The PBR1000 4th Quarter Rankings: The Race to the Finish!

November 20, 2013 by

Hurdle Race 92784-20131105

By Larry C. Paxton

The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report 2013Q4 was released on October 30th to current subscribers of The PBR1000 and is now available to the general public. Please contact us if you are a subscriber and did not receive the email with the Excel file attached.

The usual questions pop up as we race to the end of the year. Who will have the most revenues and profits? Which companies will have the highest increase in stock prices? How will the retail sector do during the holiday season? What will be the final economic numbers for 2013 and what are the forecasts, or maybe that should be guesses in our still volatile times, for 2014? One of the many purposes of The PBR1000 is to provide some key data to help us with that analysis, and for many of us to help figure out how to position ourselves to be more successful in the future.

Highlights from The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report 2013Q4 include:

  • Most data is through the end of the 3rd calendar quarter, September 30.
  • There are some data and Comments/News Briefs from October.
  • The number of companies included is 1,082.
  • New fields added include the current CEO and the year they became CEO.
  • The CEO name is hotlinked to a brief biography, generally from the corporate website.
  • The “C” column before the “Company Name” column designates the number of comments/news briefs for that company in the “Comments/News Briefs” column.

The Top 10 The PBR1000 Companies by stock price gains year to date are(Name/PBR Ranking/% gain YTD through Sept. 30th/% gain YTD through Nov. 15th):

  • AMR Corp(dba American Airlines)/109/414%/1371%
  • Fannie Mae/11/404%/1169%
  • Freddie Mac/32/385%/1085%
  • SunPower Corp/768/365%/496%
  • Zale Corp/908/270%/285%
  • Rite Aid Corp/104/250%/287%
  • Netflix/588/234%/278%
  • SuperValu/149/233%/179%
  • Best Buy/54/216%/269%
  • Caesar’s Entertainment/291/184%/187%

Similarly, The PBR1000 reports include some stock exchanges and commodities. Percent changes year to date through Sept. 30th and Nov. 15th are:

  • DJIA/15%/22%
  • NASDAQ/25%/32%
  • S&P 500/18%/26%
  • Gold/-21%/-23%
  • Silver/-28%/-32%
  • Oil/9%/0%

The PBR1000 Index is calculated by totaling up stock prices for a period for all companies tracked. Because Berkshire Hathaway(PBR5) has a significant impact on this index it is quoted with and without Berkshire Hathaway(“BH”). It is interesting to compare The PBR1000 Index with the other indices. Here are The PBR1000 index numbers percentage change for September 30, 2013, compared to December 31, 2012:

  • The PBR1000 with BH: 26%
  • The PBR1000 without BH: 23%

Note that percents are expressed in whole numbers. In the actual reports they are rounded to the nearest 2 decimal places.

The following additional reports will be released over the next few weeks, and more are being planned based on The PBR1000 subscriber feedback. These are free for The PBR1000 subscribers and available for a nominal fee for non-subscribers.

  • The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report by Industry
  • The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report by State

Companies removed from The PBR1000 during the 3rd quarter and reason for removal are(In alpha order, Company/PBR 3rd Quarter Rank/Reason):

  • BMC Software/816/Taken private by a consortium of equity companies
  • Gardner Denver/773/Acquired by KKR(PBR259)
  • Smithfield Foods/199/Acquired by Chinese company Shuanghui International
  • TMS International/736/Acquired by the Pritzker Organization
  • Vanguard Health Systems/366/Acquired by Tenet Healthcare(PBR255)

In October and November a lot of activity has already occurred. For example, Dell has gone private, and Office Depot and OfficeMax have merged. Check out The PBR1000 Breaking News on the www.PBRMarketTools.com home page and for recaps on the Blog page.

We are entering the holiday season. We will continue to update the PBRMarketTools homepage with breaking news, make available supplemental reports during the quarter, and look forward to providing the next The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report early in 2014.

Please have a Happy and Blessed Holiday Season!

(The purpose of The PBR1000 is to provide a wide range of interested people  with key demographic, industry, financial, personnel, and comments/news briefs on over 1,000 publicly traded companies with principal offices in the US. This information is updated quarterly and published in Excel format as The PBR1000 Quarterly Rankings Report. During a quarter several supplementary reports are published as well.

