Archive for December, 2007
NATCHEZ, Miss.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Callon Petroleum Company (NYSE: CPE) announced today that it has completed the sale of certain non-core, non-operated royalty and mineral interests for $61.5 million pursuant to a Purchase and Sale Agreement dated December 10, 2007. The buyer is Indigo Minerals LLC, a private company based in Houston, Texas.
These non-operated, onshore royalty and mineral interests represent less than 2% of Callon’s estimated current net proved reserves and are widely dispersed in 15 different states throughout the United States. Production, net to Callon, from the properties being sold is approximately 420 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and provide additional liquidity for the development of Callon’s Gulf of Mexico deepwater fields.
Callon Petroleum Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of oil and gas properties primarily offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Over 80% of Callon’s oil and gas reserves are located in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico with approximately 55% consisting of crude oil.
Sam’s Notes
Now this looks like some good news for ownesr of CPE stock. With the company actively getting rid of non-oil interests to put money into its profitable oil interests I see good things ahead. Well, unless the price of oil somehow tanks. Even then oil is still an excellent investment.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) announced today that it has completed the cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:COLY). The tender offer expired, as scheduled, at midnight, Eastern time, on Friday, December 28, 2007. The offer was not extended.
A total of 24,050,054 shares of Coley common stock were validly tendered and not withdrawn prior to the expiration of the offer, including 661,444 shares subject to guaranteed delivery procedures. Through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Corvette Acquisition Corp., Pfizer has accepted for payment all validly tendered shares. The shares accepted for payment, together with the shares previously owned by Corvette Acquisition Corp., represent approximately 92.2 percent of Coley’s outstanding common shares.
As the final step of the acquisition process, Pfizer intends to consummate a merger in which remaining Coley shareholders will receive the same $8.00 cash price per share paid in the tender offer. Consummation of the merger is expected to occur within the next several days. Following the merger, Coley will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer.
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $23.1 billion in November, an increase of 2.3 percent from November 2006 when sales were $22.5 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today. Sales increased by 0.7 percent from the October sales of $22.9 billion. Year-to-date sales of $231 billion are 2.8 percent ahead of the $225 billion in sales for the like period of 2006.
“Early indications are that consumer products with high semiconductor content such as LCD TVs, PMP and MP3 players, along with digital cameras all sold well in the holiday buying season,” said SIA President George Scalise. “These products are all finishing the year with very healthy unit sales increases. Cell phone unit sales in 2007 will grow by over 20 percent for the fifth-consecutive year, while unit sales of personal computers will grow by more than 10 percent.
“While unit demand has been very robust, average selling prices (ASP) have declined in a number of key product segments. Pricing pressure in the memory sector continues to impact industry sales. DRAM bit shipments, for example, increased by 25 percent in the three months leading up to mid-December while ASPs declined by 20 percent during the same time period.
“Microprocessor sales increased by 5.8 percent month-on-month and by 7.4 percent from November of 2006. Strong PC unit demand contributed to a 2.6 percent sequential increase in microprocessor unit shipments and a 3.2 percent increase in ASPs.
“Rising energy prices and concerns about sub-prime lending issues do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending on electronic products during the holiday buying season. While total semiconductor sales continue on pace to surpass the record level of 2006, it will take very strong sales in December to meet our forecast of 3.8 percent growth in 2007,” Scalise concluded.
BATON ROUGE, La.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) announced today that it has received notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”) that the SEC’s Division of Enforcement has completed its informal inquiry, which the company announced in June 2004, and that the Division of Enforcement does not intend to recommend any enforcement action.
The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology, engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the energy, chemical, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. A Fortune 500 company with nearly $6 billion in annual revenues, Shaw is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., and employs approximately 27,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit Shaw’s Web site at www.shawgrp.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans” or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company’s reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company’s Web site under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements.” These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw.
