MSG Co. "could double in value with the proposed split of the company," and it "could be worth" as much as $9.7B after separation, according to analysts cited by Atkinson & Kosman of the N.Y. POST. The company closed yesterday "with a market capitalization" of $5.1B. MSG has been "considering the split -- in large part to unlock the value of its sports teams" -- since Steve Ballmer agreed this summer to buy the Clippers for $2B -- "four times the previous record sales-price for an NBA team." While it is "clear the true value of the Knicks will be realized by Wall Street after the split -- some analysts pegged" the team alone being worth $2B -- what is "less apparent is which piece of the split company will get the famed Garden arena, itself valued" at more than $2B. MSG, in "announcing that it is weighing a split in the company, was vague about who would get the arena." Gamco Investors Chair & CEO and MSG shareholder Mario Gabelli said that without knowing which entity would get the arena, it is "tough to ascribe a valuation on either unit" (N.Y. POST, 10/29). In N.Y., Michael J. de la Merced notes MSG "surprised many on Monday when it announced ... that it was adding two financiers to its board, one being the activist investor Nelson Peltz." But sources said that "it wasn't" Peltz who "pushed for a director position." Peltz’ firm, Trian Fund Management, "didn't own any shares" of MSG as of Monday’s announcement. Instead, the choice of the board members "came about after another hedge fund disclosed in late August that it had purchased" a 6.7% stake in MSG. A source said that though the firm, JAT Capital Management, had "never led an activist campaign before and didn’t publicly share its goals, the company worried that its newest investor would eventually seek out at least one seat on the board." But MSG "elected to take matters into its own hands and turned to a pair of friendly faces to join its board" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/29).