Larry C. Paxton is the President/CEO of Pax Business Resources, LLC. PBRMarketTools is the marketing research unit. For several years Larry has worked for and provided products and services to The PBR1000 companies.)

Filed Under: Rankings Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The PBR1000: October News Review

November 5, 2013 by

Invest Button 87976-20131105

By Larry C. Paxton

All types of investment strategies were utilized by The PBR1000 in October. Companies acquired, merged, split to form new companies, were bought by foreign companies, went private, restructured their financing, or made key management changes.  Here are the major October stories from The PBR1000, starting with the most current items. Clicking on the associated link for each item will open a new Window. The PBR1000 rankings are from the just released The PBR1000 4th Quarter Progress Report.

October 31, 2013:

A wholly owned subsidiary of Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc(PBR435) announces that it is concluding its joint venture with Moscow, Russia, based Progresstech Group. Click here for Aerosystems’ press release.

October 31, 2013:

Revlon, Inc(PBR1002) announced that Lorenzo Delpani has been elected President/CEO, to be effective 11/01/13. Click here for Revlon’s press release.

October 29, 2013:

The acquisition of Dell Inc(PBR45) by Michael Dell and investment partners has been completed, the company is now private, stock trading terminated and stock to be delisted. Click here for Dell’s press release.

October 29, 2013:

Sears Holdings Corp(PBR68) announced today some re-organizations, including moving its Land’s End and Sears Auto Centers into separate business entities. Click here for the Sears press release.

October 29, 2013:

Allergan, Inc(PBR411) to sell its lap-band business to Apollo Endosurgery Inc for up to $110 million. Click here for the NASDAQ/WSJ article.

October 28, 2013:

The Mosaic Co(PBR227) is acquiring the Florida Phospate Business of CF Industries(PBR391) for total consideration of $1.4 billion. Expected to close in 1st half of 2014. Click here for Mosaic’s press release.

October 28, 2013:

Liberty Global, Inc(PBR241) announced it is selling its international content division Chellomedia to AMC Networks, Inc.(NASDAQ: AMCX) for $1.04 billion. Click here for Liberty Global’s announcement.

October 25, 2013:

McDonald’s Corporation(PBR100) to end 40 year relationship with Berkshire Hathaway’s(PBR5) recently purchased HJ Heinz unit. Click here for the Reuter’s article.

October 24, 2013:

E I duPont de Nemours(PBR83) announces that over the next 18 months it will move its Performance Chemicals division into a separate publicly held entity. Click here for duPont’s press release.

October 24, 2013:

Reuter’s reports that The Dow Chemical Co(PBR51) has said that it will be selling $3-4 billion in assets over the next 18-24 months. Click here for the Reuter’s article.

October 23, 2013:

The international unit of The Goldman Sachs Group(PBR67) has said that it will immediately start selling to institutional investors its 16 million shares investment in Sports Direct International. Click here for the Reuter’s article.

October 23, 2013:

Bank of America Corp(PBR21) has been found liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold under its Countrywide unit. US Dept of Justice expected to ask for up to $848 million in fines, adds to $40 billion already paid by BofA to date since financial crisis of 2008. Click here for the Reuter’s article.

October 23, 2013:

Omnicare, Inc(PBR384) agrees to pay US government $120 million for alleged steep discounting of prescription drugs at nursing homes in exchange for patient referrals. Click here for the Reuter’s article.

October 22, 2013:

Goldman Sachs Group(PBR67) announced the sale of its majority stake in UK based pension insurance company Rothesay Life. Goldman Sachs will retain a 36% share after regulatory approval. Click here for the Goldman Sachs press release.

October 21, 2013:

Devon Energy Corp(PBR268), Crosstex Energy, Inc(PBR942) and Crosstex Energy, LP, agree to combine Devon’s midstream assets with Crosstex’s to form a new midstream publicly held company to be named later. Click here for Devon’s press release.

October 21, 2013:

After 20 years at The Goldman Sachs Group(PBR67), Michael Evans to retire as Vice Chairman at the end of 2013, will become a senior director. Click here for Goldman Sachs’ press release.

