St. Louis Corporate Mergers, Acquisitions & Relocations

STLEnginerd · PostNov 18, 2022#15262022-11-18T21:49+00:00

MRNHS wrote: ↑
Nov 18, 2022
I mean, I agree (sadly) with all of this for a company like Energizer/Bunge/etc. However, moving down by the stadium actually seems like a good business move here. You are trying to increase your visibility and you are creating an interactive experience and museum to drive revenue and build brand awareness. Busch Stadium draws ~3M baseball fans a year from all over the country (and beyond). Will some of these fans make their way to Westport? Maybe. Would many many more go to the museum and "immersive experience" if it was right next to the ballpark (and possibly hotel) they are already going to? Seems like a very easy decision to me. This, to me, is akin to putting the Cardinals museum in south county. If the goal was cheap/convenient office space, then this move isn't really all that questionable. The "miss" comes from the fact that they are looking to do more beyond just having an office.

I mean, what do people do in Louisville? You hit the bourbon trail, some of the bourbon bars downtown, go to the Louisville Slugger museum, etc. Where do we take out of towners that come to STL? Among other things, the standard for most of us is Arch grounds, City Museum, City Garden, AB Brewery tour, and a Cardinals game, including BPV and the Cardinals museum (if they like the Cardinals). I'm not sure how many out of towners will go to Westport for this museum, I doubt I'll ever take anyone there...

Yeah, and cost of office space isn't really a fair point either. The westport space is not exactly free and they are talking significant upgrades with this development. There are plenty of places that are stadium adjacent that would be comparable cost wise, that aren't in the brand-new ballpark village though there is a strong case to be made that it would worth it to go there. I mean how many people are we talking here.

Fundamentally either the CEO doesn't want to work downtown or they feel their employees don't want to. Why...? Drive Distance, Parking, Perceived Safety Issues. Who knows.

The 360 type bar is cool but they won't have the same view.

ldai_phs · PostNov 18, 2022#15272022-11-18T21:51+00:00

STLEnginerd wrote:
MRNHS wrote: ↑
Nov 18, 2022
I mean, I agree (sadly) with all of this for a company like Energizer/Bunge/etc. However, moving down by the stadium actually seems like a good business move here. You are trying to increase your visibility and you are creating an interactive experience and museum to drive revenue and build brand awareness. Busch Stadium draws ~3M baseball fans a year from all over the country (and beyond). Will some of these fans make their way to Westport? Maybe. Would many many more go to the museum and "immersive experience" if it was right next to the ballpark (and possibly hotel) they are already going to? Seems like a very easy decision to me. This, to me, is akin to putting the Cardinals museum in south county. If the goal was cheap/convenient office space, then this move isn't really all that questionable. The "miss" comes from the fact that they are looking to do more beyond just having an office.

I mean, what do people do in Louisville? You hit the bourbon trail, some of the bourbon bars downtown, go to the Louisville Slugger museum, etc. Where do we take out of towners that come to STL? Among other things, the standard for most of us is Arch grounds, City Museum, City Garden, AB Brewery tour, and a Cardinals game, including BPV and the Cardinals museum (if they like the Cardinals). I'm not sure how many out of towners will go to Westport for this museum, I doubt I'll ever take anyone there...
Yeah, and cost of office space isn't really a fair point either. The westport space is not exactly free and they are talking significant upgrades with this development. There are plenty of places that are stadium adjacent that would be comparable cost wise, that aren't in the brand-new ballpark village though there is a strong case to be made that it would worth it to go there. I mean how many people are we talking here.

Fundamentally either the CEO doesn't want to work downtown or they feel their employees don't want to. Why...? Drive Distance, Parking, Perceived Safety Issues. Who knows.

The 360 type bar is cool but they won't have the same view.

Westport is a great option and easy to see how they landed there…….. if downtown isn’t on your list of areas to evaluate at all

dredger · PostNov 18, 2022#15282022-11-18T22:15+00:00

When it comes to Rawlings. I can see BPV/Cordish/DeWitt asking maybe too much from Rawlings and or even Rawlings wanting some separation from a specific major league team as it sells to the sport itself W

What I'm curious is that I believe LHM is pretty much the developer/driving force behind Westport and Union Station downtown. If so, I wonder if LHM pitched both locations?

