It’s been two and a half years since Xylem (XYL) was spun off from ITT Corp (ITT). Not a long time, but long enough for the company to hire its third CEO. Gretchen McClain, the CEO at the time of the spinoff, resigned abruptly last September amid poor results, and was replaced on an interim basis by Steven… Read More »
We often mention how long the spinoff process can take. There are a lot of reasons for that including paperwork, but basically it isn’t easy to carve out a brand new entity. There is a lot of internal work and planning that needs to get done during that period to ensure a smooth transition. Nothing sexy and the… Read More »
Twice a year, Barron’s gathers some of the top minds in the industry for a roundtable discussion on the worldwide investment environment and economic outlook. This year’s panel included the same regulars as usual, financial titans all, PIMCO’s Bill Gross, uber-bull Abby Joseph Cohen, GAMCO Investor’s (GBL) Mario Gabelli and Felix Zulauf. In addition to pontificating on the… Read More »
Mario Gabelli appeared on CNBC yesterday, and among other things, spoke, as he often does, about spinoffs. The CEO of Gamco Investors spoke about his success with recent spins such as Fortune Brands Home & Security(FBHS), Beam, Inc.(BEAM) and Xylem(XYL). Gabelli also spoke about Pepsi(PEP) as a potential split that he likes. Gabelli explained why he likes spinoffs… Read More »
While picking out a name for a newborn child is fun and exciting, it is also a really stressful decision. Everyone seems to have an opinion and it really will affect the child for the rest of his or her life (yes, I am talking about you Apple, Blue and Brooklyn). So I am sure it must challenging… Read More »
ITT’s(ITT) long awaited spinoffs, Xylem(XYL) and Exelis (XLS) are set to be distributed to shareholders on 10/31. Standard & Poor has announced that Xylem will take ITT’s place in the S&P 500 index. Both Exelis and ITT will join the S&P MidCap 400, replacing Eastman Kodak(EK) and Kindred Healthcare(KND). Lumos Holdings, being spun out of NTELOS(NTLS) on the… Read More »
One of my favorite and often overlooked parts of examining spinoffs is the choice of name for the new entity. Generally, this decision requires zero thought as there is a division or some well known product making the choice obvious, such as in the case of Madison Square Garden or Babcock & Wilcox (well…maybe that one isn’t the best example). However, occasionally management needs to flex its creative muscles (by which I mean hire some… Read More »