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 »
Every year Barron’s gathers a group of asset management luminaries for a roundtable discussion. The group collectively manages many many billions of dollars and includes people like Jeffrey Gundlach, Mario Gabelli and Meryl Witmer. While the discourse includes a bit about the overall macro environment, the focus is mainly on each individual’s top investments for the coming year.… Read More »
Last March, we reported that CBS(CBS) was considering ‘strategic options’ for its radio business. After it was unable to find a buyer, the company moved forward with plans for an IPO and spinoff of CBS Radio. Today, the company again announced a change of plans. Instead of an IPO, the company will be spun off and immediately merge… Read More »
On February 1, Biogen(BIIB) completed the spinoff of its Hemophilia business, Bioverativ(BIVV). Biogen shareholders woke up on February 2 to find one share of Bioverativ in their portfolio for every two shares of Biogen that they had owned. Biogen has had a tumultuous year, with the departure of its longtime CEO George Scangos in January amidst stalling sales. Xconomy’s… Read More »
In June 2015, when we wrote about Graham Holdings(GHC) spinning off Katherine Graham’s “best acquisition ever”, we noted that Cable One(CABO), then trading at $430, would make an interesting acquisition target as one of the few smaller independent public companies. Instead, Cable One, now trading at $639, is purchasing a smaller competitor, NewWave Communications, for $735 million in… Read More »
A few links to close out a busy month: The WSJ notes that since the spinoff of PayPal (PYPL), EBay’s (EBAY) post-earnings stock price volatility has increased dramatically. Prior to last week’s announcement, the name had moved double digit percentages in four of the previous five announcements – that is some serious movement. As possible reasons, the article… Read More »
After a bit of a delay and 17 years after it was spun off from Varian Associates, Varian Medical Systems (VAR) finally completed the spinoff of its imaging component business, Varex Imaging (VREX). Shareholders yesterday should have received 0.4 VREX shares for every one VAR share owned, so one needed to have owned at least 3 VAR shares in order… Read More »