Another odd-lot situation – Farpoint and Verizon
About a year and a half ago, Verizon spun off Idearc (a yellow pages type company that is going through some financial difficulties). Shareholders got some shares based on their ownership of Verizon and I received 5 shares – too low to sell (commissions) but enough of an eyesore for me to get rid of in the portfolio. I wrote about this then and fortunately the company did a tender for odd-lot owners like me (which was a cheap way to sell the shares).
So fast forward a year and a half and Verizon spun off their landline company called Farpoint communications. They distributed 1 share for approximately every 51 shares of Verizon you owned, rounding down for fractional shares (and getting cash for the remainder).
Since I had a hundred shares of Verizon, I noticed in the mail a monstrously huge packet that was mailed outlining the details of the spinout. I barely got through the summary page to realize that I would be due some shares of some company.
So right now I have one share of Farpoint Communications sitting in my account with a total value of US$9.19. I wonder how much material I will get mailed from this company until they have their own tender offering. Maybe I should put in a shareholder resolution for their next annual general meeting requesting such a deal to cash people like me out.