The question of whether to exchange their GE(GE) stock to receive Synchrony Financial(SYF) at a 7% discount is a question weighing heavily on the minds of many GE shareholders. One investor decided to Ask Matt what to do. Who is Matt? Apparently, Matt is “USA TODAY markets reporter Matt Krantz [who] answers a different reader question every weekday.”… Read More »
It may be the world’s premier luxury brand. Ferrari(RACE) manufactured just 7,255 cars last year, part of its strategy to keep supply below the level of demand. The recent IPO of 10% of Ferrari’s shares by Fiat Chrysler(FCAU) followed the same model, making available only a small number of shares. Barron’s notes that the company’s valuation is unjustified.… Read More »
Mario Gabelli has often made money off of spinoffs. Now he’s executing one. Gabelli, the CEO and controlling shareholder of GAMCO Investors(GBL), will be spinning off the company’s alternative investment management business and some assorted assets as Associated Capital Group. At 11:59PM on November 19, GAMCO shareholders as of November 12 will receive one Associated Capital Group Class… Read More »
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NOC) is feeling pretty good right now after having just won a massive contract for the new long range bomber. The company is also in the process of restructuring its organization by cutting its operating groups from 4 to 3, one of which will be called Technology Services. The move led to suspicion that… Read More »
While Yahoo(YHOO) still persists in its hope that its spinoff of Aabaco Holdings and its Alibaba(BABA) stake will be tax free, one analyst believes that investors have not been properly evaluating the worst case. Bob Peck of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey believes that taxes may be as high as 65% of the Alibaba stake’s value. Why does he believe that?… Read More »
As is often the case, this week’s spinoffs have implications for market indexes. First, Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) will be replaced by BlackRock(BLK) in the S&P 100. Hewlett-Packard will be changing its name to HP and spinning off Hewlett Packard Enterprise(HPE). Hewlett Packard Enterprise joined its former parent in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Friday, October 30.… Read More »
It would be unfair and inaccurate to blame all of Hewlett Packard’s(HPQ) problems on Carly Fiorina. After all, her successor as chairwoman, Patty Dunn resigned after presiding over illegal spying on Board members and journalists. Mark Hurd, CEO at that time, later resigned amidst allegations of improper payments to a contractor with whom he had a personal relationship.… Read More »
It looks a bidding war has emerged for Starwood Hotels (HOT), with three Chinese players and Hyatt Hotels (H) all chasing the well respected hospitality brand. Kudos to those i-bankers for drumming up the interest, especially given the fact that the Chinese government rarely lets its corporate citizens get into bidding wars. While M&A is always exciting to… Read More »
A few small hits for a tough New York Thursday (at least for us Mets fans): Era Group (ERA), the helicopter focused spinoff from Seacor (CKH), got hit hard this week on news that Petrobras (PBR) was dropping its helicopter transport services. With falling oil prices and the company under intense scrutiny amidst a seemingly ever growing corruption scandal,… Read More »
For most Americans months away from their 80th birthday, life has long since settled into a post-retirement routine. For Carl Icahn, who will turn 80 in February, he’s just getting started, going after larger targets than ever. Last week, Icahn announced he was forming a Super PAC with $150 million of his own money to promote legislation to… Read More »
Though its stock price is still languishing at $13.17, below its initial post-spinoff price, Barron’s thinks Barnes & Noble Education(BNED) could be worth $25. Barron’s notes that Alex Fuhrman of Craig-Hallum Capital Group feels similarly. “It’s an attractive business with high barriers to entry because of the physical presence on college campuses and an early movement into the… Read More »
After successfully tossing out the entire board of directors at Darden (DRI) last year, Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund quickly moved on executing its agenda. After all, a dominating win like that sort of gives one that kind of mandate. One of the first moves was eliminating the ‘interim’ tag from CEO Gene Lee. Next came the expected… Read More »
A few short hits to kick off a new week: Yum! Brands (YUM) decided to spin off its China business and shareholders have generally reacted pretty favorably. The WSJ walks through the potential value propositions of both companies, but one class of investors is decidedly less excited about the move: bondholders. Barron’s points out that the new parent… Read More »
What a difference a week makes. Last week we reported that Valeant(VRX) was considering spinning off its Neuro drugs. Now, in the face of mounting conerns about its relationship with specialty pharmacies including Philidor, the company assures us that everything is ok. On a conference call this morning, CEO J. Michael Pearson told a questioner that the Neuro spin… Read More »
We failed to note it at the time, but on October 1, Blackstone(BX) completed the spinoff of several advisory businesses which combined with PJT Capital to form PJT Partners(PJT). Blackstone unit holders received one PJT share for every forty units of Blackstone held. The spinoff was structured to be tax free to unit holders. PJT Partners begins operations… Read More »