CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) is getting high marks so far after the company disclosed details of what is nothing short of a total reorganization of the company. Most investors know of CBS by the national television networks and operations tied to those efforts. The company also has outdoor advertising, book publishing, local radio stations, and websites. CBS is about to become much more focused to unlock investor value.
The company has announced two new strategic initiatives for its outdoor segment. CBS is now going to begin to convert its Outdoor Americas Business into a Real Estate Investment Trust. On top of creating a domestic REIT for investors. If the IRS rules in its favor, CBS expects to complete the REIT conversion in the taxable year beginning in 2014. CBS also went a step further by saying that it will divest its outdoor business operations in Europe and Asia and these international operations will be counted as discontinued operations at the end of 2013.
CEO Les Moonves is going to get a good reception here on Thursday if the price change holds up. CBS closed at $37.94 against a 52-week range of $27.81 to $39.77. Shares are up over 8% at $41.15 in the after-hours trading reaction.
Evan after today’s close CBS had a market value above $24 billion. At the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate, CBS’s value at the close was almost 15-times expected 2012 earnings and about 13-times expected 2013 earnings.
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