Dearest Readers, we have a confession to make. We fell short of the sacred trust you have placed in us, and were, somehow remiss. You see, it seems, that other than to mention an index change, we never discussed Air Products and Chemicals (APD) October 2016 spinoff of Versum Materials (VSM). We apologize profusely for this breach and… Read More »
Lets take a look at some recent spinoff news from the large asset manager: 1) Horizon Kinetics Likes Conduent (CNDT) At the very end of 2016, Xerox (XRX) spun off its business process outsourcing unit Conduent. After an initial dip, shares have recovered, but overall, the stock has mostly been flat since the spinoff. That isn’t a terrible outcome… Read More »
Nelson Peltz is legendary for successfully pushing for structural change at large companies. This has often resulted in spinoffs of disparate divisions. Last week, Peltz’s investment vehicle, Trian Fund Management, disclosed a $3.5 billion stake in Procter & Gamble(PG). Peltz steps into the shoes of Bill Ackman, who several years ago took an activist position in P&G, only… 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 »
Bill Ackman loved its business model of purchasing companies with “mispriced” drugs and raising prices, but, under fire from regulators and legislators, Valeant(VRX) announced today that it will be completely changing its business model. Recent outrage about huge price increases for acquired drugs including public statements by Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have been a cause of the… Read More »
Poor Irene Rosenfeld. The former CEO of Kraft Foods was badgered by Nelson Peltz’s Trian Group into breaking up her empire in 2012 into the slow growing, North American grocery business, Kraft Foods Group, and the international snack food company Mondelez International (MDLZ). She remained at the top of Mondelez and also (rightfully) took a lot of heat for the… Read More »
Every Spring in Chicago gives birth to new hope that this year will be different. It is rarely long, however, before hopes for this year are dashed and talk shifts to a focus on rebuilding for next year. We are not talking about the Cubs, but rather about iconic Chicago retailer Sears Holdings(SHLD). Once again, Sears posted a… Read More »
Suntory Holdings will acquire Beam Inc (BEAM) for ~$13.6b in cash or $83.50 per share, representing a 25% premium to Friday’s close. Beam, owner of Jim Beam, Makers Mark, Canadian Club and more, is the largest US based spirits maker and the combination with Suntory will create the third largest spirits player in the world. The deal has… Read More »
These pages have frequently highlighted the many victories notched by activists pushing for breakups. We are big, big fans of those guys. Of course, like all good battles, the other side doesn’t just sit back and wait to be ambushed. No, new tactics are drawn up, plans laid and in this case that means talking to lawyers. About… Read More »
News of Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management ridding itself of all Kraft related positions turned out to be off…very off. In an amended Q4 13F filing released last week, the hedge fund revealed a large stake of over 19 million shares (a bit more than $600m worth) in Kraft’s international snacks spinoff Mondelez International (MDLZ). There was still… Read More »
13F season is always fun as it provides a rare (albeit delayed) glimpse into the thinking of large money managers and hedge funds. Of course, due to the significant time lag (~45 days), the exclusion of certain securities (shorts, derivatives etc.) and varying investment strategies and holding periods, the usefulness of such data is…questionable in many cases. Not… Read More »
Appearing on Fast Money this evening, Doug Kass predicted that another hedge fund manager would join Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital by taking a big stake in Procter & Gamble(PG), and that together they would force the company to split into two or three pieces. Kass said the stock price would increase $7-$10on such an announcement. With… Read More »
I was first introduced to General Growth Partners (GGP) several years ago at a small alumni gathering featuring Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman as the keynote speaker. Amongst other topics, he spoke about the then bankrupt (trading at <$1) company as his ‘top’ idea at the time. This ‘idea’ turned out to be quite profitable for him as he… Read More »
With General Growth Properties (GGP) completing another spinoff,Rouse(RSE) last week, it is worth checking in on how its first spinoff, the Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC), has fared. Here is a recent chart detailing HHC’s stock price since inception (apologies for the charting software – on vacation): It has been quite a wild ride for the company – a relatively… Read More »