catching up on some news from the end of last year, TriMas Corporation (TRS) announced plans to spinoff its Cequent segments, which provide custom-engineered towing, trailer and cargo management products, into a standalone company. Post-spinoff, TriMas will be a more focused, diversified engineered products company. Love seeing the phrases ‘more focused’ and ‘diversified’ being used together like that, but… Read More »
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) completed the spinoff of its strip mall business, Urban Edge Properties, after the close yesterday. As a reminder, Vornado shareholders should have received 1 share of Urban Edge for every 2 shares of VNO owned. Vornado is currently a member of the S&P 500 index and will remain so post spinoff. Urban Edge, which… Read More »
Every venture capitalist and investor has heard one of these classic, hype-inducing pitch lines before: This is the next (insert name of successful company) We are the (insert name of successful company) of (different industry) Well, if you are selling burritos, then it’s all about being the next Chipotle (CMG). That was the buzz surrounding the 2012 Fiesta… Read More »
Analysts at Goldman Sachs (GS) made waves last week suggesting that megabank JP Morgan (JPM) break itself up in response to the heavy capital restrictions imposed on the bank by the Fed.The WSJ’s Heard On The Street column thinks it’s a good idea, just tossed at the wrong bank. Instead of the House of Dimon, the WSJ thinks… Read More »
It’s amazing how much stuff gets done on December 23rd because no one wants to work during the holidays. That includes corporate boards, such as the one at Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) which approved the spinoff of the majority of its retail strip malls, Urban Edge Properties. The distribution is expected to take place on January 15th to… Read More »
Some activist funds like to work behind the scenes and then there are the others which seem to be in the news almost every day. A day after making waves at Yahoo (YHOO), Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund was back in the news after long time target MeadWestvaco (MWV) announced plans to spin off its specialty chemical business… Read More »
A team of Goldman analysts led by Richard Ramsden raised quite the storm earlier this week by releasing a 20 page research note suggesting that JP Morgan (JPM), one of the world’s largest banks, should break itself up. Apparently the bank is a victim of its own success (isn’t that just the best kind of victomhood?) and has… Read More »