In the Spotlight, Madison Square Garden Horizon Kinetics LLC believes that the October 2015 spin-off of Madison Square Garden Co. (Ticker: MSG), a GSPIN constituent, represents an undervalued investment opportunity. MSG owns the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL), and the New York Liberty (WNBA) sports teams, and other entertainment businesses. But what’s even more interesting are MSG’s valuable real estate holdings: two entire blocks in NYC occupied by the Madison Square Garden Arena, which sits atop Pennsylvania Station, the busiest transportation facility in the U.S.

Read more in the January Spin-Offs Blog

Written by Horizon Kinetics’ Research Analysts and CFA Charterholders Ryan Casey and Salvator Tiano, who together bring more than 20 years of combined industry experience to their research roles focusing on domestic and international spin-offs.

Spin-Off Company: Madison Square Garden Co. (Ticker: MSG)

Parent Company: MSG Networks Inc. (Ticker: MSGN)

Spin-Off Date: October 1, 2015

GSPIN Index Inclusion Date: January 1, 2016

Madison Square Garden was first added to the GSPIN Index when the company was spun out from Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) in 2010. At the time, the company was comprised of the New York Knicks (NBA), New York Rangers (NHL) and New York Liberty (WNBA) sports teams, as well as cable channels and an entertainment business that produces concerts and events for its various venues. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that the company also owns a significant amount of valuable real estate; namely, two whole blocks in Midtown Manhattan currently occupied by the Madison Square Garden Arena, which sits atop the busiest transportation facility in the U.S.: Pennsylvania Station.

At the time of the MSG spin-off, revenues from the cable channels were depressed, as the advertising market was still recovering from the recent recession. The entertainment business was also experiencing a cyclical lull due to weaker consumer spending. Still, it was our opinion that the earnings potential of these businesses in a normal economic environment could create a significant amount of share price appreciation.

Additionally, we believed that MSG’s market value did not fully reflect the value of its sports teams and real estate. Whether one viewed these assets as another source of potential value to be unlocked over time or simply as a margin of safety, it was our opinion that the company’s asset value was being significantly underpriced by the equity market. The Index’s methodology dictated MSG’s removal five years later, but not before its shares appreciated by nearly 300%.

This inefficiency persists even today; we believe it is the rationale behind the parent company’s (renamed MSG Networks Inc., NYSE: MSGN) decision to spin-off the Madison Square Garden Co., which contains the sports teams, real estate, and entertainment business. The cable channels will remain with the parent company. Today, Madison Square Garden Co. has a market capitalization of $4 billion, relative to $1.5 billion in cash and, according to Forbes, estimated valuations of $2.5 billion for the Knicks and $1.1 billion for the Rangers. The company currently has no debt and $1 billion in total liabilities. In other words, the company’s current share price implies that virtually no value is being given to its real estate, nor to its entertainment business. Management appears to be aware that its shares are undervalued, having recently announced an authorization to repurchase up to $525 million of Class A common stock, equal to 12.5% of the company at current prices.

As of December 31, 2015, Madison Square Garden Co. represented 1.11% of SPUN’s total net assets.

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About SPUN

Market Vectors Global Spin-Off ETF (SPUN) seeks to replicate the Horizon Kinetics Global Spin-Off Index (GSPIN), a rules-based, equal-weighted index intended to track the performance of listed, publicly held spin-offs that are domiciled and trade in the U.S. or developed markets of Western Europe and Asia.

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