Abbott Laboratories ($ABT) is preparing to spin off its $8.5 billion Nutrition business, giving shareholders a second company built around Similac, Ensure, PediaSure, Pedialyte and Glucerna. The October 21 announcement calls for a distribution of shares to Abbott holders by the end of 2027, subject to board and regulatory approvals. Abbott has done this before: it separated Hospira… Read More »
Last week, Novartis(NVS) completed its spinoff of Alcon(ALC). Less than a decade ago, Novartis had purchased Alcon from Nestle(NSRGY), but new leadership decided to reverse the transaction. In an article this weekend, Barron’s suggests that there is more than meets the eye to Alcon. Barron’s notes that, on the surface, Alcon looks expensive. For now, Wall Street is… Read More »
Abbott Laboratories(ABT) is joining the parade and splitting itself into two. Like many other recent spinners, Abbott is a spinoff veteran, having spun off Hospira(HSP) in 2004. Though at times, even recently, Hospira has traded much higher, on the whole, returns for the two pieces 7 years later have been unimpressive. Hospira is now barely up 10%, and… Read More »