urbanSTL

newstl2020 wrote: ↑

Mar 08, 2018

GoneCorporate probably has much better color on the odds here, and has stated that he/she was long ESRX with the expectation of them being bought out, but I don't think it is a forgone conclusion that there isn't significant regulatory response to this tie up. There has been in the past few years. With healthcare expenses continuing to explode higher as a percentage of GDP are fewer, much larger companies controlling ever more parts of the healthcare process going to lead to lower costs? I know PBMs haven't been political favorites as of late, so that may have something to do with it.

I did get a kick out of the immediate tag line that CIGNA pushed on announcing the acquisition is that it will help lower consumer cost. I'm so tired of that BS as newstl2020 noted as healthcare expenses continues to gobble up GDP the only costs that will be lowered is corporate OH and back office. The reality is that the new tax law changes favors more acquisitions and consolidation as business get additional cash to make them happen.

The question is if CIGNA will take the Charter Communications approach of maintaining a large regional presence and take advantage of relatively low cost of business while they consolidate/maintain the executive suites in NE. Hartford might not be in NY or Boston but Hartford I have to believe is relatively more expensive than St Louis. I would also assume a big part of Express Scripts will remain in place considering a lot of their infrastructure is for filling out the prescriptions.

Express Scripts
Monsanto
Soon to be Bunge
All will be distant memories in St.Louis HQ history
Not sure what to say about all of this while it can be good it also can be bad there will definitely lots of lost jobs on the bad however the good could be lots of new potential start ups
There must be a definite bulls eye on St.Louis I'm willing to bet there be another big StL company to get acquired in the near future.
Connecticut has some of the countries highest taxes if i were Cigna id move the HQ here in StL but that'll never happen.

I really would like to think that Sheila Sweeney and company are on this. Been thinking about this all day. I wish during this upcoming meeting with STL officials, SLEDP just comes out with all the amazon incentives and offers them the world to move here.

St.Louis1764 wrote: ↑

Mar 08, 2018

Express Scripts
Monsanto
Soon to be Bunge
There must be a definite bulls eye on St.Louis I'm willing to bet there be another big StL company to get acquired in the near future.

The positives are that these companies will maintain operations in the region.

However, until St. Louis makes itself undoubtedly LIVABLE - and not just AFFORDABLE - FOR ALL, St. Louis will continue to lose the race for HQs to the more progressive areas of the country. St. Louis has to change its image and social dynamics to make it more appeasing for companies.

Now the truth is, Express Scripts could not grow without piling on more debt. It was in loads of debt - something like $15-billion.

I think previous CEO George Paz did a *****' amazing job in building Express Scripts into a big behemoth. It was great having a firm that large to be based in St. Louis, but Express Scripts DID NOT diversify its portfolio. I suggested this a long time ago. Express Scripts could have gobbled up large healthcare firms after devouring Medco. Express Scripts' focus on technology, efficiency, pricing and accountability was excellent, but they did not diversify. They would have been unstoppable. Nonetheless, Express Scripts has ALWAYS had a target on its back - from the outset. This buyout doesn't surprise me. There was speculation that Walgreens and Amazon could buy it. Do I like it? No. But the buyout doesn't surprise me.

Express Scripts was spun off from a local healthcare system/company so why not return back to your roots when the time presented? It was inevitable. But no, Express Scripts was gobbled up by a smaller healthcare firm.

If I were working for Express Scripts, I'd be eyeing other jobs in St. Louis. There's no way Cigna is keeping nearly 5000 jobs in St. Louis. Cigna could do some IT shuffling, however. Cigna could add IT jobs to the local high tech infrastructure created by Express Scripts. I wouldn't be surprised if Cigna's St. Louis campus dwindled to 2500 (albeit SLOWLY) over the next 5 years. There's a major shakeup going on in healthcare.

Cigna is taking on $15-billion in Express Scripts debt. The only way St. Louis will grow or maintain is to poach jobs from other nearby cities.

I'm just po'd that Express Scripts did not buy a healthcare insurer (or insurers) when it had the chance.

^Yep. Keep things in perspective, folks; it happens to EVERY city. Always has, always will. The list of large corporations that have been bought out by others over the years is truly staggering.

Chalupas54 wrote: On a side note, would really like for Sheila Sweeney to aggressively go after another corporate fish in a smaller community nearby.

Oh, no, wont happen, she strictly specializes in stormwater projects.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/colu ... b001a.html

As unselfish i am most times, I'm hoping this falls through.. It should be Express Scripts acquiring Cigna & the HQ being here in STL..
St.Louis companies seem to sell themselves so short only for the money.. Besides my dear friend just got a job with express scripts.
I saw something in the Business Journal that St.Louis can truly claim that its affordability along with a decent quality of life according to the Feds.
Why on Earth would Express scripts want to move the HQ in a overly taxed state such as Connecticut beats me
Stop drumming up St.Louis to only sell it short...

matguy70 wrote: ↑

Mar 09, 2018

Upsetting for another Fortune 500 buyout, but this isn't unique to STL or any city in the USA. Omaha lost their only Fortune 500 this last year and for a city so centered around one company... that's tough.