October 21, 2013:

The asset management unit of The Goldman Sachs Group(PBR67) is to acquire the Global Treasury Funds managed by Royal Bank of Scotland’s RBS Asset Management group. The transaction is expected to close in the 1st quarter of 2014. Click here for Goldman Sachs’ press release.

October 21, 2013:

WSJ & Reuters report that GE Capital has extended $835 million in new financing to RadioShack Corp(PBR510). Click here for Reuter’s press release.

October 20, 2013:

Crown Castle International Corp(PBR758) is acquiring the rights to 9,700 AT&T(PBR12) communications towers for $4.85 billion. Click here for Crown Castle’s press release.

October 19, 2013:

Reuter’s reports that JPMorgan Chase & Co(PBR18) in its negotiations with the US Justice Department has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion for bad mortgage loans sold to investors before the 2008 financial crisis. Click here for Reuter’s press release.

October 18, 2013:

NRG Energy, Inc(PBR295) to acquire Edison Mission Energy, with its 40+ electrical energy generating plants, for $2.8+ billion, deal expected to close 1st quarter, 2014. Click here for NRG’s press release.

October 18, 2013:

Occidental Petroleum Co(PBR114) in its initial strategic review is selling off about 1/3 of its holdings in Plains All-American Pipeline(PBR74), $1.3 billion in pre-tax proceeds. Click here for Occidental’s press release.

October 18, 2013:

KKR & Co, LP(PBR258) is acquiring Ireland based Avoca Capital, which manages around $8 billion in European assets as a credit investment manager. Terms not disclosed. Click here for KKR’s press release.

October 16, 2013:

The sale of TMS International Corp(PBR736) to the Pritzker Organization, LLC, for $1 billion, $17.50/share, has been completed. Click here for the TMS press release.

October 16, 2013:

The Marmon Group subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway(PBR5) is acquiring England based IMI plc’s Beverage Dispense and Merchandising divisions for $1.1 billion. Click here for Marmon’s press release.

October 16, 2013:

Advance Auto Parts, Inc.(PBR380) to acquire General Parts International, Inc. for $2.04 billion cash. Expected to close late 2013/early 2014. Click here for Advance Auto Parts’ press release.

October 15, 2013:

Walmart Stores, Inc(PBR2) announced today that in FY2015 it plans to spend $11.8-12.8 billion globally for 33-37 million square feet, over half in the US. Click here for Walmart’s press release.

October 15, 2013:

KKR & Co, LP(PBR258) has signed an agreement with Mid Europa Partners to acquire its SBB/Telemach Group, the leading Pay-TV and broadband operator in Southeast Europe, serving around 1.7 million customers. Financial terms were not disclosed. Click here for KKR’s press release.

October 9, 2013:

CACI International Inc(PBR570) to acquire security services provider Six3 for $820 million. Click here for the transcript of CACI’s presentation.

October 9, 2013:

Hess Corporation(PBR72) is selling its US East Coast and St. Lucia terminal networks to Buckeye Partners, LP(PBR501) for $850 million. Click here for Hess’ press release.

October 9, 2013:

KKR & Co, LP(PBR258) is to acquire The Crosby Group and Acco Material Handling Solutions from Melrose Industries PLC for around $1 billion. Both units provide products and services to the oil/gas industries. Click here for KKR’s press release.

October 7, 2013:

Fifth & Pacific Cos(PBR964) is selling the intellectual property rights to its Juicy Couture brand to Authentic Brands Group for $195 million. The deal is expected to close in November. Click here for Fifth & Pacific’s press release.

October 7, 2013:

Darling International, Inc.(PBR935) has entered into an agreement to acquire the Netherlands based Vion Food Group’s Vion Ingredients division for $2.17 billion, expecting to close in January, 2014. Click here for Darling’s press release.

October 7, 2013:

Time Warner Cable Inc(PBR124) has entered into an agreement with Duke Energy(PBR134) to acquire its regional fiber optic network company DukeNet Communications, LLC for $600 million, with closing expected in 1st quarter of 2014. Click here for Time Warner Cable’s press release.

