Time for a little housecleaning as we catch up on some old news regarding a few potential spins which ended up as sales instead. Can’t win them all. Loral Space & Communications (LORL) had long talked about spinning off its Space Systems/Loral (SSL) unit to shareholders, but instead sold the division to MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates (TSX:MDA) for $875m. The… Read More »
It only took about a year since the idea was first publicly floated, but Kraft Food’s (KFT) board of directors formally approved the spinoff of its North American grocery business last week. The tax-free spin is expected to be completed after the close on October 1st and shareholders of KFT will receive 1 share of the new Kraft Foods… Read More »
It’s tough to be a CEO or board member these days. It used to be so easy, but now those pesky shareholders cause too many headaches. ‘Say on Pay’? What? Do they think they own the company or something? The only thing worse are those so called ‘activist’ shareholders, pushing to create ‘value’ or profits in their pockets.… Read More »
Some companies just can’t stop maneuvering. Less than a year after being spun out of IDT (IDT), Genie Energy (GNE) announced that it is launching an exchange offer for up to 8.75m of its common shares. Before digging into the offer, it is worth familiarizing oneself with some background information on the operations. For a fuller description check… Read More »
With spinoffs ‘hot’ right now, there is plenty of speculation as to what the next one will be. The Motley Fool’s Michael Lewis recently offered his opinion, suggesting that DirectTV (DTV) spin off its Latin American operations from its slower growth US business. The idea is that the Latin American markets are showing higher subscriber growth, the pay-TV… Read More »
It can be tough to stay on top of spinoff related news due to the time lag between announcement and completion. Months can often pass before new, useful information is released leading to lost interest. That must explain the lack of reader feedback on Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (ORSCY) planned separation of its construction business from its fertilizer… Read More »
Tough times for Genworth Financial (GNW) shareholders. The name was one of the worst performing stocks in Q2 and unfortunately Q3 might not be much better. The name was punished again, down over 9% at some points, after several disappointing comments made by acting CEO Martin Klein during Tuesday’s Q2 earnings call. Mr. Klein noted that a spinoff… Read More »
While releasing its Q2 earnings, Valero Energy (VLO) also dropped news of its plans to separate retail unit. While Valero is best known for its refining business, the company also operates over 6,000 retail and branded wholesale outlets. According to CapIQ, for the FYE 2011 the retail segment generated $11.7b of revenues and $381m of EBIT, small potatoes… Read More »
It’s always sad for us here when a spinoff is cancelled, but those situations are often worth filing away as there is always the chance that the situation gets revived. The market could be better, certain hurdles cleared, you never know. The latest example is IDT’s (IDT) recent announcement that it is resurrecting its plans to spin off its patent… Read More »
The board of directors at L-3 Communications Holdings (LLL) recently approved the spinoff of the majority of its government services business, Engility. The spin is expected to take place on July 17th and shareholders as of July 16th will receive one share of Engility for every 6 shares of LLL owned. Given that L-3 currently has ~97.5m shares… Read More »
While individuals don’t have to worry about month or quarter end performance, it can be interesting to see which sectors or individual stocks have been performing exceptionally well or particularly poorly. It is even more interesting to us here when spinoff related names reside within those ‘best’ or ‘worst’ lists such as this past Q2 when spinoff related… Read More »
After days of speculation, and months of internal debate, News Corp(NWSA) announced yesterday that it will spin off its newspaper and publishing business. The company aims to complete the transaction in the first half of 2013. Rupert Murdoch will remain Chairman of both companies and CEO of the media and entertainment business. Each company will continue to have… Read More »
What is your dream job? A lot of great options to choose from, but personally I have always imagined being a member of a company’s board of directors to be a pretty cushy gig. Jet around, fancy dinners, high salaries and all for a few meetings per year that you can apparently skip if you are Leon Black.… Read More »
Sara Lee (SLE) has been very busy recently putting the finishing touches on the upcoming spinoff of its international coffee and tea business, D.E. Master Blenders International 1753. While it was not a surprise decision, the company’s board of directors recently formally approved the spinoff clearing another hurdle to completion. The transaction is a bit more complicated than usual… Read More »
No, Emeril is not in the kitchen, but BAM (Brookfield Asset Management) is certainly spicing things up with the spinoff of its commercial real estate holdings. The new company, Brookfield Property Partners, is expected to include almost all of BAM’s commercial properties including its stakes in Brookfield Office Properties, General Growth Properties [GGP] (and related spins) and the… Read More »