Xerox (XRX, Financial) was the main detractor in the IT sector. Early in 2016, the company stated it was splitting off the services division it acquired a bit more than five years earlier. Xerox separated into two publicly-traded entities: an $11 billion document technology company based around the namesake copier and scanner hardware; and a $7 billion business-services company, Conduent Inc. In October, Xerox’s largest individual shareholder filed a lawsuit to block the spin-off, creating an overhang on the stock during the fourth quarter. The deal proceeded nevertheless, with a distribution date of December 31, 2016.
From the Polaris Global Value Fund 4th Quarter 2016 Commentary.