October 2, 2013:

Revlon Inc’s CEO Alan Ennis resigns to pursue other interests, board selects David L. Kennedy, Vice Chairman, to be Interim CEO. Click here for Revlon’s press release.

October 2, 2013:

Monsanto Company(PBR192) has signed an agreement to purchase for $930 million cash The Climate Corporation, a software technology services and insurance company specializing in helping farmers be more productive. Click here for the Monsanto press release.

October 1, 2013:

Tenet Healthcare Corporation(PBR254) completes its acquisition of Vanguard Health Systems(PBR366) for $4.30 billion, $21.00/share. Click here for Tenet’s press release.

October 1, 2013:

Brent Saunders, former CEO at Bausch + Lomb, today became the president/CEO of Forest Laboratories, Inc.(PBR483), succeeding Howard Solomon who had held the position for 30 years, and who will continue to be chairman.

October 1, 2013:

Berry Plastics Group, Inc(PBR470) completes its acquisition of Graphic Packaging’s Flexible Plastics and Film business, and the sale of its Kits and Catering businesses to the WNA division of the Waddington Group, Inc. Click
here for Berry’s press release.

October 1, 2013:

Merck & Co, Inc.(PBR58) reported today that it is refocusing its operating model, will be reducing its 81,000 worldwide workforce by 20% by 2015. Click
here for the Merck announcement.

Larry C. Paxton is the President/CEO of Pax Business Resources, LLC. He spent several years working for and consulting to many of the largest corporations in the US. www.PBRMarketTools.com is the marketing research division. The PBR1000 is a compilation of key demographic, industry, financial, personnel data, and news summaries on over 1,000 of the largest US publicly traded companies. This list is updated four times a year and published in Microsoft Excel format as The PBR1000 Quarterly Progress Reports.

Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , , ,

The PBR1000 September 2013 Recap

October 2, 2013 by

Handshake Animation 144794-20131002

By Larry C. Paxton

September was a busy month for The PBR1000. Here are the summaries with links to the the official press releases:

September 30, 2013:
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company(PBR517) stockholders today approved its merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of India’s Apollo Tyres Ltd(NSE: ApolloTYRE), will create the seventh largest tire company in the world. It is a $2.5 billion deal, $35.00/share, and is expected to close by 2013 year end. Click here for the Cooper press release.

September 26, 2013:
eBay Inc(PBR183) to acquire startup mobile payments system and Chicago based Braintree for $800 million, will operate under PayPal. Click here for the eBay press release.

September 26, 2013:
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.(PBR263) announced that Chairman/CEO John McGlade will retire in 2014 and a new CEO search will commence immediately. Also, the board will be adding three new independent directors. Click here for the Air Products press release.

September 26, 2013:
The acquisition of Smithfield Foods(PBR199) by Chinese company Shuanghui International Holdings Limited is completed. Smithfield shareholders will receive<$34.00/share, and will be de-listed from the NYSE. Click here for the Smithfield press release.

September 25, 2013:
Stryker Corporation(PBR287) is acquiring MAKO Surgical Corporation, the pioneer in robotic assisted orthopedics surgery, for $30/share, $1.65 billion. Click here for the Stryker press release.

September 24, 2013:
Applied Materials, Inc(PBR284) and Tokyo Electron Limited(TSE: 8035) announced an agreement to merge to form a global company involved in semiconductor and display manufacturing technology. The transaction will be an all stock combination with the market capitalization valued at $29 billion. The deal is expected to close mid to second half of 2014. Click here for the Applied Materials announcement.

September 20, 2013:
David Dillon, Chairman/CEO of The Kroger Company(PBR26) to retire in January, 2014, will be succeeded by COO Rodney McMullen.

September 19, 2013:
Agilent Technologies, Inc(PBR350) announces that it will split into two publicly owned companies. Agilent will keep its name for its life sciences, diagnostics, and applied markets business, and a new company, to be named later, for its electronic measurements business. The split should be accomplished by the end of 2014. Click here for the Agilent press release.

September 18, 2013:
EnerSys(PBR786) has entered into an agreement to purchase privately held Purcell Systems, Inc., of Spokane, WA, for $115 million. Purcell has annual revenues of over $100 million. Click here for the EnerSys press release.

