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B R E A K F A S T W I T H T H E F O O L Friday, December 1, 2000 benjamin.rogers@enron.com _________________________________________________________________ REGISTER TO BECOME A FOOL -- GET FREE STUFF! http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223137 _________________________________________________________________ Sponsored By: BUYandHOLD Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing? Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D223138 "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." --Mark Twain PEPSI COURTING QUAKER, AGAIN Quaker Oats and Pepsi are talking once more, but will the outcome be the same? By Mike Trigg The Quaker Oats (NYSE: OAT) story took another spin yesterday, when the world's second-largest soft drink company, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), resumed talks to purchase the maker of Gatorade for $14.3 billion. Not long ago, similar discussions were brought to a halt after Quaker rejected Pepsi's offer, citing a dispute in price. The story with Quaker is an interesting one. After similar talks with Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and French food conglomerate Groupe Danone (NSYE: DA) failed to materialize, investors are left to ask: Is this time for real? http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223139 According to The Wall Street Journal, the two sides appear close to agreement, with the deal potentially wrapping up in the next couple of days. If the two sides in fact do reach agreement, an announcement would be made Monday morning. Both companies have planned board meetings for this Saturday. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D223140 Apparently, the proposed deal is no different than the last. Quaker Oats shareholders would receive 2.3 shares of Pepsi stock, valued at $104.36, based on Pepsi's closing price of $43.38 yesterday. That's a 27% premium to Quaker Oats=01, stock price as of November 2, the day original talks were made public. Pepsi hasn't offered a "collar" -- the original deal breaker -- to Quaker, which is a form of price protection that fixes a price within a set limit of how far the buyer's shares can rise or fall. The same Wall Street Journal article reports that an arrangement is being negotiated that would allow Quaker to abandon the deal if the value provided to Quaker shareholders became less than $90 per share upon closing. If the deal does go through this time around Pepsi would surpass Coca-Cola as the leader in the non-carbonated U.S drinks market, holding nearly one-third of the market, compared to Coca-Cola's 21%. According to the Street, Pepsi would also be able to jump start sales of Quaker Chewy Granola bars, selling them through its Frito-Lay food division. _________________________________________________________________ NEWS TO GO Information transfer device maker Crossroads Systems (Nasdaq: CRDS) announced better-than-expected third-quarter results after the market's close yesterday, reporting a net loss (excluding goodwill and stock compensation) of $4.8 million, or $0.18 per share, compared to a loss of $870,000, or $0.04 per share, in the year-ago period. The Street consensus called for the company to lose $0.21 per share. Crossroads=01, top line came in at $8.4 million, an 18% increase year-over-year. Discount airline company Cheap Tickets (Nasdaq: CTIX) announced that CFO Dale Jorgensen plans on retiring in February. Jorgenson will remain with the company after his retirement to aid in the transition and provide assistance on certain projects. ``While my time with Cheap Tickets has been very rewarding, I have decided to devote more time to my family and other personal interests. I am very pleased to have been part of the progress the company has made moving into the public market and see a great future for Cheap Tickets' unique multi-channel revenue and distribution model,'' said Jorgensen. Carbon dioxide seller Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) announced a deal with GATX Corp. (NYSE: GMT) to purchase two oil product pipelines and 12 storage terminals for $1.15 billion in cash and debt. Kinder Morgan Partners Chairman and CEO Richard Kinder estimated the deal would increase earnings per share between $1.62 and $1.75 in 2001, with the Street consensus calling for the company to earn between $1.50 and $1.62 a share in the coming year. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Heating and cooling products provider Modine Manufacturing (Nasdaq: MODI) announced that it was revising earnings and sales forecasts for its third quarter and the full fiscal year (ends March 31, 2001). The Racine, Wisconsin-based company expects third-quarter revenue to be down 10% to 13% and earnings 55% to 65%. For the full year, sales should be down 7% to 10% with earnings dropping between 25% and 30%. The company cited a weak euro and lower sales in the heavy-truck and light-vehicle markets. Modine earned $2.20 per share in the previous year. Steel processing company Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) announced that its second-quarter (ended yesterday) earnings would fall short of expectations and that it had halted its proposed $300 million acquisition of three Pennsylvania limited partnerships: MetalTech, NexTech, and GalvTech. The company said earnings would be substantially lower than the $0.15 per share it posted in the previous quarter and that the full-year Street earnings expectation of $1.07 was unrealistic. The Street consensus called for the company to earn $0.22 per share in the second quarter. The company cited the weakness in several of its business, including its steel-processed products operations. _________________________________________________________________ EDITORS' PICK Gene Logic CEO Mark Gessler talks about the fascinating things the company will be able to accomplish via human-genome mining. http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223141 _______________________________________________________________ -News & Commentary http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223142 -Fool Community http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223143 -Post of the Day http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223144 -Latest Fribble http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223145 -Latest Market Numbers http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223146 ____________________________________________________________ My Portfolio: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223147 My Discussion Boards: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223148 My Fool: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223149 Fool.com Home: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223150 My E-Mail Settings: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223151 Sponsored By: BUYandHOLD Hey Fool! Want to know the SECRET to long-term investing? Compounding and dollar-cost averaging! Start investing with as little as $20! Just $2.99 per order. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D223152 17 INDUSTRIES WORTH A LOOK See which industries our writers think will be hot next year with Industry Focus 2001. http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D223153 TEN SECRETS TO RETIRING EARLY Read a free preview of this report on Soapbox.com http://www.lnksrv.com/m.asp?i=3D223154 FOOL DIRECT E-MAIL SERVICES Need to change your address or unsubscribe? You can also temporarily suspend mail delivery. Click here: http://www.fool.com/community/freemail/freemaillogin.asp?email=3Dbenjamin.r= ogers @enron.com< Have ideas about how we can improve the Fool Direct or new e-mail products you'd like to see? Try our discussion board: http://www.fool.com/m.asp?i=3D223155 ____________________________________________________ © Copyright 2000, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. . MsgId:=20 msg-27276-2000-12-01_9-40-43-348432_2_Plain_MessageAddress.msg-09:45:25(12-= 01- 2000) X-Version: mailer-sender-master,v 1.84 X-Version: mailer-sender-daemon,v 1.84 Message-Recipient: benjamin.rogers@enron.com
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