Stocks to Watch: NGH, PIOG, BTR, HAXS, AZO, PCLN
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures
Nabisco Group Holdings
(NGH)
has received takeover offers for its food division from
Philip Morris
(MO) - Get Altria Group Inc Report
and
Danone
(DA)
, reported
The Wall Street Journal
. Carl Icahn launched a $6.5 billion bid for the remaining 90.4% interest in the company that he doesn't already hold. According to the
Journal
,
Cadbury Schweppes
(CSG)
also made a bid for the noncookie arm of the division.
TheStreet Recommends
Nabisco Group Holdings spinoff
R.J. Reynolds
(RJR)
has said it is interested in making an offer after its former parent sells its food division.
For more on this
story, see the coverage provided by
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com's
joint newsroom.
America Online's
(AOL)
president, Bob Pittman, during the Bank of America Securities Growth Telecommunications Media and Entertainment Conference, announced that he expects the company's merger with
TimeWarner
(TWX)
to produce total revenues of $40 billion in 2001. He said he sees cash flow rising 30% in the first year of the deal, as reported by
Reuters
. Pittman also said that the deal would create cost savings about $1 billion in the first year.
Bradley Real Estate
(BTR)
has agreed to merge into
Heritage Property Investment Trust
, a privately held real estate investment trust based in Boston, in a deal valued at about $1.2 billion. According to terms of the deal, shareholders of Bradley would receive $22 for each of their shares.
Choice One
(CWON)
said it entered a cash and stock deal to purchase
US Xchange
. The terms call for Choice One to pay $311 million in cash and exchange 7 million shares of its shares for US Xchange, in a transaction totaling roughly $518 million.
EDS
(EDS)
has pulled its bid to buy
Policy Management Systems
(PMS)
after finishing due diligence. Last month, EDS launched an informal $18 to $20 a share offer for the company, topping a $14 a share bid from
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
. Policy Management valued the merger at about $700 million.
EMC
(EMC)
axed its 5-year deal to purchase $3 billion in disk drives from
IBM
(IBM) - Get International Business Machines Corporation Report
, reported
The Wall Street Journal
. The move puts a dent in IBM's efforts to sell more computer parts.
Online broker
E*Trade
(EGRP)
has announced that it will buy online investment bank
Wit Capital
(WITC)
retail brokerage unit and make Wit its exclusive provider of new share issues. Wit Capital, in turn, has agreed to buy E*Trade's Internet investment banking unit, E*Offering, for 32 million shares, or 25% of diluted shares outstanding, of Wit Capital.
Based on Wit's closing price of 10 1/4, the deal is valued at $328 million. On a pro forma basis, E*Trade,
General Atlantic Partners
and
Softbank
will collectively own more than 25 million shares of Wit Capital. Approximately 20 million shares will be subject to a three-year restriction on sale.
For more on this
story, check out the coverage provided by
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com's
joint newsroom.
Additionally,
HealthAxis.com
(HAXS)
, a provider of Internet solutions for health insurance plan distribution, has entered into a strategic partnership with E*Trade. Under terms of the deal, HealthAxis.com will become the exclusive provider of online health insurance to E*Trade's U.S. customer base.
Oracle
(ORCL) - Get Oracle Corporation Report
said it has entered a pact with Web content providers and portals to extend its services. The software company's
Portal Partnership Initiative
includes EDS,
Ernst & Young
,
Infospace
(INSP) - Get Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. Report
,
Net Perceptions
(NETP)
and
Verity
(VRTY)
.
Unicredito Italiano Group
said it has agreed to acquire
Pioneer Group
(PIOG)
, in a cash deal valued at $1.2 billion. The terms call for Unicredito to purchase all of Pioneer's global investment management businesses. Pioneer would give its shareholders 100% of its ownership stake in its other assets before the deal is completed.
Spanish Internet service provider
Terra Networks
(TRRA)
said it was in talks with
Lycos
(LCOS)
in a move that could create a new global Internet giant behind America Online and
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
.
For more on this
story, see the coverage provided by
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com's
joint newsroom.
--
Tara Murphy
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Earnings/revenue reports and previews
(Earnings estimates from First Call/Thomson Financial. Earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified.)
AutoZone
(AZO) - Get AutoZone, Inc. Report
said it expects to post third-quarter earnings of 50 cents a share, topping the 13-analyst estimate of 47 cents and up from the year-ago 39-cent profit. Lehman Brothers initiated coverage of the stock with an outperform rating.
RehabCare Group
(RHB)
set a 2-for-1 stock split.
Starbucks
(SBUX) - Get Starbucks Corporation Report
executives are forecasting robust sales growth at 3000 of its stores in the next few months, but said that the results wouldn't be as good as its recent reports. Chairman Howard Schultz told
Reuters
that same-store sales growth would hit the high single digits, down from last-month's 12% increase. Schultz and CFO Michael Casey rejected claims from a short seller, who said in
Barron's
that the stock was not meeting analysts expectations.
Valspar
(VAL) - Get Valaris Ltd. Report
reported second-quarter earnings of 59 cents a share, beating the six-analyst estimate of 57 cents and up from the year-ago earnings of 51 cents a share.
--
Tara Murphy
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Offerings and stock actions
Cheesecake Factory
(CAKE) - Get Cheesecake Factory Incorporated Report
set a 3-for-2 stock split.
--
Tara Murphy
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Analyst actions
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette added
Ciena
(CIEN) - Get Ciena Corporation Report
to its focus list and removed
Young & Rubicam
(YNR)
.
Downgrades
Champion International
(CHA) - Get China Telecom Corp. Ltd. Report
: DOWN to market performance from buy at
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
.
Chevron
(CHV)
: DOWN to hold from buy at
ING Barings
.
Initiations
C-Cube Microsystems
: NEW strong buy at
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown
, price target: 27.
Celestica
(CLS) - Get Celestica Inc. Report
: NEW medium-term buy at
Salomon Smith Barney
, 12- to 18-month price target: 60.
Ispat
(IST)
: NEW intermediate accumulate, long-term buy rating at
Merrill Lynch
.
Packard Biosciences
(PBSC)
: NEW intermediate, long-term buy rating at Merrill Lynch.
Sycamore Networks
(SCMR)
: NEW strong buy at
Wit Soundview
.
Group Moves
J.P. Morgan
downgraded the following auto and auto parts stocks:
- Dana (DCN) : DOWN to market performer from buy.
General Motors (GM) - Get General Motors Company Report: DOWN to long-term buy from buy.
Gentex (GNTX) - Get Gentex Corporation Report: DOWN to long-term buy from buy.
Lear (LEA) - Get Lear Corporation Report: DOWN to market performer from buy.
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Miscellany
Priceline.com
(PCLN)
named its president and COO, Daniel Schulman, as new CEO. Schulman succeeds Richard Braddock as chief executive. Braddock will remain chairman of the company's board.
For more on this
story, check out the coverage provided by
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com's
joint newsroom.
Abbott Laboratories
(ABT) - Get Abbott Laboratories Report
and
Sangstat
(SANG)
said the
Food and Drug Administration
gave approval to market Abbott's Gengraf capsules, an immuno-suppressant for the prevention of organ rejection in kidney, liver and heart transplants.
Compaq
(CPQ)
will launch new Alpha server computers, attempting to become a big supplier of Web computers, reported
The Wall Street Journal
.
Del Monte Foods
(DLM)
said CEO and president Richard Wolford has been named its chairman.
Iona Technologies
(IONA)
tapped Barry Morris as its CEO.
--
Tara Murphy
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