It’s time for another edition of Odds & Ends where we share some random articles and pieces that we have been reading… 1. Barron’s is bullish on ‘small-scale conglomerate’ Graham Holdings (GHC) and thinks it’s sorely undervalued on a sum of the parts basis. Although the stock is up about 17% from the date of publishing to ~$423,… Read More »
Last week, we noted a few examples of the ‘ugly spinoff’ phenomenon where really ugly looking spinoffs end up performing really well. These businesses often have dim growth prospects, low margins and are often initially larded up with debt or other legacy problems. Despite those challenges, the ‘bad business’ stocks often do well as the companies finally have… Read More »
Although Valvoline’s (VVV) IPO was last September, it was still majority owned by its parent company, Ashland Global Holdings (ASH). Not anymore though. The specialty chemical manufacturer completed Step 2 of its Valvoline spinoff on May 12th by distributing its remaining stake in the company to shareholders. Ashland shareholders as of May 5th, should have received 2.745338 shares of Valvoline… Read More »
eBays’ (EBAY) long awaited spinoff of Paypal (PYPL) will be completed after the close today and the first day of trading for the new company will be Monday, July 20th. The breakup idea goes back a looooong way and was actually the subject of one of our first articles. EBAY shareholders should receive one share of PYPL for… Read More »
The unprecedented number of spins this week has kept the folks at S&P working overtime making changes to their indexes. Last week, AOL(AOL), a spinoff of Time Warner(TWX) was acquired by Verizon(VZ), a conglomeration of several spinoffs of the original AT&T(T). As a result, Casey’s General Stores(CASY) will move from the S&P SmallCap 600 to take its spot in… Read More »
In this issue of the Index Change roundup, Noble Corporation’s (NE) upcoming standard spec rig spinoff, Paragon Offshore, will be added to the S&P Smallcap 600. Noble will remain in the big boy S&P 500 index so there is the possibility of forced selling in this case. As a result of the transaction, Paragon will boot #600 ranked… Read More »
Noble Corporation’s (NE) board of directors approved the spinoff of its standard spec drilling units, Paragon Offshore. The distribution is expected to take place on August 1st, which is just a few months after the company decided to scrap its plans to IPO the unit. Impressive turnaround on Plan B. The new company will trade on the NYSE… Read More »
In an slightly under the radar move, Transocean (RIG) announced that it was creating a new entity, Caledonia Offshore Drilling Company, which will be comprised of eight North Sea midwater rigs. Given the location, it actually sounds like a reasonable name choice. Wow. The rigs under consideration are all from the 70’s and 80’s and would possibly include… Read More »
The market may be hitting new highs, but there are some concerns about the future. Additionally, not every sector has benefited equally from the climb, at least according to Noble Corp (NE). The company’s Chairman/President/CEO David Williams blamed ‘financial market conditions, both generally and with respect to the equity markets for offshore drilling companies’ for the decision to scrap… Read More »
Noble Corp (NE) has finally unveiled the new name for its upcoming standard spec drilling unit spinoff. No fancy consultants used here, no Russian sex act, no Portmanteau. Instead the company went bold and set the bar high by naming the new company Paragon Offshore. No surprise coming from a company with the name Noble. In fact, the… Read More »
Though it is not expected to come up for a shareholder vote until Q2 2014, Noble Corporation(NE) is making progress with its plan to spin off its non-deepwater assets. Noble announced last week that it had received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service relating the the expected tax-free status of the proposed transaction. Though this… Read More »
Noble Corporation (NE) is going deep after announcing plans to spin off a business holding most of its standard specification drilling units. The new company’s assets will include ‘five drillships, three semisubmersibles, 34 jackups, two submersibles, and one FPSO’ and also be responsible for the Hibernia platform operations. Noble will continue to own and operate its high-specification assets, ~35 rigs… Read More »