The boom in spinoff activity over the past few years has been aided greatly by the boom in activist investing. In this edition of Odds & Ends we check in on some activists. Other hedge funds may be shuttering, but it seems this segment remains hot! When something works, the financial industry knows how to milk it, but… Read More »
With Elliott and Starboard pushing for changes at eBay (EBAY), including the spinoffs of StubHub and Classifieds, there was more than the usual focus on eBay’s earnings report last week. The company reported record earnings, initiated a dividend and increased its buyback authorization, but signs of concern remain. Elliott, for one, is unimpressed. “eBay’s fourth quarter earnings provided… Read More »
In 2015, under pressure from legendary activist investor Carl Icahn, eBay(EBAY) chose to spin off PayPal(PYPL). While PayPal stock has performed remarkably since the spin-off, eBay stock’s performance has been decidedly prosaic. With this backdrop, not one, but two activist investors have entered the stage and begun pushing for changes. Of course, most relevant to us is that… 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 »
One of the highlights of the ‘Summer of Spin’ was eBay’s (EBAY) spin off of payments processor PayPal (PYPL). Several activists had been pushing hard for the spin, including Carl Icahn, who at one point, engaged in a heated war of words with the company and then CEO John Donahoe. Although he ultimately struck a deal with a… Read More »
One the most anticipated spinoffs during the Summer of Spin was eBay’s (EBAY) spinoff of PayPal (PYPL). Both activists (Carl Icahn) and tech kings (Elon Musk) urged the company to make the move, but it didn’t help the initial performance as the stock took a slight dive in its first few days of trading. A few days of… Read More »
eBays’ (EBAY) long awaited spinoff of Paypal (PYPL) will be completed after the close today and the first day of trading for the new company will be Monday, July 20th. The breakup idea goes back a looooong way and was actually the subject of one of our first articles. EBAY shareholders should receive one share of PYPL for… Read More »
With all the spinoff excitement, Forbes looks ahead at the next brands that might be granted independence by their corporate overlords. Ebay(EBAY)’s StubHub. StubHub dominates live event ticket reselling. On the heels of a successful spinoff of PayPal, perhaps Ebay will go back to the well and spin off StubHub. Time Warner(TWX)’s HBO. Time Warner is no stranger… Read More »
With $6 billion in cash burning a hole in its wallet, PayPal(PYPL) will not slow its aggressive acquisition program after its purchase of Xoom(XOOM). Dan Schulman, who will be CEO of PayPal following its July 17 spinoff from Ebay(EBAY), told the Financial Times that acquisitions would be a priority, as PayPal uses the $6bn war chest that is… Read More »
Amidst this great Summer Of Spin, what are the best prospects? According to Forbes’ Antoine Gara, who has also noted the flurry of spinoffs: PayPal and Baxalta(BXLT). About PayPal: PayPal is a leader in online payments, with high margins and strong revenue growth. It could prove valuable to tech giants like Google, Apple, Microsoftand Facebook, who are all toying… Read More »
What a week for spinoffs. Truly historic. Beginning on Monday with TEGNA (TGNA)/Gannett (GCI), the ‘Summer of Spin’ crescendoed yesterday with the completion of six more spins: DuPont (DD) spun off its performance chemicals unit (including Teflon) into Chemours (CC). The new company told investors it plans on paying out a stable dividend, which is somewhat unusual for such… Read More »
We first discussed the idea that Ebay(EBAY) might spin off PayPal nearly four years ago, on October 28, 2010. More recently, the company and CEO John Donahoe repeatedly resisted withering attacks from legendary activist investor Carl Icahn, who began pushing for the spinoff early this year. Today, the company has reversed course, and announced that it will spin… Read More »
That didn’t take long. Just a month after first publicizing his position, Carl Icahn fired another salvo in his campaign to break off PayPal from EBay (EBAY). Mr. Icahn sent an open letter to EBay shareholders informing them that he has uncovered ‘multiple lapses in corporate governance’ at the company and that ‘the complete disregard for accountability at eBay is… Read More »
With his public battle over Dell finished, Carl Ichan didn’t take too long in drumming up a new target. The famous corporate raider is now pushing eBay (EBAY) to spin off its online transaction business, PayPal, and submitted this idea for a non-binding vote at an upcoming shareholder meeting. Along with a spinoff, Mr. Icahn is also seeking… Read More »
Image via CrunchBase Ever since eBay (EBAY) unloaded its stake in Skype last year, there has been fierce speculation that they would do the same with PayPal, the popular online transaction company. Here is a piece in the New York Times from earlier this year making the case that a spinoff is needed in order for PayPal to… Read More »