GRIFFIN GAMING <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: GGE)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: GGE)") end if %> exploded $6 7/8 to $19 1/8 (up some 56%) this morning after SUN INTERNATIONAL HOTEL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SIH)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SIH)") end if %> made a bid for the gaming concern. Griffin shareholders will get 0.4324 shares per share of Griffin, an implied purchase price of around $20 1/2. This would put the purchase price at $360 million, including outstanding debt and cash in the bank. Apparently some are questioning the wisdom of Sun's move, battering those shares $4 to $47 3/4 even as Griffin's shares hit multi-year highs. Merv Griffin, who owns 25% of Griffin Gaming, has signed a separate agreement guaranteeing that he will play ball with the merger.
Shareholders of Griffin Gaming who have been checking into the Fool boards with any frequency would have already discovered that Griffin was pretty shareholder-oriented -- roughly 50% of the messages in the folder are from the firm's President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tom Gallagher. Gallagher has been diligently answering shareholder questions and updating the owners of his company on various presentations to analysts and institutions over the past few months. Activism like this is always a positive, as a company clearly focused on serving shareholders is a company that is likely to focus on stock appreciation as one of the measures of success. The number of publicly-traded companies which look everywhere but to the stock price as a measure of success is quite disturbing.
South Africa-based Sun International is run by Solomon Kertzner, who will control 18% of the merged company. The hotel chain has long been mulling an entry into the United States gaming industry, a much-maligned sector that seems to function as the adult version of amusement parks in an economic sense. Kertzner, who has been dodging allegations of bribery in his home country, sees no problems getting the New Jersey gaming regulators to sign on to the merger. Griffin's principal asset is an Atlantic City casino that it apparently is involved in with Resorts International.
UPS
~~~
PATTERSON ENERGY <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PTEN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PTEN)") end if %> surged $1 5/8 to $18 3/4 this morning after Prudential Securities initiated coverage of the oilfield services firm with a "buy" rating. Recently Patterson posted earnings that were 37.5% ahead of consensus expectations.
A Merrill Lynch upgrade to "buy" caused shares of VETERINARY CENTERS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: VCAI)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: VCAI)") end if %> to rise $1 7/8 to $21 7/8 this morning. The firm owns and operates the largest network of free-standing animal hospitals and labs in the country.
THREE-FIVE SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: TFS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: TFS)") end if %> has turned around its moribund stock price with the announcement of a one-million-share buy-back. The electronic component developer rose $1 to $10 (11.11%) on news of the 12% repurchase.
Shares of TYLAN GENERAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: TYGN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: TYGN)") end if %> soared $2 3/4 to $13 after the firm made a flurry of announcements, chief among them that it had hired Goldman Sachs to potentially sell the company. DANAHER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: DHR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: DHR)") end if %> is rumored to be interested.
INTEVAC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IVAC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: IVAC)") end if %> rose $1 1/4 to $13 after Hambrecht & Quist reinstated the firm with a "buy" recommendation. The firm recently withdrew a 2.25 million secondary offering, stating it was properly funded for operating over the next twelve months.
Plans to spin-off a wireless communications unit headed up by a former AT&T <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: T)") end if %> executive have shares of ASSOCIATED GROUP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AGRPA)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AGRPA)") end if %> up $3 to $33 1/4 for the second day running. Class B shares <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AGRPB)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AGRPB)") end if %> were up $3 1/4 to $32 1/8.
PRE-PAID LEGAL SERVICES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: PPD)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: PPD)") end if %> popped up $7/8 to $14 5/8 this morning after an article in USA Today profiled the firm's new lawyer insurance product for consumers. Essentially, you could buy the insurance in case you needed a lawyer.
DOWNS
~~~~~~
URBAN OUTFITTERS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: URBN)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: URBN)") end if %> reported fiscal second quarter results this morning, notching $0.16 EPS versus $0.13 EPS a year ago on a 9.0% same-store sales increase. The shares are down $1 1/2 to $23, perhaps due to comments in the conference call.
News late yesterday that SimCity 3000 would be delayed until mid-1997 caused shares of MAXIS INC. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MXIS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MXIS)") end if %> to plunge $2 to $11 1/2 this morning. The firm announced a new chief executive officer (CEO) as well, who will replace one of the firm's founders.
STEWART & STEVENSON <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SSSS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SSSS)") end if %> continued in its disappointing ways, missing consensus estimates of $0.34 EPS by $0.18 EPS. The oilfield services concern missed its numbers the last time at bat by 46%. Shares slid $7/8 to $20 1/2.
Continuing to be pummeled after announcing a 1.85 million share secondary offering, MEDICIS PHARMACEUTICAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MDRX)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MDRX)") end if %> gave back another $3/4 to $33 3/4 this morning. The proposed offering will dilute shareholder equity by 20%.
HELD
~~~~
SANO CORP. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SANO)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SANO)") end if %> got held up in early trading this morning after announcing an agreement with BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BMY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BMY)") end if %>. Sano will manufacture transdermal BuSpar for Bristol in a pact valued at $40 million.
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Heroes & Goats & Editing
Do you wish you could scour our voluminous Iomega message folders each day, but for some ridiculous reason, find that you just don't have the time? Or do you actually take the time to read every Iomega post, but find yourself somehow surrounded by people urging you to get a life? Rejoice! The Motley Fool has heard the cry of those feeling overwhelmed by the folder, and has begun offering a daily digest of it. Sporting the best posts from the last 24 hours, "IOMG in Fooldom Today" can be e-mailed to you five times a week. And the price? At the moment, it's quite reasonable -- it's free. If you'd like to sign up, simply send an e-mail to [email protected] from the address where you'd like to receive the reports. Make sure you type "subscribe" in the *body* of the message. (MFiomg is an automated account, not a person.)