Sam’s Notes
Being investigated by the SEC can be a scary thing for investors. The above press release is good news as the informal investigation has ended and no further investigation is under way.
JACKSON, Miss.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) today announced results for the second quarter and six months ended December 1, 2007.
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 were $223.7 million compared with net sales of $137.7 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2007. The Company reported net income of $40.2 million, or $1.70 per basic share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 compared with net income of $6.4 million, or $0.27 per basic share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2007.
For the first six months of fiscal 2008, net sales were $402.3 million compared with net sales of $253.0 million for the prior-year period. The Company reported net income of $58.1 million, or $2.46 per basic share, for the first half of fiscal 2008 compared with net income of $970,000, or $0.04 per basic share, for the year-earlier period.
Fred Adams, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., stated, “We are very pleased with our results for the second quarter of fiscal 2008. These results reflect the favorable market conditions, with egg prices reaching record levels during the quarter. All of our operations performed well during the period. The egg industry has received positive reports from both the medical and nutritional communities, and eggs continue to represent a good value compared with other food products. As a result, demand for fresh eggs was strong for both the retail and food service markets as well as demand for eggs used for liquid, frozen and dried egg products. The export markets have also been very strong this year, and we expect Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan and the Middle East to be good markets for eggs in 2008.
“Looking ahead, our feed costs remain high, and we expect this trend to continue with the high demand for corn for ethanol use creating additional price pressures. However, both the egg industry and the USDA predict that egg production will be similar to 2007 levels, and this should support profitable egg prices for the year ahead,” added Adams.
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. is primarily engaged in the production, grading, packing and sale of fresh shell eggs. The Company, which is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, currently is the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the United States and sells the majority of its shell eggs in approximately 29 states across the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties (contained in the Company’s SEC filings) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. SEC filings may be obtained from the SEC or by contacting the Company.
Sam’s Notes
Who knew the egg business would become so profitable? They do raise an interesting point about the ethanol business driving up the price of feed stocks for their animals. If we see a strong push towards ethanol many businesses that rely on corn as a feed stock will see their profit margins drop.
PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ValueSetters Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: VSTR) deems it appropriate and necessary to announce today that officers of the company, along with immediate family members, given recent developments and the positive effects resulting thereof on the present operations of the company, have purchased a significant number of shares in the open market during the current month of December.
The company did not disclose the specific numbers of shares, except to say that the total purchased exceeded a million shares.
Sam’s Notes
VSTR is below being a penny stock. As of this writing the stock is selling at $0.0078 per share. If we do some quick math we find that even with over a million shares being purchased we are still talking about a transaction only worth about $7800.
MALVERN, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IKON Office Solutions (NYSE:IKN), the world’s largest independent channel for document management systems and services, today announced the final results of its modified “Dutch Auction” self-tender offer, which expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on December 19, 2007. The Company has accepted for purchase 22,692,306 shares of its common stock at a price of $13 per share, for a total cost of $295 million, excluding fees and expenses related to the tender, representing 19.6% of the shares outstanding as of November 27, 2007.
Based on the final count by the depository for the tender offer, 24,972,230 shares were validly tendered at a price of $13 per share, resulting in a final proration factor of 93.8%. Payment for the shares accepted for purchase under the tender offer, and return of all other shares tendered and not purchased, will be made promptly by the depository. Payment for shares purchased will be made in cash, without interest.
The tender offer is part of the Company’s previously announced plan to repurchase $500 million of its common stock during fiscal 2008 which ends on September 30, 2008. Rule 13e-4(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, prohibits the Company from purchasing any shares, other than in the tender offer, until at least ten business days after the expiration of the tender offer.
Shareholders and investors who have questions or need information about the tender offer may contact the information agent, D.F. King & Co., Inc., at 1-800-735-3107. In connection with this offer, National City Bank served as depository, and Lehman Brothers and Wachovia Securities served as dealer managers.