From LHM perspective a move to Westport or LHM would to me seems like a win win for them either way. To me the experience aspect like a few have already commented on is being downtown near a large number of visitors and three pro sports franchises seems like a no brainer.

jshank83 · PostNov 19, 2022#15292022-11-19T14:57+00:00

For what they want to put in at Westport I’m not sure that option is available at BVP without building another building, and I’m not sure how long they would have to wait for that to happen.

Now could have they moved in somewhere up the block and done it? I’d assume yes, without really knowing what is available around, but assuming there has to be the space, but if it’s not in view of tv cameras or very close, maybe it gets to they won’t get the visibility they want anyway.

Not that that isn’t a reason to still go downtown but that’s really the only perspective I can think of as to why to do Westport instead of downtown. Putting it at Westport means banking on residents more than tourists, which I’m not sure is the best move.

GoHarvOrGoHome · PostNov 19, 2022#15302022-11-19T16:47+00:00

Rumors that Rawlings was looking for a new location have been going on for years now. I guarantee they were on the Bill DeWitt's short list for companies to recruit for 6 Cardinal Way before they went after PWC or started that coworking space.

Even if it required a new building, if Rawlings was actually interested that building would be half constructed by now.

sc4mayor · PostNov 19, 2022#15312022-11-19T17:08+00:00

I think Rawlings took around 39,000 square feet for their office in Westport. The Pennant building only has about 16,000 square feet available (from what I can tell).

I’m not sure that 39,000 square feet would be a large enough tenant to launch another building, even if Rawlings wanted to be downtown.

Honestly, I have no problem with them keeping office space in the County…to me the head scratcher is putting the retail/museum/“immersive experience” for the fans there. That should be at BPV even if it meant putting that stuff off for a couple years until additional retail space could be built out. Last year, nearly 3.5 million folks walked through the turnstiles at Busch and that doesn’t include all the folks hanging out at BPV to watch games and other events. I’m not saying it won’t be successful at Westport…but it probably isn’t going to print money like it would have next to Busch.

dbInSouthCity · PostNov 20, 2022#15322022-11-20T00:04+00:00

39,000 sq for 150 employees? I don’t even let 2 star generals have 260 sq feet offices at the Air Force

JJ Taino · PostNov 20, 2022#15332022-11-20T01:08+00:00

OPSEC!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

symphonicpoet · PostNov 21, 2022#15342022-11-21T04:39+00:00

^^That 39K figure includes the museum/experience, right? And maybe also the restaurant? Or am I misreading something?

sc4mayor · PostNov 21, 2022#15352022-11-21T16:26+00:00

^

Rawlings, which was founded in the region in 1887, was a major score for Westport. The sports equipment manufacturer will occupy around 39,000 square feet of office space at Westport’s Gold Tower Building by 2023. It will take over a little more than 13,000 square feet for its store by early 2024. O’Loughlin said Rawlings will boost Westport’s office occupancy to 92%.

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... 67b19.html

kota · PostFeb 09, 2023#15362023-02-09T05:28+00:00

Post Holdings purchases select pet food lines from J.M. Smucker Co.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-rele ... er-Co.html

"ST. LOUIS, Feb. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: Post) (“Post”), a consumer packaged goods holding company, announced today it has signed a definitive agreement in which Post will acquire select pet food brands from The J.M. Smucker Co. for $1.2 billion. The transaction includes leading dog and cat food brands such as Rachael Ray® Nutrish®, Nature’s Recipe®, 9Lives®, Kibbles ‘n Bits® and Gravy Train® (the “Pet Food Brands”), which together generated net sales of $1.4 billion in the year ended April 30, 2022."

PostFeb 09, 2023#15372023-02-09T17:33+00:00

A couple of follow up points on Post Holdings.

Post Holdings states in their press release that they anticipate making further acquisitions in the pet food space.

"The acquisition will provide Post with a compelling entry point into the attractive and growing pet food category. Post is acquiring an established, scaled position in the mainstream and entry premium sub-categories. Post management expects there to be additional opportunities for future investments in the pet food category."

Post Holdings barely missed making the Fortune 500 in 2022. This acquisition should push revenues past $7.5 billion and enable the company to regain entry onto that list in 2024.

Post Holdings wouldn't have dropped out of the Fortune 500 list if it had not spun off Bellring Brands as a separate publicly listed, St Louis-based company in early 2022. Bellring Brands' revenues are around $1.2 billion.