September 17, 2013:
Huntsman Corporation(PBR224) is acquiring the Performance Additives and Titanium Oxides businesses of Rockwood Holdings, Inc(PBR592) for $1.1 billion. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2014. Click here for the Huntsman announcement.

September 16, 2013:
Kennametal Inc(PBR699) has entered into an agreement to acquire the the $340 million/year Tungsten Materials Business unit of Allegheny Technologies Inc.(PBR457) for $605 million. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2013. Click here for the Kennametal press release.

September 16, 2013:
Packaging Corporation of America(PBR677) will be acquiring Boise Inc(PBR733) for $12.55/share, total deal value of $1.995 billion, inclusive of $714 million of Boise debt. The transaction is expected to close during the 4th quarter of 2013. Click here for the PCA agreement.

September 12, 2013:
Shareholders of computer maker and IT services Dell Inc(PBR45) voted to approve the privatization plan proposed by Chairman/CEO and founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners. The deal is valued at $24.9 billion and is expected to close during the 3rd quarter FY2014. Click here for the Dell announcement.

September 10, 2013:
American Express(PBR85) announced today that it is selling its publishing unit to the Time, Inc. division of Time Warner(PBR95). No terms were announced, the deal is expected to close by year end. Click here for the American Express press release.

September 10, 2013:
Cisco Systems, Inc.(PBR60) announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase for $415 million the startup WHIPTAIL, a developer of high performance, scalable solid state memory systems. Click here for the Cisco notice.

September 9, 2013:
Molex Inc(PBR594) has agreed to be acquired by the Koch brothers’ private company Koch Industries for $38.50/share, $7.2 billion deal, expected to close by the end of 2013. Click here for the Molex press release.

September 6, 2013:
American Tower Corporation(PBR674) announced it is acquiring MIP Tower Holdings LLC, a private real estate investment trust, and parent of Global Tower Partners, a major owner/operator of communications towers. The deal is valued at $4.8 billion($3.3 billion in cash, $1.5 billion in debt assumption) and is expected to close by the end of 2013. Click here for the American Tower press release.

September 3, 2013:
Microsoft Corporation(PBR34) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the devices and services business, license patents, and license and use the mapping services of Finland based Nokia Corporation. The deal is valued at $7.2 billion, with the transaction expected to close during the 1st quarter of 2014. Click here for the Microsoft announcement.

September 2, 2013:
Verizon Communications Inc(PBR16) has entered into an agreement with Vodafone Group Plc(London, NASDAQ: VOD) to purchase Vodafone’s US group with the principal asset of 45 percent of Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, consisting primarily of cash and stock. The transaction is expected to close during the 1st quarter of 2014. Click here for the Verizon press release.

September 1, 2013:
Effective today Mario Longhi moves from President/COO to CEO of United States Steel Corporation(PBR136). John Surma moves from Chairman/CEO to Executive Chairman, will retire at the end of the year.

Larry C. Paxton is the President/CEO of Pax Business Resources. PBRMarketTools is the marketing research division. The PBR1000 is a compilation of key demographic, industry, financial, and personnel data, and news summaries, on 1000 of the largest US publicly traded companies. This list is updated four times a year and published in Microsoft Excel format as The PBR1000 Quarterly Progress Reports.

Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , ,

CEO Longevity in The PBR1000 – September 2013

September 25, 2013 by

Leader Pic 70520-20130920

By Larry C. Paxton

Knowing the characteristics of a company’s leadership can be key to having a higher probability of success when you desire to consult, sell/market to/for, or have an interest in a job at a large company. Here are some observations on CEOs based on a compilation by the PBRMarketTools.com team based on The PBR1000, which currently contains key demographic, financial, industry, and people data on 1002 of the largest publicly traded US corporations. This article will focus on longevity of CEOs in these companies. Additional articles about CEOs will follow in the coming months.

