The reason cited for the delay was “due to the level of interest in its auction of the Titanic artifact collection and the late entry of additional potential bidders.”

Premier Exhibitions, Inc. owns RMS Titanic, Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary and this is the only company permitted by law to recover objects from the wreck of Titanic after it was granted what is called ‘Salvor-In-Possession rights’ to the wreck of Titanic back in 1994.  The company has conducted seven research and recovery expeditions to Titanic and it has recovered over 5,500 artifacts.

What is interesting is that the auction house responsible for this auction, Guernsey’s, is selling this all as one collection (seen here).  The auction house has noted, “Also included is a substantial body of Intellectual Property such as hundreds of hours of video footage of the ship and the recovery effort, three-dimensional mapping of the complete ship and surrounding debris field, and other meaningful property pertaining to the ship today and into the future.”

How you would value this is probably no simple task.  The pre-news market capitalization of the equity of Premier Exhibitions is listed as almost $128.5 million according to Yahoo! Finance but that is far higher than the value of the goodwill, intangibles, and other related assets it carries on its most recent balance sheet.

JON C. OGG

CKX is far from a normal public company and it was one of several highly unique public companies we have recently featured and most of these could even be classified as cult stocks.  Pinpointing a real value in CKX comes down to “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  The company owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, the operations of Graceland, and proprietary rights to the IDOLS and So You Think You Can Dance television brands.  Robert F.X. Sillerman resigned as its Chairman and CEO to pursue a possible acquisition of the company but those talks ended in 2010.  The company’s total assets were $460.8 million at the end of 2010 and the buyout is being valued at close to $510 million.

We have highlighted each of these other unique public companies in a brief description below and that full prior article on unique companies goes much deeper into the operations and values of each.  Today we have only a brief description and a market capitalization rate compared to total asset values (not book values).

Collectors Universe Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT) is effectively the last public company out there pertaining to grading and evaluating collectibles and grading other items.  The market cap here is about $120 million and the assets are about $37 million.

Destination Maternity Corporation (NASDAQ: DEST) screens out as a retailer, but it is effectively a pure-play in maternity clothing and apparel, with over 1,700 retail locations.  The market cap here is only about $300 million versus a total asset size of about $200 million.

Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) has become so large that it will almost be forced to live up to its yoga-monopoly image.  Amazingly, very few ‘knock-off’ imitation companies exist on their own.  Lulu’s market cap is now over $7 billion and its valuations totay are likely to scare away a buyer; its total assets were valued recently a about $500 million.

Madison Square Garden, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSG) fits right in for private equity via sports teams, entertainment, and highly recognized venues.  The Garden has a $2 billion market cap and its total assets were listed as worth close to $2.2 billion.

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX) is basically a publicly traded treasure hunting outfit.  Why not get a bunch of billionaires to scuba dive ancient shipwrecks?  Total assets are listed as about $19 million versus a market cap of about $235 million.  That market cap does not really include its potential project values and future finds.

Premier Exhibitions, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI) is truly unique, part artifact-owner and part museum. It owns the BODIES exhibit and has the Salvor-In-Possession rights to the shipwreck of HMS Titanic and has the museum exhibit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. Its market cap is only about $85 million and its total assets are listed as being about $37 million.

Rick’s Cabaret International Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) is truly unique as it screens out as a “restaurant” in financial screens. It is America’s broadest play on “adult nightclubs for businessmen and professionals.”  Its market cap is just over $100 million with a total asset valuation of close to $150 million.  Obviously, the big question will be if a private equity firm wants to explain why it suddenly owns strip clubs.

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is not your normal gold stock as it is involved in royalty acquisitions.  Amazingly, it has only about 20 employees and commands a market cap of $3.25 billion with a total asset valuation of $1.86 billion.

Maybe some of these companies can fit into a private equity portfolio. Keep in mind that some may be too unique or may be in industries which private equity firms choose to avoid.

That more detailed review of very unique public companies is here.

JON C. OGG

Allis-Chalmers Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALY) is soaring on news that Seawell is offering to buy the company for $890 million or $4.25 per share in cash, a 85% premium to yesterday’s $2.30 close.  Shares are up 61% at $3.71 on almost 500,000 shares.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is trading higher after $0.36 EPS vs. $0.27 expected; Revenue grew by 14% to $472.8 million vs. $459 million expected.  Shares are trading up 3.5% at $28.41 on over 50,000 shares.

