Thrift Conversions

This topic has lately caught my eye. This paper provides some good background material on the subject, although it first came to my attention through "Beating the Street" by Peter Lynch. I have about a dozen candidates to research and will post results as soon as I can. An excerpt:

Imagine buying a house and then discovering that the former owners have cashed your check for the down payment and left the money in an envelope in a kitchen drawer, along with a note that reads: "Keep this, it belonged to you in the first place." You've got the house and it hasn't cost you a thing.

Say your local thrift has $10 million in book value before it went public. Then it sold $10 million worth of stock in the offering - 1 million shares at $10 apiece. When this $10 million from the stock sale returns to the vault, the book value of this company has just doubled. A company with a $20 book value is now selling for $10 a share