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 »
NeuStar (NSR) agreed to be acquired by a group led by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital in a deal valued at about $2.9b. The deal was announced in mid-December and the $33.50 offer price represented a nice premium. Of course, the sale also means that Neustar’s previously announced Order Management and Numbering Services spinoff is off the table.… Read More »
Toshiba Corp. (TOSYY) has today outlined more details of the plan to sell off part of its memory chip business, in an effort to raise funds ahead of a multi-billion dollar write down of its US nuclear business. CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa said at a news conference on Friday: “We had been thinking of splitting off semiconductors to beef… Read More »
Citrix Systems(CTXS) is finally letting go of GetGo. The company first announced plans for the spinoff of its GetGo division in November 2015. Last July, an agreement was reached with LogMeIn(LOGM) to merge with GetGo immediately post spin off in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction. Citrix announced that shareholders of record on January 20 will receive approximately .1718… Read More »
What is a Reverse Morris Trust? You may have heard the terms Reverse Morris Trust or Morris Trust used in regards to a spinoff transaction. These terms describe two related types of transactions in which a company is able to sell assets without triggering a tax liability for either the company or shareholders. Naturally, this can be quite… Read More »
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis (NVS) is considering a spin off Alcon, its surgical equipment and contact lens business. While most of its peers are busy acquiring each other, Novartis is taking a more inward-focused approach also announcing today a $5 billion share buyback. Reporting its 2016 earnings, Novartis said: “Novartis is considering options for the Alcon Division. The… Read More »
As we near the end of the month, the completion of three spinoff transactions will be driving changes in various S&P Indexes. Citrix Systems(CTXS) will be spinning off its GetGo division which will then merge with LogMeIn(LOGM) in a reverse Morris Trust transaction. After the transaction is completed on January 31st, Citrix will remain in the S&P 500.… Read More »
Burdened by debt since its private equity buyout a decade ago, Avaya has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The telecommunications software and hardware company posted a loss of $750 million for its most recent fiscal year. It is burdened by $6.3 billion in debt and $400 million in annual interest expense. “Avaya’s current capital structure is over 10… Read More »
In late 2015, Sergio Marchionne led the successful IPO and spinoff of Fiat Chrysler’s(FCAU) Ferrari(RACE) division. Now various speculations suggest that he may spin off Maserati, Jeep, or the Parts division. Marchionne, who is set to retire in 2019, has tried to lure a buyer, publicly courting General Motors(GM), even, but has not found a partner. Alternatively, some believe… Read More »