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the 2007 holiday season finished as its best ever, with its busiest day being December 10. On that day, Amazon customers ordered more than 5.4 million items, which is 62.5 items per second. In addition, the company wrapped up its second year of Amazon Customers Vote, with more than 4.6 million votes cast during the promotion.
“We are very grateful to our customers,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “On behalf of Amazon.com employees around the globe, we wish everyone happy holidays and best wishes for 2008.”
Amazon Worldwide 2007 Holiday Facts (Includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, and www.amazon.ca)
- Amazon shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.
- On the peak day this season, Amazon’s worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 3.9 million units.
- Amazon shipped to over 200 countries.
- One of our most remote shipments was “Full Metal Panic Fumoffu - Full Metal Pandemonium” (Vol. 1) DVD and “Full Metal Panic Fumoffu - Full Metal Fracas” (Vol. 2) DVD delivered to Barrow, Alaska.
- Amazon shipped over 160,000 shipments to APO/FPO addresses.
Amazon.com 2007 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com Only)
- Amazon.com sold Nintendo Wii systems at approximately 17 per second when they were in stock.
- Amazon.com sold enough high-def DVD players to cover seven football fields.
- If you lined up all of the GPS units Amazon.com sold this holiday, they would make a trail from New York to Philadelphia; however, a new trail wouldn’t be necessary with the use of a GPS.
- Amazon.com sold enough auto wrenches to stretch all the way around the Daytona 500 track.
- Amazon.com sold enough Hannah Montana wigs to outfit the entire audience at her December 20th show in Providence, RI.
- Amazon.com’s One-Day Shipping was extended an extra day through Sunday, December 23rd for Prime members this holiday season.
- The last Prime order placed on December 23 in time for Christmas delivery contained “Futurama, Vol. 1″ DVD, “Lost in Translation” DVD, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” CD, “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand paperback, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” CD, and “Pulp Fiction” (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition) DVD delivered to Herndon, VA on December 24th.
Amazon.com’s Hot Holiday Best Sellers (Nov. 15 through Dec. 19 Based on Units Ordered)
- In Toys, top sellers included Jakks EyeClops Bionic Eye, IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit and Spinmaster Air Hogs Havoc Heli.
- Top sellers in video games and hardware included Nintendo Wii, “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Call of Duty 4.”
- In DVDs, top sellers included “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
- Top sellers in books included “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, “The Dangerous Book for Boys” by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden and “I Am America (And So Can You)” by Stephen Colbert.
- In music, top sellers included “Noel” by Josh Groban, “Raising Sand” by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and “As I Am” by Alicia Keys.
- Top sellers in consumer electronics included the Garmin GPS, Canon PowerShot digital Elph cameras and Samsung LCD HDTVs.
- Top sellers in the Beauty Store included Burt’s Bees Head to Toe Starter Kit, Imju Fiberwig mascara and Bare Escentuals Get Started Kit.
- In PCs, the top sellers included Apple MacBook, Nokia Internet Tablet PC and HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook PC.
- Popular shoes and handbags at Amazon.com and Endless.com included the FEED bag, FRYE women’s Campus tall boot and FRYE women’s Adrienne Button tall boot.
- Top sellers in apparel and accessories included Kenneth Cole Reaction men’s Eden wool pea coat, Gruppo Italiano women’s cashmere-lined leather glove and Red Moon women’s long sleeve cashmere turtleneck.
- The top-selling products in Amazon’s Automotive Parts & Accessories Store included Black & Decker Simple Start battery booster, Actron diagnostic code scanner and Highland waterproof car top carrier.
- Top sellers in home improvement included Black & Decker auto wrench, Black & Decker Gecko grip level and Leatherman Micra multitool.
- The top-selling items in the Sports and Outdoors Store included the Ripstik caster board, Perfect Pushup and Bowflex Series 7 treadmill.
- Jewelry top sellers included sterling silver open double flower pendant, sterling silver Filigree circle pendant and 14k yellow gold four prong oval peridot stud earrings.
