Fortune Brand Suiters Announced By Anonymous Analysts!

I have a Google news alert on Fortune Brands (and therefore Acushnet/Titliest) now that the corporation is "in play," and it's fascinating to see what amounts to "news."

Today Reuters ran with an unnamed analyst predicting likely suitors for the booze component of the business if hedge fund activist William Ackman has his way and breaks the company up.

Activist shareholder William Ackman took an 10.9 percent stake in Fortune last month and press reports last week said it is now more likely to cooperate with him on a split of the group between spirits, golf equipment and home products.

"If Fortune's spirits become available, Diageo has to be the leading candidate. Fortune has one of the two big American whiskies in Jim Beam and one of the fastest growing in Maker's Mark," said one banking source with knowledge of the situation.

So far, nothing of the same kind of speculation from the golf press. After all, that would be reckless without having anything concrete to report, no? Apparently there are no such qualms in the financial reporting world!

Ackman, who wants to leverage, cut, run, squeegee and do whatever else hedge funders do to otherwise healthy companies like Fortune Brands, was involved in the collapse of Gotham Golf about seven years ago.

Based in New York, Gotham Partners has an ownership stake in both First Union Real Estate and Gotham Golf.

William Ackman, one of the founders of Gotham Partners, served as chairman of the First Union REIT before resigning late last year. The shareholder lawsuit argued that the merger was designed to benefit the firms involved, not shareholders. If the deal is completed, Gotham Golf would pay back a $21.6 million loan from the hedge fund.

Gotham Partners has garnered regulatory and investor scrutiny over the last two months. Most notably, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has asked the fund for information, including information related to Gotham Golf's merger, said Marc Violette, a spokesman for Spitzer. Violette declined to discuss the subpoenas further.

The hedge fund drew attention after publicizing research reports on bond insurer MBIA Inc. and other companies in which it held stock. Hedge funds generally keep a low profile and avoid the spotlight.

Oops, not this one!

If nothing else, this is going to be entertaining to watch.