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 »
Yesterday, Zedge(ZDGE) completed its spinoff from IDT(IDT). The press release is short on details, focusing on the usual boundless optimism associated with a new spinoff. Tom Arnoy, co-founder and CEO of Zedge, said, “Since our inception, we have been focused on developing an exceptional service that enables Zedgers to express their identity, feelings, tastes and interests on their… Read More »
Serial spinner IDT(IDT) has set the date for its spinoff of Zedge(ZDGE). IDT shareholders as of May 26 at 5PM will receive one share of Zedge for every three IDT shares that they own. The spinoff will be effective at 11:59PM on June 1. The company’s most recent form 10 can be found here. We recently had the… Read More »
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 »
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 »
As expected, Straight Path Communications(STRP) began trading today following its spin off from IDT(IDT). We previously described the interesting background of the new company’s CEO, David Jonas(we wonder how many other pulpit Rabbis run public companies). Rabbi Jonas is quite optimistic about the company’s prospects: SPCI’s President & Chief Executive Officer, David Jonas, said, “The spin-off of Straight… Read More »
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(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 »
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 »
It’s always sad for us here when a spinoff is cancelled, but those situations are often worth filing away as there is always the chance that the situation gets revived. The market could be better, certain hurdles cleared, you never know. The latest example is IDT’s (IDT) recent announcement that it is resurrecting its plans to spin off its patent… Read More »
Spinoffs take a lot of time. It really isn’t so surprising considering the plethora of regulatory and logistical issues that arise from splitting up a business. While often overlooked as one time charges, companies spend millions upon millions planning and executing these transactions. As a result, at least 6 months usually pass between the date of announcement and… Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »