Tag Archives: Howard Jonas

And From Behind Me, Rafael- IDT, At It Again, Spins Off HQ And Biotech Stakes

IDT (IDT) is a serial spinner. Over the life of this blog alone the telecommunications company helmed by former hot dog stand operator/current billionaire Howard Jonas has spun off oil & gas assets (Genie Energy, GNE), ringtones (Zedge, ZDGE) and intellectual property/spectrum assets (Straight Path Communications). Quite an odd assortment of assets for a telecom company, but it… Read More »

IDT To Spinoff Stake In Zedge

Hey, we know what you’re thinking. You wish there was a way to invest in a pure-play ringtone and phone wallpaper company. Well, thanks to IDT(IDT), you will not have to wish much longer. IDT has filed a form 10 as the first step in spinning off its majority stake in Zedge. Zedge, in case you missed it… Read More »

#TBT IDT’s Spin Took The Straight Path Up

IDT (IDT) has a history of spinoffs, and in the middle of 2013, the company spun off a bunch of its intellectual property and spectrum assets into Straight Path Communications (STRP). Suffice it to say, expectations were low. The company had previously attempted to monetize these assets and failed. The business and assets were difficult to understand and… Read More »

IDT Following The Straight Path To Spinoff

IDT appears to be making progress on the spin off of its intangible assets as the company recently announced that Straight Path Communications Inc (SPCI) had filed a Form 10 with the SEC . While a distribution date has yet to be announced, IDT shareholders (both Class A & B) are expected to receive 1 share of SPCI for… Read More »

Genie Energy Refuses To Put Exchange Offer Back In Bottle

Genie Energy(GNE) is a company that we have followed from the announcement of its spinoff from IDT(IDT).  Last year, the company promoted an interesting exchange offer to allow holders to elect to trade their equity for high-coupon preferred stock with less upside from business performance.  The offer was met with little interest. Undeterred, the company relaunched the exchange… Read More »

The Results Are In As Genie Exchange Offer Expires- Genie’s Wish Not Shareholder’s Command

The unofficial tally is in and the turnout was somewhat disappointing. No, we are not talking about any primary or the upcoming election, but rather about Genie Energy’s (GNE) recent exchange offer to swap common B shares for newly formed preferred ownership on a 1:1 basis. In the end, only ~1.6 million shares of Class B common stock… Read More »

Tepid Interest In Genie Exchange Offer…So Far

We recently took a look at Genie Energy’s (GNE) exchange offer. While I highly recommend checking out our earlier piece and related comments for some background info (and to boost our traffic), here is a brief summary: Shareholders of Class B common units can swap shares on a 1 for 1 basis for newly created preferred shares which would trade… Read More »

Drilling Down Into Genie Energy’s Exchange Offer

Some companies just can’t stop maneuvering. Less than a year after being spun out of IDT (IDT), Genie Energy (GNE) announced that it is launching an exchange offer for up to 8.75m of its common shares. Before digging into the offer, it is worth familiarizing oneself with some background information on the operations. For a fuller description check… Read More »

Genie Energy To Be Unleashed Soon

Late October is shaping up to be a pretty busy period for spinoffs and one of the many expected separations will be IDT Corporation’s (IDT) spinoff of Genie Energy. Please read our earlier post about the spin here, but as a quick refresher, the plan is to spin out IDT’s energy assets from its telecommunications business. Yes, IDT… Read More »

IDT Also Thinks Good Things Come In Twos

Spinoffs have been relatively popular recently and you know how ‘fads’ go. Once a trend begins, people (in this case companies) try to one up another by going bigger. Better. Bolder. One spinoff isn’t enough anymore so Fortune Brands (FO), ITT (ITT) and even Carrefour (CRERY) went for two. Please give a hearty welcome to the newest member… Read More »

IDT Releasing The Genie From The Bottle

Cover via Amazon A corporate conglomerate is truly a wonderful thing. Growth through acquisitions often leaves these companies quite bloated and operating in unexpected areas though. Sometimes this is done on purpose in order to diversify exposure by investing in unrelated areas. These ancillary businesses surrounding the ‘core’ can be quite surprising and make you go ‘Really?’ –… Read More »