prunes Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Rupert Murdoch bought 1.2 MM shares the other day at an average price of $16.81 per share. The market hasn't shown much of a reaction to his purchase. Currently, NWSA is trading at 13x forward P/E. I don't know enough about the business to be able to talk intelligently about the company's prospects. Anyone here following this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twacowfca Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Rupert Murdoch bought 1.2 MM shares the other day at an average price of $16.81 per share. The market hasn't shown much of a reaction to his purchase. Currently, NWSA is trading at 13x forward P/E. I don't know enough about the business to be able to talk intelligently about the company's prospects. Anyone here following this? NWSA has one of the very best records investing in media. The problem is shrinking moats with all the lowered barriers to entry resulting from the Internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2S Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 NWSA has one of the very best records investing in media. And for the better or worse, this makes NWSA more or less a jockey stock. If anything, Rupert Murdoch's empire building streak has led to the stock trading at a perennial discount to NAV (used loosely in this circumstance given the difficulty of valuing media assets). Shareholders’ “constant fear” of unexpected acquisitions such as MySpace and Dow Jones has left News Corp trading at a discount to its peers, one investor notes. Nomura analysts calculate that, putting News Corp’s booming cable networks to one side, investors value its other assets at just two times annual earnings. News Corp could improve its rating by spinning off its newspapers, this investor says. Bankers have occasionally pitched that idea but no executive has ever dared champion it. “It would be like telling Rupert he’d have to spin off one of his children,” a former executive says http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/709ba998-2a64-11e0-804a-00144feab49a.html#axzz1DxYWjGE7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhdousa Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Rupert Murdoch bought 1.2 MM shares the other day at an average price of $16.81 per share. The market hasn't shown much of a reaction to his purchase. Currently, NWSA is trading at 13x forward P/E. I don't know enough about the business to be able to talk intelligently about the company's prospects. Anyone here following this? This has been one of Baupost's bigger equity holdings for a few years now, so you'd be in good company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prunes Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Rupert Murdoch bought 1.2 MM shares the other day at an average price of $16.81 per share. The market hasn't shown much of a reaction to his purchase. Currently, NWSA is trading at 13x forward P/E. I don't know enough about the business to be able to talk intelligently about the company's prospects. Anyone here following this? This has been one of Baupost's bigger equity holdings for a few years now, so you'd be in good company. 16% of AUM according to GuruFocus. Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turar Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Somehow the thought of being a part-owner of Fox News et al, doesn't sit well with me, no matter how good the investment idea is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhdousa Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Rupert Murdoch bought 1.2 MM shares the other day at an average price of $16.81 per share. The market hasn't shown much of a reaction to his purchase. Currently, NWSA is trading at 13x forward P/E. I don't know enough about the business to be able to talk intelligently about the company's prospects. Anyone here following this? This has been one of Baupost's bigger equity holdings for a few years now, so you'd be in good company. 16% of AUM according to GuruFocus. Wow! Keep in mind that it's only 16% of 1.6b. I think Baupost's total AUM is around 20b. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merkhet Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Yea, I believe it's just 16% of Baupost's shrinking equity allocation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racemize Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Fresh after reading You Can Be a Stock Market Genius, I decided to start looking at spinoffs. It seems like this may be a good area to look into while I'm sitting on my hands waiting for the larger value plays to take their course. One spinoff that is coming up is News Corp. Here is a summary of the spinoff: http://www.stockspinoffs.com/2012/06/29/stop-the-presses-news-corp-weighing-a-spinoff/ The newspaper and publishing business, which consists of Dow Jones, British and Australian newspapers, HarperCollins, and other publishing assets, is expected to be valued at less than the $5 Billion News Corp paid for Dow Jones alone. From a quick look through the SEC filing (no pro forma numbers or share numbers shown yet), it looks like normalized earnings may be in the 400-800 million dollar range: http://investor.newscorp.