TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) has been one of the few bright spots in retail of late. As the parent company of TJMaxx and Marshall's. TJX has benefited from bargain-hungry consumers hell-bent on avoiding retail prices.
In a press release issued Tuesday afternoon, TJX announced that it was selling its Bob's Stores chain, which it acquired in December of 2003. In its most recent 10-K, TJX described Bob's as a "value-oriented, branded apparel chain based in the Northeastern United States that offers casual, family apparel. Bob's Stores' target customer demographic spans the moderate-to upper-middle income bracket." The chain consists of 34 stores.
The chain expects to record a charge of $15 million (3 cents per share) on the sale, and expects net cash proceeds of $23 million. The buyers are private equity firms Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital.
Citigroup analyst Kimberly Greenberger told investors that "TJX's sale of Bob's will help (management) maintain focus on its core off-price business model as Bob's was the only non-off-price division in TJX's portfolio of brands and was not a strategic fit in our view."
Perhaps: but given the lack of investor appetite for retail chains in the current environment, and the state of the credit markets, TJX must have really wanted to get rid of Bob's: now! You just don't see a lot of retailers divesting bad acquisitions to focus on "core strengths" right now.
But given the tremendous performance TJX has shown of late, it's hard to argue with anything its management does.
Posted Aug 19th 2008 10:23AM by Tom Taulli Filed under: Deals
One of my favorite restaurants is Romano's Macaroni Grill, which has a great ambiance and menu. Well, the private equity firm -- Golden Gate Capital – also likes the place. In fact, it has agreed to pay $131.5 million for a majority stake. The current owner is Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT), which is the operator of Chili's Grill & Bar, Maggiano's Little Italy and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.
Romano's has 226 locations across the U.S. But while they are high-quality, the fact remains that the current economic environment has had a dampening effect and in the prior quarter same-store sells fell 5.7%. Brinker has actually tried to sell the division for about a year. Interestingly enough, there will also be an impairment charge for $42 million to $47 million on the transaction.
Brinker will keep a 20% position. But the most important thing is that the company will get a nice slug of cash – which is certainly much desired nowadays.
The troubled Wall Street bank, which reportedly is set to take a $4 billion write down in the third quarter, is desperate to raise capital. The Wall Street Journal says it's shopping around its investment management business, which includes Neuberger Berman. During the second quarter, the business reported net revenue of $800 million, down from $1 billion a year earlier. Its assets under management were $277 billion. Though these results were hardly spectacular, they stood in contrast to the Capital Markets business, which reported negative revenue of $2.4 billion.
Selling the asset management business would bring in between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to analysts cited by the Journal. Lehman's market capitalization now stands at about $10.4 billion thanks to the 77% decline in the stock price this year.
"Any change in the unit's ownership structure would be bittersweet for Lehman," according to the Journal. "The division has been a strong performer ever since Lehman bought it in 2003, holding up well despite the mortgage crisis. While a sale would give Lehman a cash infusion, the investment bank would lose a steady source of revenue."
Lehman acquired Neuberger for $2.6 billion in 2003, and some unhappy Neuberger executives are eager to dump their shares, the paper said.
Not all investors, however, believe that all hope is lost. Lehman's shares rose Friday on a report that billionaire George Soros boosted his stake in the company.
If the sale goes through, there is no way that Lehman will be able to remain independent.
Can you believe the drama going on between Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) has dragged on for this long? I can't. According to this article, EA has let its current bid expire and intends on checking out additional stats behind the company in an effort to think more about what Take-Two has to offer and what its true value might be. The company behind the Grand Theft Auto series of mature-rated games is offering to give EA a presentation that includes non-public data.
EA really wants this deal. So does Take-Two. EA believes that it needs a super-franchise that goes beyond its sports dominance, and it feels that Grand Theft Auto would be one heck of an asset to own. It's true. EA would probably benefit from the title, and it might get the company's stock out of its current doldrums. And in a world where Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) is benefiting greatly from an acquisition and a merger -- Guitar Hero and Vivendi Games, respectively -- one cannot blame EA, I suppose, for keeping the dream alive.