By year in descending order here are the current counts of CEOs who have been appointed:

  • 2013(through August 31): 76 CEOs appointed
  • 2012: 97
  • 2011: 93
  • 2010: 85
  • 2009: 69(420 total over 4 2/3 years, 90 CEO appointments average/year)
  • 2004-2008: 301(5 years, 60 CEO appointments average/year)
  • Before 2004: 281

The longest serving CEO in The PBR1000 is Leslie Wexner, Chairman/CEO and Founder of L Brands (PBR239), serving since 1963.

The median year for the 1002 CEOs is 2007. But keep in mind that 485 CEOs, just under half, took on that position between 2008 and August, 2013.  By the end of 2013 the median year should be 2008.

In terms of revenues in the top 100 companies, basically those who did over $27 billion in FY2012, half of the CEOs came on board between 2009 and the end of August this year. CEOs in companies that did around $1.8 billion to $27 billion had a median start date in 2007, and CEOs in companies that did $1 billion to around $1.8 billion had the longest median appointment year of 2005.

CEOs is some key industries have interesting longevities. Here are some examples:

  • SIC 1520-1540, basically general building contractors, 7 companies, median CEO appointment year: 2003
  • SIC 2000, food and kindred products, 7 companies, 2012
  • SIC 2911, petroleum refining, 13 companies, 2010
  • SIC 3310-3357, steel manufacturing, 17 companies, 2009
  • SIC 3411-3490, basically metal fabrication, 11 companies, 2004
  • SIC 3711-3790, transportation manufacturing, 37 companies, 2009
  • SIC 4512-4522, air transportation, 12 companies, 2004
  • SIC 6200-6282, investment services, 24 companies, 2005
  • SIC 6798, real estate investment trusts, 19 companies, 2002
  • SIC 7011, hotels/motels, 10 companies, 2005
  • Sic 7370-7374, software programming services(Google, Facebook, …), 28 companies, 2008
  • SIC 8050-8090, hospitals and health care related services, 17 companies, 2004

The top 6 states, accounting for 480 of the 1002 The PBR1000 companies, had the following average median CEO appointment year(State, The PBR1000 company count, median CEO appointment year):

  • California, 108, 2007
  • Texas, 102, 2007
  • New York, 98, 2006
  • Illinois, 67, 2008
  • Ohio, 55, 2007
  • Pennsylvania, 50, 2010

Bottom line, by the end of this year, around 50% of CEOs in The PBR1000 will have been in their job for 6 years or less, meaning, of course, the other 50% for 7 years or more.

How does that compare to the average American worker? According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute the median length of time in a job for an American worker in 2012 was 5.4 years, which is slightly more than the 5 years median in 1983.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on all this and we will have more reports about CEOs coming out on a regular basis.

More details are available in The PBR1000 CEO Longevity Report which is a series of Microsoft EXCEL worksheets that includes each company’s CEO name, other titles they hold in the company, year they became CEO, and a hotlink to a brief biography about them. Just go to www.PBRMarketTools.com and follow the link to the Order page.

Larry Paxton is the President/CEO and founder of Pax Business Resources, LLC(PBR). www.PBRMarketTools.com is the marketing research arm of the company. In the past he has worked for a couple of The PBR1000 companies and provided a variety of products and services to many of them over the years. PBR is in its 4th year. Larry looks forward to being in that median group of CEOs with 7 years of service or more on the job.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,

The PBR1000 Breaking News Review: July/August, 2013

September 5, 2013 by

Corporate Hand Shake ID-100182354

(Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

By Larry C. Paxton

The summer months of July and August were busy ones with lots of deals affecting The PBR1000, some of them with some significant controversy. Unless specified otherwise, the ranking(in parentheses after the company name) is based on The PBR1000 3rd Quarter Progress Report. Here’s the recap, sorted by the most recent news date:

August 25, 2013: Amgen Inc(PBR151) to acquire Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc(NASDAQ: ONXX, $362 million in revenues in 2012) for $125/share, $10.4 billion all cash deal, expecting to close during early 4th quarter 2013. Will give Amgen some additional cancer medications and research.

August 23, 2013: Steve Ballmer, CEO since 2000 for Microsoft Corporation(PBR34), announced today that he will be retiring sometime within the next 12 months.