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-12-510850 There are of course some lingering issues with the hacking scandal as well as the fact that they have a lot of newspaper/publishing assets that may not be able to transition to digital elegantly. That being said, they do have Dow Jones, WSJ, and a lot of TV in Australia. We still don't know how the insiders will be compensated, so that will require an update when it comes out as well. Other links regarding the spinoff: http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/news-corp-publishing-spinoff-sec-filing/ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/yacktman-unimpressed-by-news-corp-spinoff-s-results.html Anyone looked at this at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constructive Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I had seen the Yacktman article and that persuaded me that it was probably not interesting. Two other spinoffs you might look at are STRZA (potential acquisition rumors) and SWY (IPOing Blackhawk in a few months). http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/05/us-safeway-blackhawk-idUSBRE8841G720120905 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomcapital Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I generally try and at least run the numbers on all the under the radar / very small spinoffs but I haven't looked at this one (sorry). ERA is trading When-Issued and will be trading on its own in a couple days time - might be worth a look. BRS is the only comp I know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stahleyp Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I'm keeping an eye on the LUK spinoff of crimson. anyone heard anything more about that one (sorry to highjack you race!)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltacular Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Stahleyp, This guy put some decent information down the other day: http://boards.fool.com/crimson-will-be-spun-off-to-leucadias-original-30500499.aspx I reproduce the full post below. If you forced me to guess why they doing this spinoff rather than keeping it in Leucadia, I would say that is less likely related to what Handler wants and more likely related to what either or both of Cumming and Steinberg want. Make it a pet project and get it on the cheap after the spin-off "crash" in price. Who knows though? ****** Crimson will be spun off to Leucadia's original shareholders upon successful merger.. and who would want to hold on to these except for Cummings and Steinberg?? Well, maybe me. I expect the usual post-spinoff sell-off. If it's selling for around book value, I could be induced to take a nibble. A sip? Cummings and Steinberg had stated that they bought the vineyards more as a real estate-inflation hedge than for its wine yields. I think you're referring to comments in the 2009 and 2010 annual reports, where C&S do talk about the value of land as a hedge, the difficulty of making vineyards consistently profitable, and the need for volume in order to drive profits. I'm not sure this means the wineries are "mostly" an inflation hedge. Did they say this somewhere else? [From 2009 AR] Even in good times, it is difficult to make estate wineries profitable. The entire industry suffers from a lack of discipline. The sheer number of brands combined with owners willing to sell out last year’s vintage at (or below) cost are a constant anchor on price. Estate wineries have high fixed costs and require large marketing dollars, making volume the key profit driver. Having started one estate winery from scratch we have seen that planting quality vineyards increases land value and may provide an inflation hedge. Durable annual cash flows may be difficult to achieve, thus the ultimate judgment on our investment will have to wait until it is eventually sold. [From 2010 AR] We repeat our mantra on the wine industry: Even in good times, it is difficult to make estate wineries profitable, though as real estate investments they are good inflation hedges. The entire industry suffers from oversupply and intense competition from home and abroad. The sheer number of brands, combined with owners having to sell out last year’s vintage at (or below) cost, is a constant anchor on price. Estate wineries have high fixed costs and require large marketing dollars, making volume the key profit driver. We need more volume to make our goal of consistent, yearly cash flows a reality.--- I think it's worth noting that despite the pessimistic tone of these remarks, Cummings and Steinberg continued to invest in the wine business in the effort to crank up the volume. Seghesio wasn't a National Beef -sized acquisition, but it wasn't nothing, either. I know they're sometimes slow to cut their losses, but I start from the assumption there is SOME value here: it's not a bottomless money pit. A few weeks ago, I took a stab at coming up with a valuation somewhere between book value and the multiple awarded to Constellation Brands--primitive, I know, but it's a starting point. In the merger prospectus, Crimson is assigned a book value of $197 M. Much of that consists of tangible productive assets, in the form of land and physical plant (vineyards). Divided by 245M (pre-merger) LUK shares, that works out to about $8/share in book value per Crimson share. [Note: this assumes no debt. Obviously, if the spun-off entity has debt, you'd reduce book value accordingly -- and you'd want to make sure they have enough revenues to meet their obligations!]