Columbia Business School publishes an investment newsletter featuring ideas from students and interviews with asset managers. The Winter 2017 edition of the aptly titled Graham and Doddsville was just published and it features a conversation with the managers (incidentally both alums) of Kingstown Capital, a value oriented, special situations focused fund. The interview includes the G&D standard ‘how did you… Read More »
New York, New York. It’s a tune Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) shareholders should get used to humming once the company’s upcoming Washington DC property spinoff is completed. The spinoff will actually be executed via Reverse Morris Trust, with the company spinning out its properties into a separate entity and subsequently merging them into the privately held JBG Properties.… Read More »
Reckitt Benckiser (RBGLY) surprised the markets last week with its $16.6b (or $90 per share) bid for Enfamil maker and 2009 Bristol-Myers Squibb split off Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN). Reckitt is known for owning a hodgepodge of ‘Powerbrands’ such as Lysol, Finish, Durex and Clearasil in the Health, Hygiene and Home sectors so it wasn’t really considered much of a… Read More »
2016 was a busy year for MetLife (MET). Outside of their normal operations, the mammoth insurance company won a huge lawsuit versus the US Government avoiding the dreaded ‘systemically important’ designation. They fired Snoopy and in related news to this site, the company announced the spinoff of part of its retail operations into a standalone entity. The new company… Read More »
Swedish oil company Lundin Petroleum (LUPEY) has today announced its intention to spin off all of its international operations and focus solely on Norway. Lundin shareholders will receive 1 share in a new entity called International Petroleum Corp (IPC) for every 3 shares currently owned. IPC will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker IPCO… Read More »
La Quinta Holdings(LQ) announced last month that it “is pursuing the separation of its businesses into two stand-alone publicly traded companies, which could involve spinning off our owned real estate assets as a separate company.” La Quinta further stated “There is no assurance that the separation of the Company’s business will occur. ” CEO Keith Cline waxed on… Read More »
The good news for Biostage(BSTG) shareholders is that the company is not quite dead yet. With cash set to run out in the second quarter and several quarters away from early stage clinical trials for its esophageal implant , Biostage stock has been swiftly moving downward. From over $2 per share last May, to over $0.70 at Wednesday’s… Read More »
What’s that? Not familiar with Cementos Pacasmayo(CPAC)? That’s ok, neither were we, until we came across it during a late night googling session. All of the slides below are taken from the Cementos Pacasmayo’s investor presentation. Cementos Pacasmayo is the dominant cement company in Northern Peru. Spinoff of Fosfatos del Pacifico In partnership with a subsidiary of Mitsubishi,… Read More »
Horizon Kinetics is an asset management and research shop founded by Peter Doyle, Steven Bregman and Murray Stahl that has been analyzing spinoffs (and plenty of other things) for decades. Over the years, I’ve always enjoyed the various opportunities I’ve had to hear them speak. The firm even publishes a standalone research report dedicated to spinoffs and has… Read More »
Humans are nothing if not pattern recognition machines. Even in random data, we see patterns. So Bloomberg’s report that Jorge Paulo Lemann’s 3G is expected by some to be ready to do another large deal is no surprise. Never mind that the supposition is based on a mere two data points: two years separated 3G’s 2013 acquisition of… Read More »
Teva Pharmaceuticals(TEVA), the world’s largest producer of generic drugs, is in turmoil. Last week, the company lost a key patent ruling regarding its blockbuster drug, Copaxone. Copaxone, which can maintain remission for multiple sclerosis patients, accounts for one-fifth of Teva’s revenue. The introduction of generic competition, which now seems likely, will result in a major drop in revenue… Read More »
Last week, Biogen(BIIB) completed its spinoff of Bioverativ(BIVV). The Bioverativ spinoff included Biogen’s hemophilia assets and a $325 million pile of cash. What remains at Biogen is, depending on who you listen to, either poised for great growth, or struggling with it. Barrons reports on two analysts with positive views on Biogen: RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee… Read More »
Despite our new President publicly pledging his support for the coal industry, Consol Energy (CNX) is still looking at ways to fully shed its exposure to the commodity. The company sold off a number of its mines in 2016 and the only thing keeping it from being a pureplay E&P entity is its Pennsylvania mining interests. In its… Read More »
Bioverativ(BIVV), a drug company focused on hemophilia and other blood disorders, was spun off by Biogen(BIIB) last week. Gabelli & Co initiated Bivoerativ stock as a buy with a value of $58, citing the company’s strong balance sheet(no debt, $325 million in cash), its limited exposure to Medicare, its potential to benefit from corporate tax reform, and its… Read More »
As we discussed back in November 2015, Starboard Value Partners, led by the brash Jeffrey Smith, had acquired a stake in Macy’s(M) and pushed for a spinoff of the real estate into a REIT(Real Estate Investment Trust). Now, with the stock down 60% from Starboard’s purchase price and longtime Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren stepping down, the plan may… Read More »