- Top-selling watches included the Timex heart rate monitor watch, LEGO Kids’ Star Wars Darth Vader watch and Skagen women’s Silver Dial mesh bracelet watch.
- The top-selling home and garden items included KitchenAid stand mixers (various colors), Pinzon Microtech throw (various colors) and Foreman removable-plate grills.
- Top-selling items in the Baby Store included Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube, Lamaze Spin & Explore Garden Gym and Lamaze Musical Inchworm.
- Top-selling items in Amazon’s Grocery Store included Numi’s Bouquet bamboo gift set, Lavazza Crema e Aroma coffee beans and Senseo Douwe Egberts dark roast coffee pods.
- Top-selling items in Amazon’s Gourmet Food Store included Soup’s On gift basket by Wine Country Gift Baskets, Starbucks assortment gift basket by Wine Country Gift Baskets, and Fireworks popcorn and seasoning set.
- Top-sellers in health and personal care included the Braun Pulsonic system with LCD screen, Farouk CHI ceramic flat hairstyling iron and Homedics Therapist Select quad-roller massaging cushion with heat.
GREENWICH, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) (“United Rentals” or the “Company”) today said that it has delivered a notice of termination of its July 22, 2007 merger agreement with RAM Holdings, Inc. and RAM Acquisition Corp. (acquisition vehicles formed by Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.).
In delivering the notice, United Rentals has requested that Cerberus Partners, L.P., pursuant to the guarantee given at the time of the merger agreement, pay United Rentals the $100 million termination fee required by the merger agreement. Under the agreement, the fee is payable promptly and in any event within two days of termination.
A United Rentals spokesperson said: “In light of Chancellor Chandler’s December 21st opinion, the United Rentals Board of Directors has determined that the Company is best served by terminating the merger agreement and the constraints it imposes. We remain committed to enhancing shareholder value, and believe the immediate need is to move forward and focus our energies on our business.”
In light of the termination of the merger agreement, United Rentals also announced that it will not be appealing the Delaware Chancery Court opinion and is terminating the previously announced debt tender offers and consent solicitations (the “Offers”) being made by its wholly-owned subsidiary, United Rentals (North America), Inc. (“URNA”).
The Offers expired at Midnight, New York City time on December 21, 2007. The Offers were being conducted pursuant to URNA’s Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement, dated October 16, 2007 (the “Statement”), and related to URNA’s outstanding (i) 6 1/2% Senior Notes due 2012, (ii) 7 3/4% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2013, and (iii) 7% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 (collectively, the “Notes”). The Offers have been terminated because completion of the merger contemplated by the merger agreement was a condition to consummating the Offers.
As a result of the termination of the Offers, the proposed amendments to the indentures pursuant to which the Notes were issued will not become operative.
All Notes that were tendered in the Offers will be returned promptly to the respective holders thereof without any action required on the part of the holders.
Sam’s Notes
$100 Million termination fee? From what I have read about this deal it was doomed for a while now. Neither the buyer nor the buyee was seeing eye to eye on the agreements and I think the buyer is happy to pay the $100 million just to get out of the deal.
DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sport Supply Group, Inc. (AMEX: RBI) today stated that its normal policy is not to comment on unusual market activity and that it is not aware of any reason for Friday’s higher than average trading volume and stock price decline.
Adam Blumenfeld, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer stated: “We don’t typically comment on unusual market activity, industry speculation or rumors. However, in light of recent trading activity in our stock, we felt it was important to communicate that we are not aware of any material, undisclosed information or corporate development that would contribute to Friday’s decline or unusually high trading volume. We remain committed to our operating plan and pleased with our progress.”
Sam’s Notes
Keep your eyes open for email and fax scams on this one coming out in the next week or two. It is not unusual for such things to occur shortly after a highly volatile day of trading for a given stock. The scammers buy it cheap ahead of time and then try to get you to buy it at an inflated price later.
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