If you've read a few posts on this blog, you probably know how much I love investing in spinoffs. AMC Networks, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (Ticker: CVC), is going to be spunoff soon, with the when-issued trading period starting on Jun 16 and regular trading period starting on June 30. One share will be distributed for every 4 shares of CVC. Looking at the Form 10 filing (standard filing for registration of spinoffs), I found out that AMC made about $80 million last year, and its profit has been steadily increasing over the past few years. For AMC to be sold off by the major institutional shareholders during when-issued trading, its market cap would probably have to be less than $1 billion. Judging from its income statements and the fact that one share will be distributed for every four shares of CVC, it probably won't be small enough to be indiscriminately sold off.
The other thing I look at before investing in a spinoff is the insider buying. Since AMC hasn't been registered yet, it's filings aren't available, so we'll just have to wait before we can look at its insider activity.
For more information on spinoffs, check out this post.