. If the volume strategy works out, Crimson should eventually deserve some multiple to book. Constellation (STX) sells for 2.4 times book, Diageo (which does beer and spirits and has consistently high returns on equity and wonderful cash flows) for 8 times (!) book. If we apply a reasonably generous multiple of 1.5x book to Crimson's pro-forma book value, we get around $300M (again, divided by 245M pre-merger LUK shares, multiplied by 10 = $12.24 / Crimson share). That's not a price I'd pay out of the gate, but seems like a fair price for Crimson if it manages to produce enough volume to be consistently profitable. Deciding on an appropriate multiple to earnings is trickier. We know Crimson's revenues but not much else. Hypothetically, if the market values Crimson at book value ($200M), it would need $20M in earnings to support a P/E of 10. Constellation has about a 15% profit margin. With similar margins, Crimson would need $134M in revenue to achieve $20M in earnings. However, Crimson's margins for direct-to-consumer sales are higher than for retail (see below, 2008). I've struggled to come up with a back-of-envelope price for the vineyards. The land owned by Crimson as of the 2011 annual report is as follows: NAPA VALLEY, CA -188 acres WILLAMETTE VELLEY, WA- 120 acres EDNA VALLEY, CA- 97 acres ALEXANDER VALLEY, CA – 231 acres RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY, CA – 68 acres HORSE HEAVEN HILLS, WA – 611 acres (87 acres producing) Land for wine grape cultivation varies dramatically in price according to location, productivity, the age of the vines, and other factors. Land for vineyards in the Napa Valley can be twice as much as the Willamette valley ($150,000 /acre vs. $80,000/acre). However, the following might give a rough idea what Crimson's most important asset would fetch in the market: Napa land $28.2 M (150K/acre) Willamette land $ 9.6 M (80K /acre) Edna Valley $1.9M (20K/acre) Alexander Valley land $18.5M (80K / acre) Russian River Valley land $6.1M (90K /acre) Horse Heaven Land $ 7.8M (87 acres at 30K/acre and 524 acres at $10K/acre : initial purchase in 2005 was $3.3M) - total $72M So for a very rough estimate of the land alone, without structures and other improvements, we can use $72M. This represents 37% of the pro-forma book value of Crimson ($197M) in the merger prospectus. While I'm sure you've read all the information in the annual reports, it might be helpful to have selected excerpts in one place, so I've done some cut-and-pasting below: Selected CRIMSON WINE GROUP extracts from Leucadia National annual reports, 2006-2011 2006 Weird file permissions keep me from copying and pasting from the discussion of wine operations in the 2006 annual report, but it starts on p. 13. Here are some notes: -$70 M investment -2006 sales of 81,000 9L cases, revenues of $19.5M -2005 sales of 76900 9L cases, revenues of $17.8M -Pine Ridge inventories were too high; focused on replanting and adjusting mix of varietals - -low 2004 harvest yields will mean lower 2007 sales. -potential of direct-to-consumer sales -Washington State purchase: $3.3M From 2007 Annual Report: Leucadia owns two wineries, Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley, California and Archery Summit in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Pine Ridge was acquired in 1991 and Archery Summit was launched in 1993 on land that was previously a dairy farm. Our investment in these wineries has grown to $70 million, principally to fund the acquisition of land for vineyard development and to increase production capacity and storage facilities at both of the wineries. Pine Ridge controls 229 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley, California and Archery Summit 116 acres of vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. These vineyards are located in some of the most highly regarded appellations9 of the Napa and Willamette Valleys. In 2007, due to the vagaries of the weather and grape yields, these two wineries sold only 68,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $18.5 million versus 81,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $19.5 million during 2006. In 2005 and 2006, we acquired an aggregate of 611 acres of land in the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington’s Columbia Valley, of which approximately 85 acres are currently undergoing vineyard development. The Columbia Valley is an up and coming wine region with many good wines being served to glowing reviews. We are hoping to produce several products at various price points and have the potential to develop quite a substantial business. It can take up to four or five years for a new vineyard property to reach full production and up to three years after an initial grape harvest before the wine can be sold. Double Canyon Vineyard, the current name for this new property, celebrated its first crush this fall. We look forward to tasting the results this coming fall and winter. At December 31, 2007, our investment in the Washington property was $5.9 million. The ultra premium and luxury segments of the wine industry are intensely competitive. Our wines compete with small and large producers in the U.S. as well as with imported wines. Supply and quality depends upon the weather and size of the grape harvest. The demand for our wine rises and falls with general economic conditions and is largely affected by the ratings given the wines in industry and consumer publications. Wines are rated on a 1 to 100 numerical scale for each vintage and type of wine. The scores provided by The Wine Spectator and by Robert Parker can, and do, make or break a particular vintage and winery. In the summer of 2007, two senior and experienced wine executives joined us to manage the winery businesses. Erle Martin has 20 years of experience in ultra-luxury wine brands. In 1996, he began his tenure at Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, and until joining us, was President of Francis Coppola Winery. Erle is President and CEO of the newly minted Crimson Wine Group which includes both of our wineries and Double Canyon Vineyard. Patrick DeLong also joined