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Update 1:15pm: Adds investor comment.
Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPB) rose 3.5% as a judge held a hearing in advance of a trial where the Dept. of Justice sued to block Assa Abloy (OTCPK:ASAZF) from acquiring the door hardware unit for $4.3 billion from Spectrum Brands.
The judge denied a request by the DOJ to try extend the trial from an April 24 start date. Judge Ana C. Reyes denied the government request during a hearing on Tuesday that started at 10:30am, according to a telecast of the hearing.
The DOJ sued to block the Swedish company from acquiring the door hardware unit for $4.3 billion from Spectrum Brands (SPB) back in September. Spectrum Brands’ shares soared 27% on Dec. 2 after Assa announced an agreement to sell some assets to Fortune Brands Home & Security (FBIN) for $800M to try to remedy the DOJ’s concerns.
Last month Raymond James analyst Olivia Tong wrote that she expects Spectrum Brand (SPB) shares to see a “strong” positive reaction if Judge Reyes allows the deal to go through.
Chris DeMuth Jr, Partner of Rangeley Capital, told Seeking Alpha that he sees upside for Spectrum Brands (SPB) to $80-$90 a share if it wins the trial with DOJ and downside to $40-$50 a share.
“While the DoJ has not yet indicated that they are ready to settle, they really should,” DeMuth told Seeking Alpha. “Nothing pre-trial appears to be going their way. There’s still time for a Pyrrhic victory in the form of a settlement and that is probably the only kind of victory that the government is going to get.”
Also see SA contributor Chris DeMuth discuss Spectrum Brands (SPB) in a webinar “Chris DeMuth Jr.’s Big New Stock Idea For 2023 (Sifting The World)”