Conglomerates are funny things. It seems that if a company can get large enough, say on the order of Danaher (NYSE:DHR) or United Technologies (NYSE:UTX), investors often make their peace with the corporate structure and go about their business. Smaller companies get quite a bit more scrutiny when they are in multiple business lines, though, and the peculiar combination of booze, golf clubs, faucets and front doors always seemed to fuel speculation that Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO) would eventually break itself up into its constituent parts. Years of speculation have finally come true, as the company announced Wednesday morning that it would launch just such a plan.
From One to Three
At this point, it seems as though the board of directors at Fortune Brands has only really decided on the big-picture aspects of the plan. Fortune Brands itself will continue as a publicly-traded company focused on the spirits business. The home and security business (with its leading businesses in faucets, cabinets and doors) will be spun-off to shareholders and become a separate publicly-traded company. The fate of the golf business is less certain - the company will either spin this business off as another publicly-traded entity or sell it outright.
Please follow the link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Breakup-Key-For-Fortune-Brands-FO-DEO-ELY-NKE-MAS-SWK-BF.B1209.aspx
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