24/7 Wall St. » MNT

Cramer Calls For More Buyouts (JNJ, MNT, AGN, PFE, ITW, MTW, NKE, UA)

247wallst — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:43:28 +0000

On tonight’s MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer called for companies with high cash balances to make acquisitions while competitors are dirt cheap and vulnerable. Yesterday, Cramer called for Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to acquire Allergan (NYSE: AGN) now that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) decided to take out Mentor Corp. (NYSE: MNT) for a huge premium. We recently pondered whether that deal really made Allergan worth less money or more money over the competition. Allergan has been battered as many "self improvements and enhancement surgeries" are being put off because the public is having a major money pinch. Tonight, Cramer gave two more merger candidates and suitors.

He wants to see Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW)buy Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW). The companies got into a bidding war for acompetitor, but Manitowoc won and its stock has been ravaged. ITWcould buy it for a pittance now since Manitowoc has been hit so hard. Not all of the businesses overlap and itcould be a cheap merger that has a sweet revenge side to it.

Cramer also believes that the time has come for Nike (NYSE: NKE) tofinally acquire Under Armour (NYSE: UA) now the smaller company’s stock has beenkilled. It was over $3 billion in market cap last year and barely $1billion now. With Nike having over $2.6 billion in cash and spending$1 billion per year in buying its own stock back, Nike could take out acompetitor and take on another growth engine.

We agree that many larger companies should selectively do acquisitions. Our only issue with this notion is that many of thebig stodgy cash-rich companies are in total lock-down or have goneentirely defensive. The buyers cannot access loans right now and manyhave seen their lines of credit come under review or get cut. Ifthey have debt maturities coming due in the next 18 months they have tokeep the cash for that. The desire to do deals or to spend cash is frequently no different for big public companies than it is for Joe Public when times are tough.

Cramer said he”d have some more merger candidate picks Friday.

Jon C. Ogg
December 4, 2008

Posted in Cramer, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: AGN, ITW, JNJ, MNT, MTW, NKE, PFE, UA

J&J: Now Master Over Mentor (MNT, JNJ)

247wallst — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:21:20 +0000

If you thought that high-premium buyouts or M&A was dead, that is not the case in at least some opportunities. Mentor Corp. (NYSE: MNT) has just secured a major premium buyout this Monday morning with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) as the suitor.

Mentor will be acquired for approximately $1.07 billion in a cash tender offer valued at $31.00 per share.

Mentor Corporation is in the development, manufacturing, licensing, andmarketing of various products for the aesthetic and general surgerymarkets. The company will operate as a stand-alone business unit underJ&J’s ETHICON, Inc. unit, a provider of suture, mesh and otherproducts for a wide range of surgical procedures. One of Mentor’soperations it is best known for is its breast augmentation andreconstruction operations.

This is actually a near-100% buyout premium. Shares of Mentor closedat $16.15 on Friday, and the 52-week trading range is $13.33 to $40.82.

Jon C. Ogg
December 1, 2008

Posted in Medical, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: JNJ, MNT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ANR, BJS, DL, RIMM, AGU, CF, MNT, POT, TRA)

247wallst — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:43:11 +0000

There are actually very few analyst calls this morning and some of these may even be carry-over calls from late yesterday:

Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) raised to buy at UBS.
BJ Services (BJS) raised to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
China Distance Education (DL) started as buy at Citigroup.
Research in Motion (RIMM) raised to outperform but target cut to $110 at Raymond James; raised to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
Agrium (AGU) cut to hold at Citigroup.
CF Industries (CF) cut to hold at Citigroup.
Mentor Corp. (MNT) cut to hold at Jefferies.
Potash Corp. (POT) target cut to $250 from $375 at RBC.
Research in Motion (RIMM) cut to hold at Canaccord; cut to sector perform at RBC.
Terra Industries (TRA) cut to hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
September 26, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AGU, ANR, BJS, CF, DL, MNT, POT, RIMM, TRA

Earlybird Analyst Calls (June 6, 2007)

247wallst — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 06:30:54 +0000

AGN started as Buy at Jefferies.
AW started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BAY started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
CACH cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
CIEN started as Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
CPNO started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
EPD started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
EPE started as market perform at Morgan Keegan.
ETE started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
ETP started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
GILD cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
IMA started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
JCI raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
KMP started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
KSE raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
LOOP started as Buy at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
MNT started as Buy at Jefferies.
NTEC started as Outperform at Rodman & Renshaw.
ORBC started as Outperform at CIBC.
RSG started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
SINT cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
TEVA raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
VLTR cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
VRUS started as Buy at B of A.
WMI started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Jon C. Ogg
June 6, 2007