Calloway’s, with 13 stores, was valued at $40 million—or roughly $3 million per store. General Host owned 280 Frank’s Nursery outlets, or 21 times as many stores as Calloway’s. The Frank’s outlets were older, smaller, and less profitable than the Calloway’s stores, but even if we assume they were half as valuable ($1.5 million per store), the 280 Frank’s stores ought to have been worth $420 million. So General Host had a $420 million asset here. Subtracting the company’s $167 million in debt leaves you with an enterprise worth $253 million. With 17.9 million shares outstanding, this means that
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