Twenty seven years after Consolidated Foods became Sara Lee, Sara Lee is retiring as a corporate name. Months of preparation culminated in a flurry of activity today, in which Sara Lee shareholders received a goodie bag containing 1 share of D.E. Master Blenders 1753(DEMBF), an international coffee company trading in Amsterdam, a $3 special cash dividend, and 0.2… Read More »
After days of speculation, and months of internal debate, News Corp(NWSA) announced yesterday that it will spin off its newspaper and publishing business. The company aims to complete the transaction in the first half of 2013. Rupert Murdoch will remain Chairman of both companies and CEO of the media and entertainment business. Each company will continue to have… Read More »
What is your dream job? A lot of great options to choose from, but personally I have always imagined being a member of a company’s board of directors to be a pretty cushy gig. Jet around, fancy dinners, high salaries and all for a few meetings per year that you can apparently skip if you are Leon Black.… Read More »
Sara Lee (SLE) has been very busy recently putting the finishing touches on the upcoming spinoff of its international coffee and tea business, D.E. Master Blenders International 1753. While it was not a surprise decision, the company’s board of directors recently formally approved the spinoff clearing another hurdle to completion. The transaction is a bit more complicated than usual… Read More »
No, Emeril is not in the kitchen, but BAM (Brookfield Asset Management) is certainly spicing things up with the spinoff of its commercial real estate holdings. The new company, Brookfield Property Partners, is expected to include almost all of BAM’s commercial properties including its stakes in Brookfield Office Properties, General Growth Properties [GGP] (and related spins) and the… Read More »
In case you have forgotten, before AMR Corporation (AAMRQ) – American Airline’s parent company – entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company was planning on spinning off its regional airline American Eagle. The spinoff idea emerged after AMR couldn’t find a buyer for the troubled airline which was suffering from many maladies including being saddled with too many… Read More »
We have been pretty outspoken in our dislike of Kraft’s (KFT) name choice of Mondelez International for its global snacks spinoff. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to voice my displeasure at today’s shareholder meeting because despite being an avid consumer of Kraft products, I don’t actually own any shares. It wouldn’t have mattered though as over 90% of voting… Read More »
In separate filings today, Dan Loeb, fresh off his successful fight for Yahoo(YHOO) board seats, revealed that he had increased his Sara Lee(SLE) stake, and John Paulson announced a new stake in the disappearing conglomerate. Sara Lee will be paying a special dividend of $3 per share and spinning off its coffee and tea business by June 30.… Read More »
We previously wrote about chatter that Pepsi(PEP) might spin off its Frito-Lay snack division, and Pepsi’s subsequent decision not to. But that was before Relational Partners got involved. The firm disclosed that it had accumulated .6% of the company. The company confirmed that “the company had ‘constructive meetings’ with the hedge fund and called Relational a ‘respected institution.’”… Read More »
Sara Lee(SLE) released earnings recently, and updated investors on the status of the upcoming $3 special dividend and spin off of its coffee and tea business as D.E. Master Blenders 1753. From the release: “I am pleased to announce that we are on track to spin-off the Coffee & Tea business by June 30. Significant progress has been… Read More »
Hedge fund Paulson & Co, whose activist battle to force The Hartford(HIG) to split itself in two was met by a restructuring plan by the company, has filed a form 13G indicating that its investment is once again passive. Paulson had previously said that the company’s new plan did not go far enough. A company spokesman stated that… Read More »
Whitney Tilson and Glenn Tongue’s T2 Partners returned to Alexander & Baldwin(ALEX) ahead of its third quarter spin. T2, which had sold its entire position in the company late last year, disclosed that it now holds 174,172 shares in a filing today. The position appears to be one of T2’s top 10 holdings. Disclosure: The author holds no… Read More »
On a recent edition of his CNBC show, Mad Money, Jim Cramer, who, it seems, has an opinion on everything, opined on the prospects for ConocoPhillips(COP) and its new progeny, Phillips 66(PSX). Mr. Cramer compared the spin to last year’s similar transaction involving Marathon Oil(MRO), briefly analyzed the two parts, and concluded that the gains have already been… Read More »
Dole Food Co(DOLE) may be a household name, but the company has had more success selling its pineapples than its stock. The venerable company announced this week that it has begun a strategic review which may result in one or more spin offs. Controlled by 88 year old billionaire Chairman David Murdock(he plans to live to 125) who… Read More »
After years of struggling and shedding lousy assets via ‘bankruptcy’ or negotiated deals, there really hasn’t been any spinoff talk from the US automotive industry. It appears that is also the case across the pond as Daimler AG (DDAIF) CFO Bodo Uebber said in a recent roundtable discussion that the company is not considering a spinoff of its truck… Read More »