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) is trading down after a patent case ruling against Lilly for Strattera, and that patent was out to 2017.  Lilly also announced job cuts and lower 2010 guidance.  Shares are down 4.2% at $35.05 on over 30,000 shares.

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) posted 39% income gains but its outlook was unchanged.  Shares are trading down 5% at $31.76 on thin volume.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) missed earnings estimates as many feared but the stock had already traded off so much that investors are buying the stock this morning.  Shares are up 4.25% at $9.34 against a 52-week trading range of $8.65 to $18.96.

PDL BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI) is getting hit after it received a letter from Genentech relating to European patents.  Shares are now down 10% at $5.57 on more than 125,000 shares.

Premier Exhibitions Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI) is soaring in reaction to its press release saying that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division, has issued an opinion granting a salvage award to RMS Titanic Inc.  The Company has been awarded 100% of the fair market value of the artifacts, which the Court set at approximately one hundred ten million dollars.  Shares are trading up 98% at $2.30 on about 9,000 shares in the pre-market.  Average volume is roughly 72,000 shares, the 52-week range was $0.68 to $1.65, and the pre-news market cap was listed as $54.3 million.

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) is trading higher after the Chinese maker of baseband chips for wireless devices significantly beat earnings expectations and raised guidance b a similar amount for the quarter ahead.  Shares are up 8.7% at $10.72, but volume is thin.  The 52-week range is $2.67 to $11.15 and the average volume is about 850,000 shares.

Telestone Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: TSTC) is getting whacked this morning after earnings on thin trading volume.  Shares were down 18% last night and the drop right now is 16% at $11.42.  Its 52-week range is $4.24 to $24.94 and average volume is 324,000 shares.

Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRBN) is soaring after signing a definitive merger agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS); holders will receive an upfront payment of $1.365 per share in cash and 0.1641 shares of Emergent BioSolutions common stock, representing $4.55 per share before dilution.  Trubion shares are up 49% at $4.49, but trading volume is very thin as it is a micro-cap stock with low volume.  The 52-week range is $2.29 to $6.75.

Unica Corporation (NASDAQ: UNCA) is the daily double after IBM agreed to pay $21.00 per share in cash versus a $9.55 close.  Shares are up 117.8% at $20.80 on nearly 1 million shares.  This is an all-time high for Unica.

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JON C. OGG

The offers were made to Premier Exhibitions and to Sellers Capital for the right to enhance and expand RMS Titanic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions.  WLM offered $25 million for an exclusive, multi-year management agreement of RMS Titanic to include all touring, expedition and salvage rights to the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

In a separate proposal, Mr. Harris offered $3.00 per share to Sellers Capital and its affiliates, which include Contango Oil & Gas (MCF), who are the beneficiaries of 4,778,399 shares of common stock of Premier Exhibitions.  Their holding represents 16.3% of Premier’s outstanding shares, including all board and executive positions.

Mr. Harris is one of the original founders of RMS Titanic, Inc.  With a share price of $1.37 and a market cap of $40 million, this might sound confusing.  But it is a major percentage gain of some 98%.  Again, this does not entail a full buyout on the surface.  But it could and would likely adjust the valuations of Premier Exhibitions in a great way.

Jon C. Ogg

• ASML (NASDAQ: ASML) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• McCormick & Schmick’s (NASDAQ: MSSR) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Melco Crown (NASDAQ: MPEL) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Morton’s Restaurant Group (NYSE: MRG) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Peet’s Coffee & Tea (NASDAQ: PEET) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
• Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) Cut to Sector Underperform at CIBC.
• Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs (added details).
• Teck (NYSE: TCK) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
• Teradyne (NYSE: TER) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Vornado (NYSE: VNO) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
January 8, 2009

This exhibit is meant top be a mobile exhibit for museums as it will travel to major cities throughout the United States with dates and location T.B.A.

RMS Titanic, Inc. owns the salvage rights to the Titanic wreck site and is the only company permitted to recover objects from the wreckage area after it was granted exclusive Salvor-in-Possession rights by a U.S. federal court in 1994.  The company has conducted seven research and recovery expeditions to the Titanic rescuing more than 5,500 artifacts.

Jon C. Ogg
July 8, 2008

The company will continue to operate the human anatomy exhibition called “Bodies . . .The Exhibition” in New York City. The company has also agreed to make certain disclosures in its exhibition, on its website, and in its New York area advertising regarding the sourcing of the specimens presented in the exhibition. 

