Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sunoco Looks To Finish SunCoke Separation

After successfully completing an IPO this past July, Sunoco (SUN) announced that it is ready to move on to the second stage of its planned spinoff of SunCoke Energy (SXC). On January 17th, 2012 Sunoco will issue a special stock dividend distributing its remaining ~81% stake in SunCoke to shareholders as of January 5th. SUN shareholders will receive… Read More »

Ring In The New Year With WPX Energy

New Year’s Eve is one of those ‘big events’ that rarely lives up to its hype and often ends up pretty anti-climactic. Doesn’t bode well for this ensemble flick(actually, I am sure it will suck for a host of other reasons). The board of directors at Williams Companies (WMB) believes they have found the solution for a great… Read More »

Matson To Sail Free From Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin(ALEX) announced plans this morningto spin off Matson, its ocean transportation and domestic logistics company.  Alexander & Baldwin, which has owned Matson since 1969, is the 4th largest private landowner in Hawaii, where it owns 88,000 acres.  A & B is the largest farmer in the state, a developer of condos and other projects, and owns… Read More »

AMR Bankruptcy Clips Eagle’s Wings

Another day, another spin goes by the wayside. The big news yesterday was the AMR Corporation (AMR and parent corporation of American Airlines) filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in what will be the second largest airline bankruptcy since 1980. A lot has been written about this situation already, but it is worth mentioning here because the company’s planned… Read More »

Marriott Vacations Worldwide No Longer Sharing Time With Marriott International

  Marriott Vacations Worldwide(VAC) which we discussed previously, has now completed its spinoff.  Timeshares are a challenging industry; they sell a product that many buyers seem unhappy with. Goldman Sachs started the company with a Neutral rating, and in the current economic environment is likely to be challenging for the new company. The former parent, Marriott International(MAR), has… Read More »

Medtronic And Others Think Twice Before Spinning

Spinoffs take a lot of time. It really isn’t so surprising considering the plethora of regulatory and logistical issues that arise from splitting up a business. While often overlooked as one time charges, companies spend millions upon millions planning and executing these transactions. As a result, at least 6 months usually pass between the date of announcement and… Read More »

State Street In The Crosshairs

Why not catch up on some news while we await word of the potential ‘spinoff’ of countries from the Euro Zone? Activist investors have recently notched a number of wins by getting companies to agree to break up (McGraw-Hill, L-3 etc.) in order to generate shareholder value. I am sure they also don’t mind the boost in their… Read More »

No Vacation Club At Marriott International

After a busy Halloween, it is time to look ahead to the next spinoff opportunities.  Luckily we won’t have to wait long as Marriott International’s (MAR) board of directors recently approved the spinoff of its vacation club, Marriott Vacations Worldwide. The distribution is expected to take place on November 21st (to shareholders as of Nov 10th) and shareholders… Read More »

Much Ado Abbott Nothing

Abbott Laboratories(ABT) is joining the parade and splitting itself into two.  Like many other recent spinners, Abbott is a spinoff veteran, having spun off Hospira(HSP) in 2004.  Though at times, even recently, Hospira has traded much higher, on the whole, returns for the two pieces 7 years later have been unimpressive.  Hospira is now barely up 10%, and… Read More »

Xylem, ITT Spinoff, To Join S&P 500

ITT’s(ITT) long awaited spinoffs, Xylem(XYL) and Exelis (XLS) are set to be distributed to shareholders on 10/31.  Standard & Poor has announced that Xylem will take ITT’s place in the S&P 500 index.  Both Exelis and ITT will join the S&P MidCap 400, replacing Eastman Kodak(EK) and Kindred Healthcare(KND).  Lumos Holdings, being spun out of NTELOS(NTLS) on the… Read More »

To Wire Or Not Wire – That Is Ntelos’ Question

Avoid trading on certain days? Superstitious at all? Management at Ntelos Holding (NTLS) certainly are not as the company plans on separating its wireline and wireless businesses this coming Halloween (October 31st). Maybe it was just time to close the transaction after first announcing it last December. For those who are unclear about the differences between the two… Read More »

Genie Energy To Be Unleashed Soon

Late October is shaping up to be a pretty busy period for spinoffs and one of the many expected separations will be IDT Corporation’s (IDT) spinoff of Genie Energy. Please read our earlier post about the spin here, but as a quick refresher, the plan is to spin out IDT’s energy assets from its telecommunications business. Yes, IDT… Read More »

Mega-Deal With Kinder Morgan Likely Ends El Paso Spin

The big news this morning is Kinder Morgan Inc’s (KMI) $20+b cash and stock deal to acquire El Paso Corp (EP) in a bid to become the largest natural gas pipeline operator in the US. The price represents a hefty ~37% premium to El Paso’s recent close. As a refresher, Kinder Morgan was taken private in a mega… Read More »

Conoco Details Its Spin

While speaking at a recent Barclay’s Energy Conference, ConocoPhillips (COP) CEO Jim Mulva provided an update on the company’s broad strategic repositioning plan including some additional details on its upcoming spinoff (see our earlier article on the spin here). The plan is to create a pure-play E&P company (retaining the Conoco name) along with a new downstream company.… Read More »

Tyco Does It Again

In stark contrast to the American people’s  growing heft, American conglomerates appear to be on a steady diet, often slimming down via spinoffs. Break up expert and Swiss-conglomerate Tyco International (TYC) is the latest fad follower as the company announced plans to split itself into three separate companies. The new businesses will be: ADT North America (residential security):… Read More »