^ I was hoping you'd chime in with some details as you've got a better understanding of this stuff than I do. Thanks for the information!
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Only tangentially related to St. Louis, but multiple news agencies are reporting that Six Flags Corp. has extended a cash-and-stock offer to purchase Cedar Fair, parent company of parks such as Cedar Point, King's Island, and Worlds of Fun. Doubt a merger happens, but could be extremely interesting to see what happens with that and what effect, if any, it might have on both the theme park industry as a whole and our local Six Flags park.
EDIT: As predicted, the deal was rejected by Cedar Fair, who felt the $4B offer was too low. But, will still be interesting to see what happens along those lines in the future.
EDIT: As predicted, the deal was rejected by Cedar Fair, who felt the $4B offer was too low. But, will still be interesting to see what happens along those lines in the future.
Looks like BellRing Brands the spin-off from Post will be knocking on the Top 10 of St. Louis’ publicly listed companies by market cap, as they’re seeking a valuation of $2-2.4 billion.
Unfortunately, this means Post will be dropping out of the Fortune 500, but seems like an overall positive going forward.
Separately, Peabody is on track to drop out of the Fortune 500 due to its decreasing revenues. However, Energizer should re-enter the Fortune 1000 next year following its recent battery and auto care acquisitions.
Unfortunately, this means Post will be dropping out of the Fortune 500, but seems like an overall positive going forward.
Separately, Peabody is on track to drop out of the Fortune 500 due to its decreasing revenues. However, Energizer should re-enter the Fortune 1000 next year following its recent battery and auto care acquisitions.
^ Here is the PD reporting for those interested:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... 687fe.html
Sounds like they already have selected some some office space in town as well, though a location wasn't disclosed.
Don't forget that Bunge will add to St. Louis' Fortune 500 list next year too.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... 687fe.html
Sounds like they already have selected some some office space in town as well, though a location wasn't disclosed.
Don't forget that Bunge will add to St. Louis' Fortune 500 list next year too.
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^^ My math places BellRing Brands, at that valuation, around the 14th or 15th largest by market cap. Then again, as sc4mayor points out, they'll be knocked further down the list once Bunge (7.95BB market cap) sets up their HQ in STL. It's important to also recognize that STL is home to the North American HQs of 3 non-US companies (4 if you count Anheuser-Busch) whose stocks/ADRs are publicly traded on US markets (Nestle-Purina PetCare; Bayer Crop Sciences; Bunzl) and have market cap greater than that anticipated for BellRing Brands.
I only have CNC, EMR, SF, POST, SR, ENR, OLN, RGA, AEE and BDC for an even 10, followed closely by BellRing as BDC is at about $2.4b.
Which am I missing?
Which am I missing?
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Amdocs (DOX) at 8.87BB. If you want to preemptively include Bunge (BG), that's another 7.882BB of market cap.
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... re-of.html
"Metlife to open new office, leaving future of sprawling south county campus unclear."
"Metlife to open new office, leaving future of sprawling south county campus unclear."
Says they're moving to HBE office building in Creve Coeur. 630 employees work in the building today compared to some 2200 in the early 00s.
Unsure if move affects all employees.
Unsure if move affects all employees.
dylank hit the main points, but here is the text for those that don't have a subscription:newstl2020 wrote: ↑Oct 08, 2019Any details on the new office? No bizJ subscription here.
MetLife (NYSE: MET) will open an office at the HBE building in Creve Coeur, leaving the future of its sprawling South County campus uncertain. The insurance and financial services corporation will occupy three floors of the HBE building, at 11330 Olive Blvd., according to real estate sources. It's not clear how many employees will work out of the 171,000-square-foot HBE building nor if MetLife intends to keep its south St. Louis County office, at 13045 Tesson Ferry Road. The company did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Dan Dokovic and Joel Meyer of Intelica CRE market the building on behalf of its owner, though they declined to comment for this story. At 100 acres, the sprawling corporate campus is among the largest in St. Louis with more than 600,000 square feet of office space, according to real estate data firm Reonomy. It had served as the longtime home for General American Life Insurance Co., formerly one of St. Louis' biggest privately held companies with $3.9 billion in revenue before MetLife acquired it in 1999. It had housed 2,100 General American employees at its height, but by the early 2000s the number was down to 630 people, according to a previous Business Journal report.
As of Oct. 1, 2018, MetLife employed 5,270 in the U.S., according to its most recent annual report. The company reported net income of $1.7 billion in the second quarter ended June 30, up from $845 million year over year.
Kind of a technicality, but Bunge wasn't on the Fortune 500 list this year even though their HQ was in White Plains, NY. I'm assuming this is because they are incorporated in Bermuda, not the US. So, they showed up as 247 on the Global 500, but didn't appear on the Fortune 500 even though their $45B in revenue would have placed them 68th on the list.sc4mayor wrote: ↑Oct 07, 2019^ Here is the PD reporting for those interested:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... 687fe.html
Sounds like they already have selected some some office space in town as well, though a location wasn't disclosed.
Don't forget that Bunge will add to St. Louis' Fortune 500 list next year too.
Unless they are changing where they are incorporated, and not just the HQ, I'm not sure they will actually be on the Fortune 500 list next year.
https://fortune.com/global500/2019/bunge/
DE Shaw is really pushing for a break up of Emerson:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 9b641.html
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... 9b641.html
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Shaw only own 1% and just because they say splitting the company will make money doesn't make it so. Such expectations have fallen on their face many times before.
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Here's a STL Biz Journal article on DE Shaw's arguments for splitting EMR into two companies.