as Chief Financial Officer. From 1999 to 2004, he was with Robert Mondavi Corporation, and in 2004 until joining us, was CFO of Icon Estates, part of Constellation Brands, Inc. These two will be a great team. Stacy Clark is the winemaker at Pine Ridge. This year we celebrate her 25th year at Pine Ridge and her 20th year as the winemaker. She is the soul of Pine Ridge! Anna Matzinger has been the winemaker at Archery Summit since 2002. Leigh Bartholomew, the viticulturalist,10 has been at Archery Summit since 2000. These two are the angel brigade that has managed to make Archery Summit a Pinot Noir recognized the world over. Recently, one of us hiked up to the top of a hill in Positano, Italy and at an osteria found a bottle of Archery Summit on the wine list to enjoy with pasta primavera. From 2008 Annual Report: Wineries The wineries have been re-christened the Crimson Wine Group. Crimson Wine Group is composed of Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley, California; Archery Summit in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and our latest addition, Chamisal Vineyards, the historic name of an 82 acre vineyard that was the first vineyard planted in the Edna Valley of California. We control approximately 223 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley, California, 120 acres of vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and 82 acres of vineyards in the Edna Valley of California, substantially all of which are owned and producing grapes. We believe these vineyards are located in some of the most highly regarded appellations and areas of the Napa, Willamette and Edna Valleys. At December 31, 2008, the Company’s combined net investment in these wineries was $90.8 million. The wineries sold approximately 90,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $20.9 million during 2008. Our development of an additional winery and vineyards on 611 acres of land in the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington’s Columbia Valley has been put on hold. The fourth quarter brought to the luxury wine business the same carnage it brought to virtually all sectors of the economy; the consumer pull back was pronounced and dramatic. It is said that people drink in good and bad times, and perhaps that is true, but the consumer has already traded-down to lower priced brands and products. We are looking for opportunities to compete in the new market reality and are exploring the launch of new brands which will resonate in a value driven market place. We expect to have at least one new entrant in the market in 2009. One bright spot in our wine business has been direct selling at our wineries and through our Wine Clubs. We have 13,800 members of our Wine Clubs who receive several shipments throughout the year. The Wine Clubs and direct sales from the wineries have been growing each year for several years and now account for 49% of total revenues at much better margins. We expect this trend to continue as we concentrate even more on these distribution channels. After 25 years at Pine Ridge, Stacy Clark our talented winemaker has moved on to new challenges. With sadness we report that Gary Andrus, Pine Ridge’s founder, passed away earlier this year. We are very grateful to both for their contributions to Pine Ridge’s success. From 2009 Annual Report: At December 31, 2009, our net investment in Crimson and the Columbia Valley property was $94.8 million. In 2009, the wineries sold approximately 92,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $19.8 million. The economic upheaval did not spare the high-end wine market in 2009. In the wine salesmens’ vocabulary, “Value” replaced “Luxury”. Droves of consumers and corporate business travelers abandoned restaurants. Even those who did not, often traded their bottle of fine wine for a bottle of Diet Coke® and two straws. While total wine industry sales actually grew, the growth was solely at the lower end of the price range – wine sales above $25 per bottle slowed dramatically. Selling our wine into this headwind required unprecedented marketing and discounting. We have responded by launching a new line of wines fashioned for the realities of the market – ForeFront by Pine Ridge. The ForeFront collection includes Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, all of which “over-deliver on quality at their price”(translates to “luxury on a budget”). Not only great value, but also very tasty. Even in good times, it is difficult to make estate wineries profitable. The entire industry suffers from a lack of discipline. The sheer number of brands combined with owners willing to sell out last year’s vintage at (or below) cost are a constant anchor on price. Estate wineries have high fixed costs and require large marketing dollars, making volume the key profit driver. We have a great management team led by Erle Martin and Patrick DeLong who have streamlined our operations while improving our wines. We now need more volume. Having started one estate winery from scratch we have seen that planting quality vineyards increases land value and may provide an inflation hedge. Durable annual cash flows may be difficult to achieve, thus the ultimate judgment on our investment will have to wait until it is eventually sold. From 2010 Annual Report: During 2010, the wineries sold just over 111,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $22.7 million. Crimson Wine Group started seeing some improvement in the luxury wine segment in 2010. However, value is still the catchword and most industry growth is concentrated in wines priced under $20/bottle. Heavy marketing costs (largely payments to distributors) and deep discounting delayed meaningful profits for another year. ForeFront, the line of wines Pine Ridge introduced in 2009, has been successful. 