Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Motorola Spinoff

At the beginning of 2011, Motorola Incorporated was split into two companies: Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility. I have been a long time holder of Motorola stock. When I checked my stock portfolio on TD Ameritrade, I noticed two new stock symbols: Motorola Solutions, Inc. is NYSE: MSI, and Motorola Mobility, Inc. is NYSE: MMI. The old stock symbol MOT has been retired.

This spin off was a little bit more complicated than the usual spinoff. First, holders of the old Motorola Stock (MOT) were given 1 share of Motorola Mobility (MMI) for every 8 shares of MOT that they owned. Then, the remaining MOT shares underwent a 1-for-7 reverse split and the remaining entity was renamed Motorola Solutions (MSI). If this sound confusing, I will work through an example of what happened.

I usually don't get too excited about spin offs because they require me to re-calculate the tax basis of the stock shares that I own. In this case, I need to find the cost basis for both the MSI and MMI shares that I now own. Also when I finally sell the stock, I will be charged two sets of commissions -- one for Motorola Solutions (MSI) and another one for Motorola Mobility (MMI). The purpose of this post is to work through an example and help readers understand the tax basis calculations.

To start the process, one needs to know the opening prices of MSI and MMI on January 4, 2011 immediately following the spinoff. For MSI, the stock opened at $37.30 on January 4. For MMI, the stock opened at $31.17 on January 4. To further complicate matters, we need to adjust the stock prices to account for the split ratio from the original Motorola (MOT) stock. To do this, we need to divide the prices of MSI and MMI by 7 and 8 (the split ratio), respectively. For MSI this is ($37.30/7) = $5.33, and for MMI this is ($31.17/8) = $3.90.

Knowing this information, we can calculate the percentage of the original Motorola (MOT) cost basis to allocate to each of the two new stocks. For MSI, this is $5.33/($3.90+$5.33) = 57.75%. And for MMI, this is $3.90/($3.90+$5.33) = 42.25%. Note that the denominator in each case ($3.90 + $5.33) = $9.23 represents the value of a single share of the original Motorola (MOT) at the opening on 1/4/2011. MOT closed on 1/3/2011 at $9.11, so in essence Motorola stock gained 12 cents in value at the time of the spinoff.

Okay, so we've made it this far. Now, let's work through an example. Suppose that you owned 1000 shares of MOT that you bought at $8 per share ($8000 total cost basis). Following the distribution, you would end up with (1000/7) = 142.857 shares of MSI, and (1000/8) = 125 shares of MMI. Using the ratios that were calculated above, the allocated tax basis for MSI is (57.75% * $8000) = $4620. And the allocated tax basis for MMI is (42.25% * $8000) = $3380.

I've seen that people often do web searches using terms like "Motorola spinoff cost basis." Unfortunately, you won't be able to find your cost basis in this way as everybody's situation is different. Your own cost basis has to be calculated for your personal situation.

I will note that most cases, you will end up with fractional shares of either MSI or MMI after the spinoff. (The only exception is if the number of original MOT shares you owned was a multiple of 56 shares.) In this case, there is also a small portion of the cost basis that may be paid out as "cash in lieu" (CIL) of fractional shares. For cash-in-lieu, you would subtract that amount from the portion that is allocated to each stock.

Motorola investor relations has a webpage with additional information about the spinoff. It is located here: http://investors.motorolasolutions.com/separation.cfm

In the case of my brokerages, both TD Ameritrade and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney calculated the cost basis for me. In both cases, there was a slight difference between what my the basis would be if I calculated using the method above. My suggestion is that if your broker already calculated the the basis for you, you should go with that number unless you believe that they made a mistake in the process.

One last note is the question of whether the cash-in-lieu (CIL) distribution is taxable. In general, CIL received for fractional shares of stock is a taxable event. However last year, after Verizon spun off Frontier, I received 6 cents in CIL that was not reported. However, I got this message from my broker: "A cash-in-lieu payment is reported on Form 1099-B if the payment exceeds $20. If your payment was less than $20, it is not reportable."

So, is this explanation as clear as mud?

Update 1: On August 15, 2011, Google Inc. announced that it plans to acquire Motorola Mobility (MMI) for $40 per share in cash. They expect this transaction to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012. The acquisition will, of course, require regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, as well as the approval of Motorola Mobility shareholders.  But if everything goes through, this will provide a closing transaction for MMI shareholders.  It will also require the selling stockholders to calculate their tax basis as this type of cash acquisition generally triggers a taxable event.

Update 2: For information about reporting the Motorola spin off on your taxes, see this post: Do I Need to Report the Motorola Spinoff on My Taxes?

Disclaimer: The example provided here is for illustrative purposes only. I am not providing tax advice, and I encourages readers to consult with a tax adviser if they have specific questions about cost basis calculation.

PFS

10 comments:

  1. I own Motorola stock which splited into two stocks -- MMI and MSI. Now Google bought MMI and I just recently received a tender check. Does that mean I no longer own MMI stock ? I still have MSI stock ?

    Thanks in advance.
    J

    ReplyDelete
  2. The deal for Google to purchase Motorola Mobility (MMI) was closed on May 22, 2012. You would have received $40 for share each share of MMI that you owned. And yes, that means that you no longer own any MMI stock. If you haven't already sold it, you would still have Motorola Solutions (MSI) stock.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If i didn't sell my MMI Stock and i do receive the tender check recently in May. Is that means i still own the MMI Stock ?

    Do you now who to contact regarding my MMI Account since my smith barney account only contact MSI Account ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. So what do you use as the cost basis for the MMI stock when reporting it in Turbotax

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What did you pay for the MOT stock?

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    2. You must look thru all your purchases of MOT stock to determine the average basis for all your pre-splt MOT shares. Then you would use this value instead of the "$8 per share" used in the example above. The MMI spinoff occurred in January 2011 while the sale to Google happened in May 2012, so the gain on MMI (or loss, in my case) is long term. I assume you also use the average basis of your MOT shares to establish your basis for any MSI shares you still own. Note that depending on your broker you may not have actually received any check in the mail from the Google purchase. The proceeds from the MMI sale may just have been deposited into your brokerage cash account. In my case there was also a $20 "reorg fee" assessed my account in 2011 for this transaction. If you didn't deduct this fee on your 2012 taxes then I would add this to the MMI basis (as part of what you "paid" when you acquired the MMI shares).

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    3. Note that if some of your original MOT shares were acquired before the 3-for-1 one split that occurred in June 2000, then the per-share basis for these shares would be 1/3 of what you paid, but as long as you, or your broker, have kept track of the total amount you actually paid for all your MOT shares, then use 42.25% of this total as your MMI basis, and the remainder for your MSI basis.

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  5. I have the same issue. I recieved my tender check from my broker with no cost basis on my 1099-b form. Only a list of all the transactions from 2000 until 5/22/12 the date of the stock tender.

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