Even before Biogen(BIIB) completed its spinoff of Bioverativ(BIVV), ValueAct Capital began buying “when-issued” stock in the new company. The hedge fund has continued to buy both stock and forward contracts and has now accumulated a 7.1% position in Bioverativ. The shares were purchased at between $40 and $45 per share. As Bioverativ stock has now risen above $50,… Read More »
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft (MSFT), continues to own a $2 billion stake in the company. Recently, Paul Ghaffari, the manager of Vulcan Capital, Allen’s family office, called for the company’s new CEO to spin off the consumer unit. Vulcan Capital, the family investment office of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, believes the new CEO should explore a spinoff of… Read More »
Set a million monkeys loose with Yahoo Finance and a word processor, and what do you get? The answer, it would appear, is Seeking Alpha, a content farm with no particular editorial standards. We wrote last week about blatant, significant errors being covered up without acknowledgement. This morning, we encountered another wastebasket-worthy piece on AbbVie(ABBV). Imagine writing about… Read More »
Despite the claims of ‘super activist’ Rick Shottenfeld, it certainly looks like the Nook is the more attractive part of Barnes & Noble (BKS) these days. After partnering with Microsoft (MSFT) earlier this year, the company has sold a 5% stake in Nook Media LLC to Pearson (PSO) for ~$89.5 million in cash, valuing the company at ~$1.79b.… Read More »
As we discussed previously, Microsoft(MSFT) had agreed to invest $300 million for a 17.6% stake in NOOK Media, which includes the digital and College assets of Barnes & Noble(BKS) including the NOOK device business. Barnes & Noble continues to own the remainder of the business. In today’s release, the company was careful to note that “As previously announced,… Read More »
We’ve written here previously about the possibility of embattled bookseller Barnes & Noble(BKS) spinning off its Nook business. We’ve written elsewhere about the turnaround at Microsoft(MSFT). Today, both stories collide in an explosive way. The two companies will create a joint venture to which Barnes & Noble will contribute its Digital and College businesses, and to which Microsoft… Read More »