August 20, 2013: After filing for protection in January, 2012, today Eastman Kodak Company(PBR527) received approval from the US Bankruptcy Court of its Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan. According to CEO Antonio Perez the goal is to emerge from bankruptcy on September 3, 2013, and focus on being a technology leader serving large and growing commercial imaging markets such as commercial printing, packaging, functional printing, and professional services.

August 7, 2013: AOL Inc(PBR807) to acquire Adap.tv, Inc., a leading global, programmatic video advertising platform for the world’s largest brands, agencies, and publishers. Deal valued at $405 million, $322 million in cash, $83 million in AOL common stock. Deal expected to close during 3rd quarter 2013.

August 5, 2013: The Washington Post Company(PBR542) announced today that Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, Inc.(PBR47), in a separate personal transaction valued at $250 million, will be acquiring the company. The transaction includes the main paper and some other smaller publications, but not all entities of the company. It is expected that the deal will be completed before the end of 2013.

August 2, 2013: The New York Times Company(PBR870) agreed to sell off its New England Media Group, which includes The Boston Globe and related holdings, to John W. Henry, sports entrepreneur and principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, for $70 million cash. The deal is expected to close in 30-60 days.

July 30, 2013: KKR & Co, LP(PBR258) completes acquisition of Gardner Denver, Inc(PBR773) for $3.9 billion, plus assumption of debt.

July 30, 2013: Community Health Systems(PBR174) to buy Health Management Associates(PBR354) for $13.78/share, deal valued at $7.6 billion, which includes HMA debt of $3.7 billion. Deal expected to close by end of 1st quarter 2014.

July 29, 2013: US drug maker Perrigo(PBR620) to buy Ireland based biotech firm Elan(NYSE: ELN) in $8.4 billion deal.

July 29, 2013: Canadian retailer giant Hudson Bay(parent of Lord & Taylor) to buy Saks, Inc(PBR646) for $2.6 billion.

July 28, 2013: Omnicom Group Inc(PBR182) and Publicis Groupe SA(Paris, France) announce definitive agreement to merge and form Publicis Omnicom Group, a holding company based in the Netherlands with head offices in Paris and New York City. It will be the largest communications, advertising, marketing and digital services company in the world. Transaction valued at $35 billion, expected to close during 4th quarter 2013 or 1st quarter 2014.

July 24, 2013: HanesBrands Inc(PBR489) to buy Maidenform Brands, Inc(NYSE: MFB, $600MM revenues in 2012) for $23.50/share, $575 million total deal value.

July 12, 2013: AT&T(PBR12) reaches agreement to acquire LEAP Wireless(PBR625) for $15/share, $1.2 billion, expected to close in 6-9 months.

July 10, 2013: Japan’s SoftBank Corp completes its $21.6 billion acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corp(PBR83-2Q13), renames it to Sprint Corporation(PBR82), will continue trading under stock symbol S.

July 9, 2013: Kroger Co(PBR26) announced that it is acquiring the upper end 212 store chain Harris Teeter Supermarkets(PBR487) for $49.38/share, $2.44 billion transaction value, to close during 2013.

July 2, 2013: Coinstar, Inc.(PBR807-2Q13), changes name to Outerwall, Inc.(PBR804), still trading on NASDAQ with new symbol OUTR, new website, continues to provide Coinstar, ATM, and RedBox services.

Larry Paxton is the President/CEO of Pax Business Resources, LLC. The marketing research division, www.PBRMarketTools.com, produces the popular The PBR1000 Quarterly Progress Report.

Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Will the US Airways/American Airlines Merger Fly?

August 29, 2013 by

Paper Airplane ID-100186035

(Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

By Larry Paxton

The saga of the US Airways(PBR188) and American Airlines(PBR109) merger continues to drag out with the US Justice Department filing antitrust suits earlier this month against the $11 billion deal.

The primary concerns of the Justice Department are that the merger would provide fewer choices for consumers and drive up fares because of increased costs. Also, with the merger the new American Airlines would also have significantly more gates at some airports, such as the Washington Dulles Airport where they would have three quarters of the gates. A new argument is that American Airlines, which is in bankruptcy, just had its first profitable quarter in quite some time. The thinking is that they are now demonstrating that they are capable of going it alone and don’t need to merge.

