Cramer: Elliott Management Could Win Arconic Fight
Elliott Management could win its bid to control Arconic (ARNC) - Get Report , which would be a good thing for the stock, Jim Cramer told members of his Action Alerts PLUS club in an exclusive monthly call.
Cramer noted that the abrupt departure of CEO Klaus Kleinfeld earlier this month could make it easier for Elliott to win control of the company. The stock-picker believes Kleinfeld "was going to win the fight to keep Elliott at bay and stay as CEO," but blew it by sending an unauthorized letter to Elliott. Kleinfeld ended up resigning as a result.
Cramer said he's been "scale-selling" his charitable trust's ARNC holdings in recent weeks, betting that Arconic's current management "would stay in place." But he added: "I no longer believe that to necessarily be the case. I now think that Elliott could win." In that case, Arconic could be "put on the block, or ... some of the parts sold quickly [to] make it into a pure aerospace play," Cramer said.
He thinks the greatest risk to the stock now is if the current management wins the fight. But Cramer said he's willing to take that risk because the company reported a better-than-expected quarter earlier this week.
"[Kleinfeld] didn't get to cross [Jordan to the land of milk and honey, did he?" Cramer said. "But we did."
