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Technology Stocks : Fingerhut (FHT) goes on Web site acquisition binge -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve host who wrote (122)	1/28/1999 7:27:00 PM
From: David B. Higgs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 144

I hate to be stupid but can someone explain something to me. I have some FHT in my core holdings but can anyone explain all the talk about spin-offs and IPOs? If FHT in most cases only owns 19.9% of some of these internet retailers (slightly more in PC Flowers), how can FHT spin these off? And if they could how significant is a 19.9% share to FHT stock and/or FHT shareholders in an IPO. Lets say FreeShop goes public. What kind of conversion would we be looking at? Perhaps one share of FreeShop for each 500 shares of FHT. I don't know about you folks but I won't get rich this way. I understand the other aspects of FHT's business, including its internet holdings, and I excited about it mid to long term outlook, but I need help on the IPO/Spin-off angle.

To: steve host who wrote (122)	1/28/1999 8:52:00 PM
From: steve host	Respond to of 144

I understand their intent is to assist them in becoming profitable then take a majority stake in them and spin off part or all. Usually it is an IPO where we don't get shares but the company retains a majority stake in the shares which now has a public stock value that can be assigned to the shares they own = increase in corporate assets which can eventually be sold to other companies or to the public (meanwhile they also get the earnings/revenue inclusion after 20% stake).

To: steve host who wrote (122)	1/28/1999 9:24:00 PM
From: Emerald City	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 144

I agree, although it does seem to be a slow grower. Was disappointed that there wasn't a bigger pop after the recent earnings report. Do like the reach of this company, though, as it spreads its tentacles throughout a lot of the back-room operations and utilizes capacity in distribution channels. Problem is there's an opportunity cost here. Maybe I'll invest again after Yahoo splits. What would be a good reentry point, and do you see a break-out period coming anytime soon?