Of course, the airlines claim that just the opposite would be true, and that another benefit of the merger is that increased competition would result.

It was anticipated that the merger would be completed during this 3rd quarter. The airlines have said that any delay would provide additional problems because US Airways operations are already in the process of moving to the Dallas-Ft Worth area, personnel are putting in bids for houses there, selling theirs in the Phoenix area, and many other complications.

Because of the suit the next court date is scheduled for November, but the Justice Department has asked for a delay until March, 2014, to adequately prepare their case. The airlines say they are ready to present their case and there is no reason why the Justice Department shouldn’t be ready as well.

There have also been some indications that the Justice Department might be willing to settle. The airlines might have to give up some gates and some other concessions are possible.

As a person who flies a few times a year for both business and pleasure it is hard to know how this should be resolved and the impacts it will have on me and my fellow travelers. The concerns from both sides seem legitimate, but, as usual, the time it takes to negotiate and resolve the issues seem to be taking much too long. It is another classic case of big capitalistic companies clashing with big government to figure out what is best for the confused and sometimes helpless consumer. I wish us well.

(Larry Paxton is President/CEO of Pax Business Resources, LLC, which provides the popular The PBR1000 Quarterly Progress Report, tracking over 1,000 of the largest US publicly traded companies through its business research arm, www.PBRMarketTools.com.)

 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: , , ,

The PBR1000 2nd Quarter Review

July 15, 2013 by

Activity during the 2nd quarter for The PBR1000 was pretty typical with deals in the media, healthcare, telecom, food processing, and high tech arenas. One of the more intriguing acquisitions is China’s Shuanghui trying to get the US’ Smithfield Foods. It will be interesting to see how the US government impacts this. Of course, Berkshire Hathaway was busy and perhaps we can take some comfort in knowing that when we buy Heinz Ketchup we are now helping support Warren Buffett.

Here’s a recap of the 2nd Quarter activity for The PBR1000, in reverse date order, and all PBR rankings are for the 2nd quarter only:

June 28, 2013: News Corporation(PBR87) completes split into two companies. The successor organizations are 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

June 24, 2013: Tenet Healthcare(PBR258) is acquiring Vanguard Health(PBR402) for $21/share, $1.73 billion, to create the 2nd largest hospital system in the US, behind HCA Holdings(PBR79). Expected to close by the end of 2013.

June 7, 2013: The H J Heinz Co(PBR221) is acquired by Berkshire Hathaway(PBR5) & 3G Capital, $72.50/share, transaction valued at $28 billion.

May 31, 2013: Freeport-McMoran(PBR147) completes the acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production Co(PBR735).

May 29, 2013: China meat producer Shuanghui International offers $34/share, $4.7 billion, to acquire Smithfield Foods(PBR202), the largest pork processor and hog producer in the world.. Expected to close 2nd half of 2013.

May 29, 2013: MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway(PBR5), signs a definitive agreement to acquire NV Energy(PBR658) for $23.75/share, $10 billion transaction. Expected to close during the 1st quarter of 2014.

May 28, 2013: Fidelity National Financials(PBR341) to acquire Lender Processing Services(PBR872) for $33.25/share, $2.9 billion. Expected to close 4th quarter, 2013.

May 24, 2013: EnergySolutions(PBR926) merges with private equity firm Energy Capital Partners, no longer listed on the NYSE.

May 13, 2013: McGraw-Hill Companies(PBR498) changes name to McGraw Hill Financial after the sale of its McGraw-Hill Education division to Apollo Global Management(PBR682).

May 6, 2013: BMC Software(PBR820) to be acquired by private investment group that includes Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital and others, for $46.25/share, $6.9 billion. Expected to close by 2013 year end.

May 1, 2013: The merger between Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile’s T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications(PBR450) is completed, $4.05/share, $1.5 billion transaction value, new unit known as T-Mobile US Inc(NYSE: TMUS).

April 12, 2013: The Metals USA(PBR875) acquisition by Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co(PBR298) is completed.

The PBR1000 3rd Quarter Progress Report should be ready sometime the week of July 22, and there is already a lot of activity just in July already.

Filed Under: Recaps Tagged With: , , , ,
« Previous Page