EA is in something of a bad spot because, at this point, it probably will have to raise the bid on Take-Two. I think the market will ultimately be disappointed if EA doesn't get Grand Theft Auto (and BioShock, for that matter). It will be perceived as a failure on management's part, and shareholders will wonder where the growth will be coming from, and what catalysts can be counted on to drive the stock price higher in this tough economic environment.
U.S. stock futures were lower Tuesday morning, indicating stocks would likely start the same. Investors' concerns about the financial sector dampened sentiment, but oil prices continued to decline and could offset some of the negative mood. Still, housing and inflation data are on tap before the market opens today. And of course earnings with The Home Depot already beating investors' expectations this morning but with Staples issuing a warning.
A day after smaller Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) reported a profit drop, The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) followed suit, reporting a 24% profit decline for the second quarter. It held onto its earnings outlook as second-quarter net fell 24% to $1.2 billion, or 71 cents per share. Sales declined 5.4% to $21 billion. Analysts had projected earnings per share of 61 cents on revenue of $20.58 billion. Home Depot shares rose 2% in premarket trading.
Other retailers scheduled to release earnings include discounter Target (NYSE: TGT) -- could it follow Wal-Mart's results? -- while Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is to report after the close -- AP preview.
Meanwhile, Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) issued a profit warning, saying that "Challenging market conditions continued during the company's second quarter, resulting in weaker than anticipated results in Staples' pre-acquisition business." Staples said sales increased approximately 3% and earnings per share decreased approximately 15% yoy. Shares of Staples declined nearly 6.5% in premarket trading.
For hungry Wall Street investment bankers, the $45 billion merger of InBev and Anheuser-Busch Cos. (NASDAQ: BUD) is a nice relief. Yes, it means lots of juicy fees.
Another big winner is Busch IV (the CEO of Anheuser). Apparently, he is negotiating a consulting agreement that may exceed $10 million (there will be a $120,000 monthly retainer through December 31, 2013).
But according to a piece in Reuters, the transaction may have a dark side. Simply put, it hasn't been easy to raise the debt financing. As a result, this may crowd out some of the financing of other M&A deals.
The high rates on the InBev financing is likely to push up other debt costs on other pending transactions. What's more, there will be a flood of bond issuances on the market, which will put further pressure on the debt markets.
In other words, we may see a slowdown in M&A activity for the rest of the year -- except for those buyers that have substantial balance sheets.
U.S. stock futures turned higher Monday morning despite a dip in the dollar and oil prices rising somewhat. Investors may focus on the financial sector again following some news while they await housing data later today. More inflation data is due Tuesday.
UnionBanCal (NYSE: UB) accepted a sweetened bid from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU). After rejecting two previous offers, UB accepted MTU's offer to pay $3.5 billion, or $73.50 a share, for the remaining 35% portion of the California bank that it doesn't already own. UB shares are trading 11.85% higher in premarket action.
Staying in financials, Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) may see some action after The Wall Street Journal said some analysts believe it could lose $1.8 billion during the quarter. LEH shares are 2% lower in premarket trading. Meanwhile, Barron's said a government recapitalization of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) is almost inevitable, wiping out investors -- and management. Shares are 2% and 6% lower respectively in premarket trading.
Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), the home improvement retail chain, reported results this morning. Lowe's profit fell for the fourth straight quarter as the biggest U.S. housing slump since the Great Depression slowed spending. Net income declined 7.9% to $938 million, or 64 cents a share, exceeding analysts' estimates by 8 cents. Sales rose to $14.5 billion from $14.2 billion. Lowe's raised guidance, but stayed within estimates.
Contrary to recent media speculation, leading Indian SUV-maker Mahindra & Mahindra is not interested in acquiring the Hummer brand that General Motors (NYSE: GM) is desperately trying to unload.
