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 »
Congress is working hard trying to pass a comprehensive spending bill and a tax package extending numerous tax breaks. According to the WSJ, buried in these proposals is a bid to end companies’ ability to spinoff property into REITs: The bill from Rep. Kevin Brady (R., Texas), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, would prevent… Read More »
A few short hits to close off the week: The Economist had a short piece looking at some of the challenges faced by both companies following HP’s (HPQ) spinoff of its services business HP Enterprise (HPE). While both companies have scale and more focused operations, the future for each company is murky. The PC business is shrinking and… Read More »
With Darden (DRI) announcing a real estate spinoff, analysts and investors are flocking to find other targets which could benefit from monetizing real estate assets through a REIT conversion. One reason REITs are attractive is that they tend to trade at higher multiples than other sectors so in theory, a separation ‘unlocks’ value by creating a higher sum… Read More »