21,500 cases of our total 111,000 cases sold wore the ForeFront label. Our promise from last year’s letter, “Not only great value, but also very tasty,” was validated. We repeat our mantra on the wine industry: Even in good times, it is difficult to make estate wineries profitable, though as real estate investments they are good inflation hedges. The entire industry suffers from oversupply and intense competition from home and abroad. The sheer number of brands, combined with owners having to sell out last year’s vintage at (or below) cost, is a constant anchor on price. Estate wineries have high fixed costs and require large marketing dollars, making volume the key profit driver. We need more volume to make our goal of consistent, yearly cash flows a reality. From 2011 Annual Report: Wineries The Company’s winery operations are managed under the umbrella name, Crimson Wine Group (“Crimson”). Crimson is engaged in the production and sale of premium, ultra premium and luxury wines (i.e., wines that retail for $10 to $14, $14 to $25 and over $25 per 750ml bottle, respectively). Crimson is headquartered in Napa, California and owns four wineries: Pine Ridge Vineyards, Archery Summit, Chamisal Vineyards and Seghesio Family Vineyards. Pine Ridge was acquired in 1991 and has been conducting operations since 1978, the Company started Archery Summit in 1993, Chamisal Vineyards was acquired during 2008 and has been conducting operations since 1973, and Seghesio Family Vineyards was acquired in 2011 and has been conducting operations since 1895. Crimson controls approximately 188 acres of vineyards in the Napa Valley, California, 120 acres of vineyards in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 97 acres of vineyards in the Edna Valley, California, 231 acres in the Alexander Valley, California and 68 acres in the Russian River Valley, California, substantially all of which are owned and producing grapes. Additionally, in 2005 and 2006, the Company acquired an aggregate of 611 acres of land in the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington’s Columbia Valley, of which approximately 87 acres have been developed into producing vineyards. At December 31, 2011, the net book value of the Company’s aggregate investment in Crimson was $177,096,000. During 2011, Crimson sold approximately 212,000 9-liter equivalent cases of wine generating revenues of $36,864,000. Crimson’s wines are primarily sold to distributors, who then sell to retailers and restaurants. Consolidation at the distributor and retail level has increased which has added competitive pressure to increase marketing and sales spending and constrain pricing. As permitted under federal and local regulations, Crimson has also been placing increasing emphasis on direct sales to consumers, which they are able to do through the internet, wine clubs and at the wineries’ tasting rooms. During 2011, direct sales to consumers represented 15% of case sales and 39% of wine revenues. Seghesio Family Vineyards has historically sold approximately 19% of its production to international markets, which Crimson expects to continue and expand with the export of products from its other wineries. Changes to the business, from 2011 Annual Report: Crimson Wine Group In our 2009 letter, we stated “…we have streamlined our operations…now we need more volume.” And again last year, “We need more volume to make our goal of consistent, yearly cash flows a reality.” We are happy to report that on May 31, 2011, we put our money where our mouths were with the acquisition of Seghesio Family Vineyards. Seghesio was established by Edoardo Seghesio in 1895 as California Bonded Winery #56 and was one of a few out of 3,000 wineries to survive Prohibition. During the following century Edoardo and his descendants collected 299 prime Zinfandel growing acres in the Alexander and Russian River Valleys of Sonoma County, California. On several fronts, the addition of Seghesio is a game changer. With annual sales of over 100,000 9-liter equivalent cases, Seghesio increases the annual volume of our Crimson Wine Group by nearly 70%. This additional volume provides Crimson with the scale and market power to improve margins and bring cash to the bottom line. Seghesio’s leading category Zinfandels perfectly complement Crimson’s Pine Ridge, Archery Summit and Chamisal portfolios, offering customers a one-stop shop for premium American wines. In seven of the last 11 years, Seghesio has produced one of the Wine Spectator’s top 100 wines, including Seghesio’s 2009 Home Ranch which was ranked #12 this year (95 points) and – sorry – is already sold out. The best way to ensure access to the 2010 vintages is to quickly join Seghesio’s wine club at www.seghesio.com. Don’t wait, do it now! ... While we are certainly excited about our latest addition, Crimson’s other wineries continue to grow. In 2011, Crimson sold 212,000 cases, including some from Seghesio for part of the year. Highlights from the other wineries include: • Pine Ridge Vineyards (188 acres) in Napa Valley, California - While luxury-priced wines continue to sail into the headwind of a difficult economy, two non-estate brands produced by Pine Ridge are thriving. Demand continues to exceed our ability to produce Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier. Despite producing 26,000 more cases in 2011 than in 2010, we didn’t have enough! The ForeFront brand was launched in 2009 as wines that “over deliver on quality at