Let’s kickoff the week with a few links: Yet Another Value Blog takes a look at the Liberty Braves Group (BATRA/BATRK) and sees some nice upside potential. Apparently, he also notes, so does Gabelli. It’s a good piece and among other things, includes a long section (which I tend to agree with) on why sports teams are undervalued. In… Read More »
Following the lead of many of its peers, Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) announced that it would spin off its timeshare business into a standalone entity. The new timeshare company will become the largest timeshare company in the world (at least by revenues – $3.4b) and include both Wyndham Vacation Ownership and RCI, a timeshare exchange program. The hotel company generated… Read More »
After a long gestational period, MetLife (MET) finally completed the spinoff of its life insurance & annuity business, Brighthouse Financial (BHF) this week. MetLife shareholders as of July 19th should have received 1 share of BHF for every 11 MET shares owned. Brighthouse trades on the NASDAQ and was also added to the S&P 500 Index, replacing auto dealer… Read More »
Privately held Donuts Inc is acquiring Rightside Group (NAME) for $10.60 per share or approximately $213m in cash. With the deal signed, the company will now control top level domains such as ‘.sale’ and ‘.dance’ in addition to its portfolio of names like ‘.movie’ and ‘.group’. Personally, I am puzzled that a company named Donuts has nothing to do… Read More »
It’s Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend which means it’s a perfect time for some Spinoff Odds & Ends: Thanks to Paul Singer’s Elliott Advisors there is a lot of drama swirling around BHP Billiton (BHP) (we will get to that shortly hopefully), but Bloomberg’s Gadfly checks in South32 (SOUHY), the mining giant’s 2015 spinoff. That mishmash of unloved… Read More »
Even once a spinoff is announced it’s not a given that it will be completed. Things change – the company can change its mind, a buyer could emerge and so on and so forth. It’s really not surprising to see a bunch of sales in an environment of rich valuations. Although we try our best to stay on… Read More »
Although Valvoline’s (VVV) IPO was last September, it was still majority owned by its parent company, Ashland Global Holdings (ASH). Not anymore though. The specialty chemical manufacturer completed Step 2 of its Valvoline spinoff on May 12th by distributing its remaining stake in the company to shareholders. Ashland shareholders as of May 5th, should have received 2.745338 shares of Valvoline… Read More »
TEGNA’s (TGNA) Board of Directors officially approved the spinoff of Cars.com and expects the transaction to be completed on May 31st. TEGNA shareholders as of May 18th should receive 1 share of the new company for every 3 TGNA shares owned. Cars.com is expected to trade on the NYSE under the ticker ‘CARS’, which I think we can… Read More »
In case you haven’t noticed, the automotive space is undergoing a few changes. New players are muscling in and the entire supply chain – from the OEMs all the way down to the Tier 3s – are under siege. As a result, everyone is scrambling to secure their part in the automobile of the future which many expect… Read More »
If there is a big corporate trend, you can bet that high priced consultants were behind the idea or have since hopped on board offering advice on how to do it better. As spinoffs have become more popular, BCG has penned a number of articles on spinoffs and corporate divestitures. Their most recent piece notes that although spinoffs… Read More »
With oil prices remaining in the doldrums, what are oil & gas companies supposed to do to keep share prices up? Some companies have been pursuing asset sales while others are actually expanding into ‘hot’ shale geographies. Investors in PetroChina (PTR), China’s largest oil & gas company, aren’t focused on M&A to boost the struggling company though. Instead… Read More »
Spinoffs: Once you start, you just can’t stop. Roughly a year after breaking the famed Hewlett Packard into two pieces, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO Meg Whitman is at it again. This time the structure is a bit more complex than a straight spinoff though. It’s our old friend, the Reverse Morris Trust transaction. Real veteran stuff. On… Read More »
It’s hump day. Here are some links to help you get through it: Marketfolly published some notes on a panel titled ‘The Future of Shareholder Activism’ at the Reuters Live Newsmaker Event. The panel featured some currently ‘active’ managers including ValueAct’s Jeffrey Ubben, Mantle Ridge’s Paul Hilal, Blackrock’s Zach Oleksiuk and Cadwalader’s Richard Brand (lawyer). Mr. Ubben has been… Read More »
This site is approaching its seventh birthday and over the years a number of sectors have featured prominently on these pages. Energy. Media. A smattering of REITs, restaurants and conglomerates. Retail is one sector though that, excluding Sears (SHLD and ugh) hasn’t seen all that much activity so it was exciting to see a rumor pop up yesterday.… Read More »
When it comes to spinoffs, once it’s announced, most investors just focus on when it’s done. Maybe there a few people who eagerly await the Form 10 filings or delight at mocking a new company name, but really it’s about the closing. Of course, someone actually has to go about the unheralded business of making sure the new… Read More »