Post Holdings, in conjunction with Thomas H Lee Partners, also took private 8th Avenue Foods, a private label food manufacturer in 2018. 8th Avenue Foods has revenues approaching $1 billion and opened a new 250K sq ft factory in Hazelwood during the 1st Q of 2022 to prep and package snack nuts, trail mix and dried fruit for customers.

Post Holdings: St Louis' other quiet giant.

sc4mayor · PostFeb 09, 2023#15382023-02-09T17:38+00:00

I do a ton of work with 8th Avenue, I did not know Post was involved behind the scenes there...that's pretty cool. It'll be nice to see Post back on the F500 list again.

Trololzilla · PostFeb 10, 2023#15392023-02-10T09:17+00:00

Hopefully 8th Ave's management is more useful nowadays than they were a couple years ago when I had to deal with them semi-regularly.

moorlander · PostFeb 13, 2023#15402023-02-13T19:45+00:00

We are the pet food capital of the world!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

gone corporate · PostMar 14, 2023#15412023-03-14T16:20+00:00

Not M&A or a relocation, however comparably significant nonetheless...

Bunge (BG) is to replace Signature Bank (SBNY) as a component company on the S&P 500 Index. That brings STL to 4 components, along with Ameren (AEE), Centene (CNC), and Emerson (EMR). Good times.

framer · PostMar 14, 2023#15422023-03-14T19:17+00:00

Based on what criteria are companies selected for the S&P?

kota · PostMar 14, 2023#15432023-03-14T22:40+00:00

Terramac, a subsidiary of CK Power, will open a new plant in North St Louis to assemble rubber-tracked crawler carriers.

https://lawnandlandscape.com/news/terra ... -st-louis/

“It’s an exciting time for Terramac," says Warner Fencl, vice president of manufacturing and process improvement of CK Power Family Companies, Terramac's parent company. "We took an existing older, shuttered 100,000 square foot complex located on eight acres in an industrial area of North St Louis and are returning it to manufacturing. We designed the facility for efficiency and productivity with the ability to quickly changeover from one model to another as demand necessitates.”

“We are excited about revitalizing the plant facility, as well as the neighboring area. Our plans to ultimately hire more than 100 employees over the next couple years drawing from the local workforce will help support our goals for the company and the community,” says JJ Costello, vice president of business development of CK Power Family of Companies."

shadrach · PostMar 14, 2023#15442023-03-14T22:48+00:00

Saw this news the other day, didn’t say where the new facility is. Glad to see they’re reclaiming manufacturing space in North City. (Thought it might out in Wentzville or Fenton) Thanks for sharing.

sc4mayor · PostMar 14, 2023#15452023-03-14T23:47+00:00

I saw this a few weeks ago. Do these relatively small job count facilities/projects need their own threads though? Legit asking…I’m in the no camp myself. These minor industrial projects draw almost no activity here.

Seems they could probably fit in this thread…
st-louis-corporate-mergers-acquisitions ... s1525.html

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 · PostMar 15, 2023#15462023-03-15T14:41+00:00

framer wrote: ↑
Mar 14, 2023
Based on what criteria are companies selected for the S&P?

500 largest (market cap)

framer · PostMar 15, 2023#15472023-03-15T19:13+00:00

Graybar has quietly passed $10 billion in annual sales for the first time.

STLEnginerd · PostMar 15, 2023#15482023-03-15T19:22+00:00

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑
Mar 15, 2023
framer wrote: ↑
Mar 14, 2023
Based on what criteria are companies selected for the S&P?
500 largest (market cap)

Mostly true, it can be a little subjective. They don't like volatility in a single stock and they don't like changing the companies in the index too much for a similar reason. If it was strictly market cap there would be a massive amount of buying and selling at the bottom of the index.

They drug their feet on adding Tesla until they were #6 by market cap which is somewhat ridiculous but there was a fair argument that adding them would crash the whole index because market cap valuation was so suspect.

kota · PostMar 15, 2023#15492023-03-15T20:02+00:00

In line with Framer's comment on Graybar, I saw in a recent press release that WWT's revenue is now $17 billion.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... -Solutions

"ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World Wide Technology (WWT), a global technology solutions provider with $17 billion in annual revenue..."

dbInSouthCity · PostMar 15, 2023#15502023-03-15T20:15+00:00

What is it exactly that WWT does? middleman between makers and end-users?

St. Louis Corporate Mergers, Acquisitions & Relocations

Choose Display Mode