This was one of the investor issues hanging over the company regarding the cadaver sources or whose cadavers the company was using.  Part of the allegations from human rights groups were that the company was using cadavers of executed Chinese prisoners rather than cadavers that were from donors.

Premier has agreed to create an escrow fund of $50,000.00 to reimburse customers who establish that they would not have attended the New York City exhibition had they known the facts set forth. Monies remaining in the escrow account after 8 months that have not been paid to customers will revert back to the Premier.

The Company will retain an independent monitor to ensure compliance with the Assurance agreement and it will pay $15,000.00 to the Attorney General of the State of New York as part of the resolution.

You can read the full ASSURANCE OF DISCONTINUANCE at the company’s prxi.com site.

Shares closed at $4.69 yesterday, and the 52-week trading range is $4.27 to $18.62.

For whatever it is worth, if you haven’t seen this exhibit in New York or elsewhere it is worth seeing as one of the most unique exhibits available to the public that you will have ever seen.

Jon C. Ogg
May 29, 2008

This motion for a salvage award has no bearing on the approximately 1,800 artifacts recovered by RMST in its first expedition to the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 1987, for which title rests with RMST pursuant to a 1993 decree from a French maritime tribunal which gave it an in "specie salvage award" for all of those artifacts.

In 1994, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division (the "Court") declared RMST to be the sole and exclusive Salvor-in-Possession of the wreck and wreck site of the RMS Titanic. As such, RMST is the only entity to have ever legally salvaged artifacts from the famous wreck site. RMST has continuously remained as Salvor-in-Possession for over thirteen years, and it intends to continue presenting its blockbuster exhibitions, "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" in museums and other non- traditional venues throughout the world and likewise intends to continue its unprecedented historical and archaeological work in conserving the artifact collection.

In the October 16, 2007 Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Court declared invalid a claim by RMST that it acquired through a recent transaction with Liverpool and London Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association, Ltd. additional ownership rights to certain artifacts recovered from the wreck, and further suggested that such claim of ownership by RMST was misleading to the investors of Premier Exhibitions, Inc.

A copy of the Memorandum Opinion is located on Premier Exhibitions’ website located at www.prxi.com under the heading "the Company" and the subheading "Investor Relations."

The company subsequently has also issued notice that it would repurchase up to 1 million shares in a stock buyback plan.  Shares are trading up on very thin trading volume pre-market.

Jon C. Ogg
October 30, 2007

If you haven’t heard of Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. (OMR-AMEX), you either haven’t watch treasure ship shows on television or haven’t seen some wild occasional stock moves.  Today shares of Odyssey Marine Exploration are up a whopping 60% to a multi-year high of $7.38 and this is not because of a takeover.

The company has completed a pre-disturbance archaelogical survey and preliminary excavation of a Colonial-period shipwreck in an "undiclosed location in the Atlantic Ocean."  The artifacts include more than 500,000 silver coins that are said to weigh more than 17 tons.  There are also gold coins and other precious artifacts.  These are said to be legally imported into the United States and are undergoing documentation and conservation.

This is the same outfit that uncovered the gold coins from the SS Republic, an 1865 Civil War era shipwreck that yielded over 50,000 coins with a retail value said to be over $75 million.  If you have ever been channel surfing on television late at night you have probably seen those coins. 

The company has a market cap of some $347 million after today’s massive run.  The question now is "what is the value of the other potential ships in the area?".  There is also the ongoing turf wars that exist in every offshore treasure hunt because every nation around wants their cut, and depending on how old the shipwrecks are, there may actually stilll be some ‘salvage and ownership claims’ from either government or individuals or insurance companies that paid loss claims once upon a time.  This one is now an even more active speculator’s stock if you ever saw one.

There are some other stocks that get tied in to this sort of stock whenever there is news.  Gallery of History (HIST-NASDAQ) is a micro-cap that has some overlaps.  Collector’s Universe (CLCT-NASDAQ) is a coin grading and certification service, although they are probably more known for their PSA sportscard and memorabilia grading and authentication services.  There is lastly the company Premier Exhibitions Inc. (PRXI-NASDAQ), which owns of all things the RMS Titanic Inc. (yes, the famed shipwreck) salvage and artifact company. 

Jon C. Ogg
May 18, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.