Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin (
ALEX
), a
Bill Ackman
holding, has separated into two stand-alone, publicly traded
companies, as tends to happen with Ackman's holdings.
ALEX is a combination of three disparate businesses - ocean
transportation and logistics services, real estate and
agribusiness. The separation of the transportation and land
businesses took place on June 29 after the company's board
approved the plan on June 8. The transportation spin-off will
begin trading on the NYSE on July 2 as Matson Inc. (
MATX
). Both of the companies will have more than $1 billion in
assets, 1,000 employees and strong cash flow.
Ackman purchased 8.57% of ALEX in the first quarter of 2011,
which he disclosed through a 13D (activist) filing. When he
bought the shares, the company had just issued poor guidance for
its shipping business, expecting a first-quarter loss due to high
fuel prices. The other two businesses, real estate and
agribusiness, both had positive outlooks.
In the first quarter of 2012, ALEX's Ocean Transportation revenue
increased 17 percent from the year-ago quarter due primarily to
higher rates reflecting higher fuel prices, as well as volume
growth. Operating profit increased 50%. The Logistics Services
division's revenue slipped 5 percent, primarily due to decreased
volume. Operating profit decreased $1.2 million to $0.3 million.
Though Ackman is not named publicly as a catalyst for the
spin-off, he performed a similar operation on Fortune Brands (
FBHS
), a conglomerate composed of diverse liquor, home furnishing,
hardware, golf products and home security businesses. After
purchasing a sizable activist position in the company, Ackman was
instrumental in spinning off two businesses into publicly traded
companies, Fortune Brands Home & Security (
FBHS
) and BEAM (
BEAM
), in October 2011.
After the spin-off, Ackman has 3,644,870 shares of the new
company, Matson Inc., and 3,644,870 shares of Alexander &
Baldwin.
See
Bill Ackman
's portfolio
here
. Also check out the
Undervalued Stocks
, Top Growth Companies, and High Yield stocks of Bill
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