Let’s kick off the week with some deal talk. Last week we touched on Apollo’s (APO) potential buyout of Arconic (ARNC) and if completed, it would just be another example of spinoff/parent company being taken out. Once the separation announcement is made or even the ‘strategic alternatives’ one, the market knows that a sale is possible. In that vein,… Read More »
Last month, we reported that Macy’s(M) outgoing CEO Terry Lundgren was working to head off a proxy fight with Jeff Smith’s Starboard Value. Lundgren was said to be looking to Hudson’s Bay Company(HBAYF) as a white knight under renewed pressure from Starboard to spin off or otherwise monetize its real estate. A month later, Hudson’s Bay is out… Read More »
As we discussed back in November 2015, Starboard Value Partners, led by the brash Jeffrey Smith, had acquired a stake in Macy’s(M) and pushed for a spinoff of the real estate into a REIT(Real Estate Investment Trust). Now, with the stock down 60% from Starboard’s purchase price and longtime Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren stepping down, the plan may… Read More »
After delaying the spinoff of its chemical business due to ‘complexities’, WestRock (WRK) is finally ready to complete the spinoff of Ingevity. The transaction is expected to be completed on May 15th, with WestRock shareholders receiving 1 share of the Ingevity for every 6 WestRock shares owned. The new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker… Read More »
Yahoo (YHOO) had a tough year in 2015. The core business continued declining, key employees fled and its plans to deliver shareholder value by spinning off its Alibaba (BABA) stake into a standalone company was effectively derailed by the IRS. Unfortunately for the company and its beleaguered CEO Marissa Meyer, the start of 2016 isn’t looking much better… Read More »
After successfully tossing out the entire board of directors at Darden (DRI) last year, Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund quickly moved on executing its agenda. After all, a dominating win like that sort of gives one that kind of mandate. One of the first moves was eliminating the ‘interim’ tag from CEO Gene Lee. Next came the expected… Read More »
Some activist funds like to work behind the scenes and then there are the others which seem to be in the news almost every day. A day after making waves at Yahoo (YHOO), Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund was back in the news after long time target MeadWestvaco (MWV) announced plans to spin off its specialty chemical business… Read More »
With the $2.1b sale of Red Lobster to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital all wrapped up, the battle for Darden (DRI) has officially entered the next phase. For a quick and abridged refresher on the situation, the ailing restaurant company was recently assailed by two activist firms pushing for numerous changes including a spinoff of its slower growing restaurants, Red Lobster… Read More »
Titans of the hedge fund industry, including John Paulson, Carl Icahn, Nelson Peltz (and many more), gathered at the Pierre Hotel this past Wednesday for CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference. There was a lot of Fed talk (Stanley Druckenmiller is not a fan), musings on the economy and of course, the proverbial ‘talking up the book’. It took a… Read More »
While the Olive Garden famously stuffs its patrons with a never ending pasta bowl, its parent company, Darden Restaurants (DRI), is providing investors some never ending drama. Ever since announcing plans to spin off the declining Red Lobster, Darden has been besieged by not one, but two different activist investors. As we noted earlier, Barrington Capital is pushing… Read More »