They make some good points on potential share appreciation from a split in and of itself, that they could recognize a near-term 20% appreciation in stock price. Which is solid appreciation, but I'm wondering the difference between how much it would cost the company from free cash flows to split up versus how much it would recognize from asset appreciation. Meanwhile, the company may very well need its own air fleet, as Lambert Airport needs more routes. EMR has been a consistently strong booster of STL for years, encouraging more airlines, flights, and routes; I bet they have their own planes only because of their current needs, not out of excessive corporate luxury of having their own jets.
EMR has said DE Shaw's interested in leveraged recapitalization to accomplish a split, which DE Shaw has subsequently denied. I'm generally apprehensive to using levered monies to operate corporate reorganizations; adding new debt is just another risk to manage.
Maybe it's a good idea? Maybe not? We'll find out.
They make some good points on potential share appreciation from a split in and of itself, that they could recognize a near-term 20% appreciation in stock price. Which is solid appreciation, but I'm wondering the difference between how much it would cost the company from free cash flows to split up versus how much it would recognize from asset appreciation. Meanwhile, the company may very well need its own air fleet, as Lambert Airport needs more routes. EMR has been a consistently strong booster of STL for years, encouraging more airlines, flights, and routes; I bet they have their own planes only because of their current needs, not out of excessive corporate luxury of having their own jets.
EMR has said DE Shaw's interested in leveraged recapitalization to accomplish a split, which DE Shaw has subsequently denied. I'm generally apprehensive to using levered monies to operate corporate reorganizations; adding new debt is just another risk to manage.
Maybe it's a good idea? Maybe not? We'll find out.
Well the very smart people in private equity have never found a company they wouldn't like to load up with debt and cause to collapse, destroying jobs and ruining lives, just to make some money this quarter.
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Actually, private equity companies aren't really concerned with quarterly reports. Only publicly traded companies, like Emerson (NYSE: EMR), are obligated to report quarterly performance. Private equity M&A firms are instead more focused on long-term corporate strategies - whether acquisitions are reorganized or they're just capitalizing on free cash flows - for which they neither report publicly or frame up on a quarterly calendar. Not to come down too heavy here, but quarterlies really don't mean squat to P/E firms.Ebsy wrote: ↑Oct 17, 2019Well the very smart people in private equity have never found a company they wouldn't like to load up with debt and cause to collapse, destroying jobs and ruining lives, just to make some money this quarter.
Plus, DE Shaw's got the reputation to talk from the strength of their past business dealings... And we should actually be thanking them for bringing another major publicly traded company to STL, as their past corporate activism is directly causal to Bunge's reorganization that's leading them to relocate their corporate HQ to West County next year. I am glad to see EMR giving themselves a good diagnostic or self-assessment in consideration of their ideas. Since DE Shaw only has 1% of the outstanding shares, they don't in and of themselves have the capacity to force EMR's hands into a split. Still, their ideas have some merit, and I'm glad the company is considering their positions, as it's often good to have fresh eyes consider your work.
Important: EMR is not a likely buyout target. Their price/book ratio is 4.77, which I think is too damn high for Large Cap M&A (Market Cap of $41.73BB and Enterprise Value of $46.32BB). Add-in strong, consistent dividends, and no one's gonna pony up to buy the whole thing in this market environment.
FYI Here's the letter DE Shaw wrote the board and then made public.
I think our concern is less the nature of a potentially leveraged corporate division strategy as much as it is whether or not EMR would retain both potential HQs in STL. Big story here is that DE Shaw wants Emerson to split into two companies. The first would focus on industrial automation, and the second would focus on issues and innovations related to climate technology. Generally speaking, I think both would be based in STL, which is nice.
Side note: I have met and have a tremendous amount of respect for EMR's executive leadership. We can trust them to do what's right for STL as well as what's right for their own company.
While not explicitly in the name of this thread, I thought this one was best for a related, rare, and excellent subject: Initial Public Offerings.
BellRing Brands, which spun-off of Post Holdings, is now trading on the Nasdaq. Shares are up respectfully (around 14% as of this posting). Good times.
BellRing Brands, which spun-off of Post Holdings, is now trading on the Nasdaq. Shares are up respectfully (around 14% as of this posting). Good times.
^ Speaking of BellRing, here is the PD reporting on their IPO. $480 million raised.
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... the-latest
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... the-latest
David Nicklaus' take on DE Shaw's posturing for breakup of Emerson:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... c9f3c.html
https://www.stltoday.com/business/colum ... c9f3c.html
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Ingrassia introduces a bill that would repeal some of the development incentives for the Build A Bear HQ move because the company has not complied with the development agreement.
From Rachel Lippman of npr STL
“She says she is using this bill to get the attention of the developer/owner of the building, who she says hasn't given satisfactory answers to her questions about using in-state unions, paying prevailing wage, and MWBE participation”.
It seems like BaB is caught in the middle of this since they’re not the developer and are just leasing the building. Rachel goes on to say that Ingrassia said she will kill the entire deal/project if the developer doesn’t get it together
“She says she is using this bill to get the attention of the developer/owner of the building, who she says hasn't given satisfactory answers to her questions about using in-state unions, paying prevailing wage, and MWBE participation”.
It seems like BaB is caught in the middle of this since they’re not the developer and are just leasing the building. Rachel goes on to say that Ingrassia said she will kill the entire deal/project if the developer doesn’t get it together
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Killing the move of a family friendly corporate company HQ to an area that is trying to boom off of that demographic seems a bit drastic. I understand following guidelines and I agree they should follow them but outright threatening to kill it completely seems a bit insane to me.
^This is just the St. Louis way of pointing at your campaign coffers and saying, "Ahem, looks a little light..."
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Well, kind of ish. Ingrassia isn't asking for a donation to her campaign fund. I agree with her position that if the developer is receiving incentives then they need to comply with the terms of those incentives. You can't just decide you don't want to pay a prevailing wage once you get past city hall.