Deals
Timken Investors Backing Split Seen Reaping 29%: Real M&A
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Ralph Whitworth’s proposal to break up Timken Co. helped boost shares of the ball-bearings maker 26 percent in five months. With the stock still trading at a discount to peers, shareholders stand to more than double that gain by voting in favor of his plan in May.
Timken’s shares have climbed to $51.99 since Whitworth’s Relational Investors LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System called for a spinoff of the steel business in November. That still makes Timken cheaper relative to profit than any of its industrial peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $5 billion company’s units are worth $70 a share when valued separately, according to SunTrust Banks Inc.