I don't think that's the case. Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha, perhaps Kiewit Corp. Omaha lost Conagra to Chicago, but they have a number of F500 companies.

As for this deal, I don't think it will be blocked. It doesn't present any significant consolidation of the PBM industry, and would basically create something similar to UnitedHealth only smaller. The CVS-Aetna deal is under review, so I guess we'll have a better idea once that's complete.

matguy70 wrote: ↑

Mar 09, 2018

Sprint is KCs only 500 and use to employ 14,5000 employees in their Kansas suburb headquarters in 2004. It now only has 6000 and is cutting another 890 this year. There too, unfortunately, are ripe to be bought out and I hate to see that too.

St. Louis is still tied at #7 right now as largest FORTUNE 500 cities.

I think Sprint was taken off of the list because it already was (substantially) bought out by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank which now has a controlling interest in it.

As for St. Louis' total, Peabody has dropped out of the F500, but Olin has joined it. Post Holdings is a lock to be added next year (following its Weetabix and Bob Evans Foods acquisitions). Peabody is also on pace to rejoin, but will be a closer call (dependent on coal prices). Also, with so many companies growing revenues rather quickly in this economy, Olin (currently at 467) could be a close call depending on how they perform. So following the Monsanto and Express Scripts acquisitions, and barring any other's getting bought, STL should have 8 F500 companies, but could have 9.

Relatedly, Energizer should rejoin the Fortune 1000 next year, depending on when its acquisition of Spectrum Batteries (Rayovac) closes. However Panera will come off following its acquisition.

Talks between ADM and Bunge have stalled. May create opportunity for Glencore.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.co ... 1520611381

It will be interesting to see what Post ends up doing with their private label business. If they spin it off it could mean another publicly traded company for the region. Of course, they could still sell it to a private equity firm (although that seems less and less likely) or choose to have it HQ'ed in a different location (perhaps Minneapolis).

John Kemper was just named CEO of Commerce Bank (currently headquartered in KC.) The article mentions that the new CEO who is 40 years old will be based in Clayton. Politics/Net-neutral state move aside, I would think there would be a large possibility of the HQ being moved to Clayton in the coming years. (Current market cap = 6.25B)

Bayer- Monsanto merger a done deal. No surprise. Let's just hope this ends up being good for STL in the future. Bayer had to divest several units, which could mean less overlap and less synergies, I hope....

https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-de ... 1523297010

Not STL, but T-Mobile and Sprint are merging, with T-Mobile taking over. May be bad for KC.

Not M&A related, but in terms of local companies I never thought I'd see the day when Enterprise Financial was worth more than Mallinckrodt.

Good for EFSC. Horrifying for MNK.

^Does Enterprise Financial do much in the way of consumer banking? I hadn't even seen them until recently, and I'm curious how tied to car financing they are. I figure there's a lot of room for a good local bank to pick up customers from the big nationals, since they've mostly been pretty terrible since taking over the larger locals. Kind of akin to the growth of microbrews after the death of Anheuser Busch. We can be fantastically loyal to local companies. And spectacularly bitter about takeovers.

They significantly expanded their retail footprint about a year ago with the purchase of Eagle Bank & Trust. Eagle was headquartered in Hillsboro, JeffCo and a lot of its locations were/are in South County and points south.

Auto finance is not a significant part of their business. I think its focus has been commercial lending and small business banking. The Eagle acquisition took its retail operation to a new level. It’s now the 4th largest retail bank (so excluding TIAA and TD Ameritrade) in St. Louis by local deposits and 6th largest in MO.

It’s definitely been a great growth story. And St. Louis could use a significant home grown bank.

BH North America Corporation, a Spanish-owned premium fitness equipment, bicycle and garage cabinetry company, is relocating its US headquarters from California to St. Charles, Missouri. The move brings 50 new jobs to the region.

Foust expects a 30-40 percent savings in overhead costs in Missouri compared to California.

BH North America is a subsidiary of the 109-year strong, family-owned, four generation-run BH Group based in Vitoria, Spain, which has operations in 65 countries around the world.

http://www.mexicoledger.com/news/201805 ... to-missour

Not a ton of jobs but it is nice to see someone relocating here. Hopefully more in the future.

That's great news, even if it's a small company. Doesn't relate directly to STL but AllianceBernstein is moving their HQ and most of its NYC staff from Manhattan to Nashville to reduce costs. Seems like there are opportunities to be had to attract companies looking for similar moves. Interestingly, St. Louis was mentioned in the article yesterday as a place that is attracting other financial companies (the context was more that it has already happened and that it may continue). But when I pull up the article today that blurb is gone:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/large-new- ... 1525207429

This article is relevant to the topic of mergers and acquisitions:

St. Louis in the Big Picture: Monopoly and the Capital Markets

It talks about changes in economic policy which has incentivized industrial consolidation.

MRNHS wrote: ↑

May 02, 2018

Doesn't relate directly to STL but AllianceBernstein is moving their HQ and most of its NYC staff from Manhattan to Nashville to reduce costs. Seems like there are opportunities to be had to attract companies looking for similar moves.

I recall a few years back leaders from Stifel and WFA etc were trying to make that kind of pitch for finance and fintech companies... don't know if that really ever evolved into any formal campaign though.