The facts about … Holding company discounts

Article Excerpt

Spinoffs are often seen as an effective way for a holding company to eliminate its “holding company discount.” That discount is usually evident in the stock price of a company that holds a variety of assets, or that invests in a number of businesses. Given the diverse asset base of a holding company, investors often overlook, or discount, any holdings that comprise just a small part of its total assets. In other words, the market often disregards any assets that have little impact on the holding company’s total profits. However, by setting up a spinoff, the parent can spur the market to take note of the newly created, independent firm, without diminishing the perceived value of the remaining assets. What’s more, today’s investors prefer so-called “pure play” companies—firms that focus on a single business area. So, if a holding company owns two or more distinct pure plays, it could see their combined value jump 15% to 35% if it were to separately list them. The…