I had to read this three times before I could actually believe these clown are serious. You will find the man who made the offer’s contact info at the end.
Philip Morris International (PM) has been notified of an unsolicited “mini-tender offer” by TRC Capital Corporation to purchase up to 2.0 million shares, or approximately 0.09%, of Philip Morris International stock for $49.25 per share.
OK. Let’s just assume that is not a 3.2% DISCOUNT to the price I could sell it in the market today. Let’s also assume we are not looking at 15% to 20% EPS growth in the future. Let’s also forget that there is no multi-billion dollar buyback being exercised by the company as I write. While we are at it, we should also ignore that it is a market leader (and growing) on a massive international stage. Of course we also need to eliminate the fact based on current EPS the stocks trades at 15 times earnings which essentially is a discount to it growth rate.
What is maddening is just how stupid they think PM investors are? We have waited for years for this spin from Altria (MO) and now they actually think we are going to plop our shares over to them at a discount to current prices?
You may contact the man who made the offer, TRC Capital Corporation Lorne H. Albaum CEO (416) 304-1932 ext.223, and tell him yourself “I got your tender offer right here pal!”.
Here is a brief description of the company. The fact he made the offer means he thinks the price is going higher. He is just trying to take advantage of investor who may be confused by the “mini-offer” and think the company may be sold.
I spoke to Mr. Albaum Friday. He claims he is going to hold shares for a “long term investment”. He also said that shares tendered by the 29th would become his then and he would have “2 or 3 days” to actually pay for them. When I said, “well, if the price stays the same as it is today, you could essentially sell all of the 2 million shares (assuming he gets them all) the 29th and never pay a penny and pocket $2 to $3 million dollars”. After an awkward pause, he stammered, “that is a possibility”.
Or, he could sell 1/2 and then keep the other half after which he would have paid nothing for them. When I asked if he was going to keep all the shares he said “he would have to look at that depending how much capital was at risk”. Short answer? No.
He said the offer is made for people who own “10 to 12 shares and the offer may pocket them more money than paying a broker a commission to sell them”. Well, Etrade (ETFC) charges me $9.99 a trade and even at that, I come out ahead of Mr. Albaum’s price if I only had 10 shares. I asked him what other scenario’s there were and he said “numerous” but did not give any.
If you are contacted about this please ignore it.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long PM, MO, None
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