Managing director Anand Mahindra told reporters on Monday that his company is not interested in the Hummer, which leads us to one conclusion: Mahindra & Mahindra is not stupid.
In a related story, Reuters is reporting that China's Hunan Changfeng Motor Co. had preliminary talks with GM about acquiring the brand, but it also backed out pretty quickly.
This is another setback for General Motors, but it's not surprising: in addition to being hugely uneconomical in the face of high gas prices, the Hummer is also something of an international symbol of environmental destruction, and masculine posturing at its lowest ebb, as evidenced by this crude bumper sticker.
I'll be fascinated to see who ends up buying Hummer, if anyone. Given the state of the economy, the credit markets, and gas prices, it wouldn't be surprising to see GM forced to keep it.
With the share prices of most of the financials in the toilet, and hundreds of billions in writedowns done and hundreds of billions more to come, UBS has laid out plans for a break-up, the question is being raised about other financial conglomaterates, most notably Citigroup: does the business model of a huge banking conglomerate that handles all aspects of commerce make sense?
From a risk management, it doesn't appear to -- and that was one of the main arguments put forth by consolidation evangelists like Sandy Weil.
The current mess appears to be demonstrating what many skeptical observers have suggested -- and studies have demonstrated -- for decades: mergers and acquisitions and other methods of corporate deckchair arrangements don't add value. In the end, the whole is the sum of the parts.
But that raises the question: why break them up? If stringing them together into a conglomerate didn't change anything, is there any reason to think that breaking up will change anything? I doubt it.
The bottom line is that all the mergers and acquisitions and spin-offs and break-ups are just a distraction from the real business.
For the most part, the Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS) unsolicited offer for Mentor Graphics (NASDAQ: MENT) was a smart move (both companies are leaders in semiconductor design software). This transaction would be a critical part of consolidation in the industry.
However, on Friday, Cadence decided to drop its $1.6 billion bid. As a result, the shares of Mentor plunged 25%.
What happened here? Well, according to Cadence, it looks like the board of Mentor didn't want to open its books (although, Mentor disputes this). Another issue is antitrust. Oh, and with the credit crunch, it's still pretty tough getting financing.
Perhaps the big problem is the slowing economy, which is putting pressure on the semiconductor industry. After all, Cadence posted weak Q2 results, and the outlook looks dismal.
Whatever the reasons, Wall Street likes the result. On the news, Cadence's share increased 6.7%.
As if the getting-older-by-the-minute Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) didn't need another mark against it, the internet pioneer and stubborn company recently provided information on the costs it incurred in fending off a successful Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) bid this summer. The final tab: $36 million.
Much of this tab was with advisory and law firms that helped the company deal with Microsoft along with a proxy battle by Carl Icahn that was settled just a few weeks ago with the installment of some Icahn puppets as board directors.
As a Yahoo! investor, are you pleased with the way Yahoo! has defended itself? Would the company be better suited for long-term success as a Microsoft division, or going at it alone as it has been?
How about the company taking $36 million from its cash pile to pay for all those consultants and attorneys? Was all the effort and expense in the best interest of the Yahoo! shareholder? Oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens doesn't think so -- but what about you?
SPWR opened this morning at $87.64. So far today the stock has hit a low of $87.57 and a high of $93.93. As of 12:55, SPWR is trading at $93.26, up $14.69 (18.7%). The chart for SPWR looks neutral and S&P gives SPWR a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.
For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bull-put credit spread below the $55 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think, but willstill leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in just four months as long as SPWR is above $55 at December expiration. Sunpower would have to fall by more than 40% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.
SPWR hasn't been below $55 since March and has shown support around $71 recently. With the way the political climate is shaping up, it looks like some form of solar power should be here for quite a while.
DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in SPWR.
U.S. stock futures were higher Friday morning, indicating stock markets could possibly extend Thursday's rally as the dollar rose and oil prices fell further. The dollar continues to make gains on the back of growing evidence of global economic softness. Still, several economic readings are due out today, including the New York Empire State manufacturing index , capacity utilization and industrial production -- all before the opening bell.
Kohl's Corp shares could start higher as premarket indication has them trading 2.3% higher, while Nordstrom's are trading 4% lower in premarket action. Kohl's quarterly profit fell 12% from a year ago, but the retailer lifted its fiscal year profit forecast. Meanwhile, upper scale Nordstrom, reported a 21% drop in second-quarter profits and cut full year outlook.
ANF said second-quarter profit fell on lower sales of jeans and T-shirts and forecast full-year earnings per share that trailed some analysts' estimates. JCP also saw profit decline but beat estimates and issued lower guidance.
Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) shares are trading 10% higher in premarket action after the design software maker reported stronger-than-forecast second-quarter earnings Thursday after the close.
Heelys (NASDAQ: HLYS) has looked interesting to me for the past few months. Sure, it's a fad product that's way past its prime but look at the balance sheet: the stock is trading very close to its book value and has $96 million in cash on the balance sheet, compared with a market cap of just over $130 million. The company also has no debt.
Apparently Skechers (NASDAQ: SKX) sees some value here too. In a press release issued after the close of the market yesterday, Skechers announced that, on May 28th of this year, it had made a formal proposal to acquire Heelys. The proposal was rejected without being disclosed to shareholders, and now Skechers is taking the battle to the streets, offering to acquire the entire company for $5.25 per share, a premium of just 8.2% to Tuesday's closing price.
Shares of Heelys traded up to $5.35 after-hours, indicating that investors anticipate that Skechers -- or someone else -- may come through with a more compelling offer.
From a corporate governance and transparency perspective, I think it's disappointing that Heelys didn't disclose the original offer to its shareholders. But given the state of the economy, and its beaten down share price, Heelys can probably make a strong case for staying the course as a stand-alone company, at least for now. If Skechers really wants Heelys, it will up the offer -- the company has to realize that a premium of 8.2% is just not very compelling.
Given the interest in Heelys, you also have to wonder whether fellow fallen angel of footwear fads Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) could also end up in play soon.
Today was another very volatile day with stocks posting triple-digit DJIA losses. Shares opened and traded lower, then recovered sharply before falling back down at the end of the day. Oil and commodities rose. Oil was up over $3.00 to over the $116 a barrel mark on soft inventory levels and reports Russia is seizing a Georgian pipeline. With gold rising almost $17.00 and the dollar falling, it almost felt like the commodity trades were coming back on. There was a drop in import prices, but that wasn't enough to keep the bears from roaring today.
Here are Wednesday's unofficial closing bell numbers:
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) saw shares down marginally today as the stock was down 0.8% at $498.53 in the final minutes before the close. Jim Cramer interviewed Google's CEO & Chairman on CNBC today and he brought back that $750 Target.
TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) has been one of the few bright spots in retail of late. As the parent company of TJMaxx and Marshall's. TJX has benefited from bargain-hungry consumers hell-bent on avoiding retail prices.
One of my favorite restaurants is Romano's Macaroni Grill, which has a great ambiance and menu. Well, the private equity firm -- Golden Gate Capital – also likes the place. In fact, it has 
and 
. He also operates 
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
U.S. stock futures were lower Tuesday morning, indicating stocks would likely start the same. Investors' concerns about the financial sector dampened sentiment, but oil prices continued to decline and could offset some of the negative mood. Still, housing and inflation data are on tap before the market opens today. And of course earnings with The Home Depot already beating investors' expectations this morning but with Staples issuing a warning.
For hungry Wall Street investment bankers, the $45 billion merger of InBev and 
U.S. stock futures turned higher Monday morning despite a dip in the dollar and 
Contrary to recent media speculation, leading Indian SUV-maker Mahindra & Mahindra is not interested in acquiring the Hummer brand that 
For the most part, the 
As if the getting-older-by-the-minute 
Slow approach to raising bank capital loses the race against write-offs
Cramer on BloggingStocks: The SEC's waffling will be deadly
How Fannie and Freddie will fail
