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Are Two Stocks Better Than One - 1999
Are Two Stocks Better Than One - 1999
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RICH PARENTS. Tracking stocks offer one big advantage to investors: The stocks are a
convenient way for investors to own a high-flying growth company but with less risk. Because
the underlying assets are retained by the parent company, the tracked subsidiary can draw on
the parent company's credit standing to borrow money. And if the tracked company is a
fledgling operation--an Internet startup, for instance--it has the backing of a deep-pocketed
corporation. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, for instance, has retained an approximate 85%
interest in DLJdirect Inc., its online brokerage, for which it recently issued a tracking stock.
Tracking stocks, especially those of Internet subsidiaries, can sometimes be a hedge against a
market or sector downdraft. "Stand-alone Internet companies will have a hard time financing
negative cash flow and growth in tough times, so a mother-ship company provides a more stable
platform," says James Andrew, vice-president at Renaissance Worldwide Inc., a Boston
consulting firm.
But while investors may not be taking on as much risk with a tracking stock, they're giving up
some worthy features of common stock. Stocks of spin-offs may be better for investors than
tracking stocks because with a spin-off there is a separate board of directors. For that reason,
Paul T. Cook, manager of the Munder NetNet Fund, a mutual fund that invests in Internet
companies, isn't completely sold on tracking stocks. "There's a concern that the old-school
management style of the parent company won't share resources with the new company. They
may not even understand the new business."
And shareholders of the tracking stock, such as in the DLJdirect deal, may have no voting rights
or ownership in the specific corporate assets whose performance the stocks reflect. Sometimes
however, tracking stocks have market cap-based voting-rights systems. Ziff-Davis Inc.
shareholders, for instance, always get one vote per share, whereas shareholders of the ZDNet
tracking stock are awarded votes according to its market cap. ZDNet's market cap is now almost
the same as the parent, so shareholders are on equal footing in voting.
Since a tracked company is controlled by the parent, the chances of a hostile takeover are
virtually nil. For that reason, there's no takeover premium attached to the stock. If the parent
decides to sell the tracked company, however, shareholders would most likely receive some sort
of premium when they redeem their stock.
Once a company issues a tracking stock, the parent company's stock can suffer a blow, even if it
owns a big chunk of the new company. Just look at DLJ's stock, which is currently trading at
some 50% off its 52-week high of 100 3/4. Analysts say that the stock hit its peak because of the
Internet frenzy coupled with the news that DLJdirect was starting up operations in Japan. Since
the DLJdirect tracking stock debuted on May 26, however, the parent company's stock has lost
steam. True, stocks of online brokerages have dampened across the board. "In theory, the value
shouldn't be sucked out of DLJ since it owns the bulk of DLJdirect, but the market doesn't
perceive it this way--it looks at it as if they were two separate companies," says Haas
When E-brokerage stocks bounce back, the tracking stock will be the main beneficiary, not the
parent, says Haas. And the same thing should happen with the tracking stock of any fast-
growing division. That's no surprise, as perception continues to trump reality in this roaring
market.