their price.” ForeFront sales continued to grow in 2011. • Archery Summit (120 acres) in Willamette Valley, Oregon - A bevy of 90+ scores from Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate were awarded to our 2009 vintages, including 93s for our Red Hills, Looney, Arcus and Estate vineyard wines. Most of these tasty wines are only available to members of the Archery Summit wine club. • Chamisal Vineyards (97 acres) in Edna Valley, California - Since acquiring Chamisal in 2008, 1,000 new customers have joined the wine club. Boosted by critical praise, Chamisal’s Stainless Chardonnay is experiencing significant growth. Despite these positive prospects, we experienced a significant setback in our Washington vineyards. Mother Nature reminded us again of the risks involved in this business. In 2005, we purchased 611 acres in the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington’s Columbia Valley. We chose this location because it is known to produce magnificent wine and importantly, our neighbors had not experienced a freeze event since 1973. In 2007, we planted 87 acres of vineyards that were thriving until November 24, 2010, when temperatures dipped to -7°F for ninety minutes. While we held out hope the vines could be saved, the prudent thing proved to be to prune them to ground and to essentially start over. We are told that the 2012 crop will be back to roughly 75% of a full crop … unless there is another freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racemize Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm also fairly interested in the Crimson Wine one, as I'm a LUK shareholder. It might be worth "spinning off" that content into its own thread... Ok, that was terrible, but whatever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 I had seen the Yacktman article and that persuaded me that it was probably not interesting. Two other spinoffs you might look at are STRZA (potential acquisition rumors) and SWY (IPOing Blackhawk in a few months). http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/05/us-safeway-blackhawk-idUSBRE8841G720120905 I'm currently in STRZ.A, it's a classic Malone spin-off that's quite undervalued compared to others in its industry... Gates Capital and SAC have made big splashes recently with 5% shares o/s positions respectively Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyten1 Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 yours truly do you have the latest financials for strza? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netnet Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 Here is a link to Horizon Kinetics' Spinoff discussion, that was a quarterly commentary. (They are value investors that some on the board like.) They mention Liberty and Sears: http://www.horizonkinetics.com/docs/Spin_Commentary_September2012.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racemize Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 There's been some updates to this one, and the spinoff will happen on June 23, I believe. Here's the updated form 10: http://investor.newscorp.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-13-235916 and here's an investor presentation: http://www.newscorp.com/investor/download/InvestorPresentation.pdf Slide 141 shows free cash flow of 408 million for 2012. The previous slide shows EBITDA, but couldn't tell if the foxtel should be added in addition to the 750 or so million for the 9 month period. If so, the 2012 FCF could be a significant underestimation of go forward FCF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phaceliacapital Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Anyone else noticed that the Australian ADRs have already been split?? Same record date but different ex date.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay21 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 This has begun when issued trading (http://www.stockspinoffs.com/2013/06/19/news-corp-publishing-business-and-21st-century-fox-begin-when-issued-trading/) I feel like we missed the boat on NWS when the phone hacking scandal was in the news. Now, I might start looking at the FOX business as that is probably where the higher quality assets are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpRaider Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 i'm watching to see if new news corp gets dumped after the split. It sets up like it might, because it will be the slower growing side and the shaer ratio will make it a stub position for a lot of SH. It would have to be pretty cheap though, because controlling SH could make uneconomic choices, especially if he just wants to hold on to the assets for prestige and/or influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpRaider Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Surprised to see NWS up a lot and FOX down on day one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racemize Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Surprised to see NWS up a lot and FOX down on day one... Yeah, I was watching this one, but it looks like people were pretty impressed with the presentation they gave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmichaud Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 Deutsche Bank deep-dive on the new News Corp. Looks quite attractive 8)NWS_Deep_Dive_DB_Report_May_2013.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmichaud Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Here is a more recent DB initiation. NWS_DB_Report_July_2013.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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