Tag Archives: Starboard Value

Starboard Value Calls for Office Depot to Remake Board

By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Regardless of whether its merger with OfficeMax is completed or not,  Office Depot‘s   major shareholder Starboard Value believes that the board of directors of needs a significant shakeup to be effective.

In a letter filed with the SEC, Starboard’s Jeffrey C. Smith said the office supply retailer needs “a new Board that possesses the appropriate skill sets to oversee a turnaround of Office Depot.” Starboard, which owns 14.8% of Office Depot‘s stock, offered up a slate of eight candidates for the board, including former chairman and CEO of Chrysler and Home Depot Robert Nardelli, and the current president and CEO of Republic Airways‘ Frontier Airlines subsidiary David Siegel

Considering the current operating performance, Starboard is looking for immediate change in the makeup of the board, which will benefit the melding of the two corporate cultures should the merger be approved.

If the current board doesn’t make the changes requested, Starboard says the annual shareholder meeting should be scheduled before the merger is completed, so the shareholders can decide who they want to lead the company.

The article Starboard Value Calls for Office Depot to Remake Board originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Home Depot. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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<p style="clear: both;padding: 8px …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Did These 3 Stocks Deserve Their Gains?

By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out its winning streak at 10 days, closing down 25 points on Friday. But it’s still up a remarkable 11% in 2013 already and was ready for a breather.

The following three stocks, however, continued to party on, though you should resist the urge to high-five everyone in the cubicles next to you. Smart investors won’t celebrate until they know why their stock surged, because without a fundamental basis for the bounce, these stocks could just as quickly make the return trip down.

Company

% Gain

Gluu Mobile

14.8%

Mechel

10.1%

Quantum  

8.3%

Going all-in
There was no company-specific news to send shares of mobile gaming-cum-gambling entrepreneur Glu Mobile higher on Friday, but the launch of its first real-money gambling product the other day is probably helping to keep the momentum going.

It also didn’t hurt that NPD Group released data showing that sales of video-game hardware, software, and accessories slid 27% last month, but much of that was being made up in sales of digital games and apps, putting Glu at the forefront of where the gaming action is: online and with real money.

That strategy hasn’t paid off for Zynga , though, despite following a similar path. It secured a license to run online gambling in Nevada, but perhaps because Glu is already on the market with a product in conjunction with its tie-in with Probability, Zynga’s shares fell more than 2% on Friday. Still its shares are up 75% from the lows they hit back in November, and Glu’s shares are 67% higher.

As doubtful as I’ve been about this transition to online gambling, investors don’t seem to think it’s a simple roll of the dice when it comes to these two players.

Canary in a coal mine
Russia‘s largest steelmaking coal producer, Mechel, is still riding higher from reports that Glencore International is interested in purchasing its Kazakhstan ferroalloy assets, which analysts estimate could be worth some $250 million to $300 million.

Mechel is intent on selling off assets in an effort to pay down more than $9 billion in debt, as declining coal prices have crushed profits and it would prefer to sell the entire division, worth approximately $550 million, rather than break it up piecemeal. There are other interested parties for the business, which could help boost the final selling price, as Eurasian Natural Resources was mentioned as one potential bidder, according to a Bloomberg report.

The coal producer’s shares have lost about half their value from their 52-week highs hit almost exactly one year ago.

No justice, no peace
Looks like hedge funds are increasingly interested in data-storage specialist Quantum, which saw Starboard Value increase its holdings from 15.9% to 16.7%, including the convertible debt it holds,  according to documents filed with the SEC on Friday.

When Starboard first made its presence known back in November, it …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance