Compustat CONM contains "-OLD"

[Kurt Schulzke]

In the attached worksheet from Compustat NA Funda database, separate GVKEYs appear for two Enron Corps: ENRON CORP and ENRON CORP -OLD, both covering 1973-1994. The total assets (Column G) of the two are identical within a decimal point.

Apart from the attached file, the -OLD designation appears in NA Funda for other companies but, for at least some of them  (e.g., Conoco), their data are not duplicative. Have you encountered the -OLD suffix? Any idea what it means?

How can one identify duplicative observations from the data set?  

Thanks a bunch!

[Kurt Schulzke]

WRDS support are also stumped (see below) and suggest getting in touch with S&P to find out how they handle mergers. 

Meanwhile, since we are looking not for duplicate gvkeys but for duplicate data hiding behind distinct gvkeys and even distinct tickers, might be something like this:

1. Create a new matchkey variable, NEWKEY, for each obs by concatenating the following:

FYEAR
First three characters of CONM
First 3 or 4 digits of AT

2. Run Proc Sort to check for duplicate NEWKEYs

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Wharton School - WRDS" <wrds-s...@wharton.upenn.edu>
To: 
Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2016 11:16:12 AM
Subject: Ticket #632-8734399 A Response from the WRDS Support Team

Your ticket has been solved. If you require additional assistance or information, please respond to this email. 

Hello, 

First, I checked whether the data coexists for both firms. 
I ran the following code, 

proc sql; 
create table e1 as 
select conm, datadate, at from comp.funda where gvkey = '060874' and year(datadate)>=1973 
and consol="C" and indfmt="INDL" and datafmt="STD" and popsrc="D"; 

quit; 


proc sql; 
create table e2 as 
select conm, datadate, at from comp.funda where gvkey = '006127' and year(datadate)>=1973 
and consol="C" and indfmt="INDL" and datafmt="STD" and popsrc="D"; 
quit; 

proc sql; 
create table ec as 
select a.datadate, a.conm as aname, a.at as aat, b.at as bat, b.conm as bname 
from e1 as a, e2 as b where a.datadate=b.datadate; 
quit; 

Interestingly, it seems that the compustat database has comparable numbers for the both companies in year 1973 through 1994. 
Therefore, I decided to take a look the 10K documents. 
I have looked in to the 10Ks of each entity, from the SEC website. 

For ENRON CORP cik 0001024401, the 10K filing exists from 1997 to 2001. 
For ENRON CORP - OLD, cik 0000072859, the 10K filing exists from 1994 to 1997. 

The following is from the earliest 10-K document of the cik 0001024401 (year 1997) 


"ITEM 1. BUSINESS 

NOTE: Enron Oregon Corp. (the "Company" or "New Enron") was incorporated under 
the laws of the State of Oregon on July 19, 1996 as a wholly owned subsidiary 
of Enron Corp. ("Enron"). The Company was formed solely for the purpose of 
effecting the transactions contemplated by the Amended and Restated Agreement 
and Plan of Merger dated as of July 20, 1996 and amended and restated as of 
September 24, 1996 (the "Merger Agreement") among Enron, the Company and 
Portland General Corporation, an Oregon corporation ("PGC"). 

Under the Merger Agreement, and subject to the terms and conditions 
thereof, (i) Enron will be reincorporated as an Oregon corporation by merging 
with and into New Enron (the "Reincorporation Merger") and (ii) immediately 
thereafter, PGC will merge with and into New Enron, with New Enron being the 
surviving corporation (the "PGC Merger" and, together with the Reincorporation 
Merger, the "Mergers"). The Merger Agreement provides that if certain regulatory 
reforms are enacted, the structure of the transactions contemplated by the 
Merger Agreement will be revised to eliminate the Reincorporation Merger. 

On November 12, 1996, the respective stockholders of Enron and PGC 
voted to adopt and approve the transactions contemplated by the Merger 
Agreement. Completion of the Mergers remains subject to satisfaction of 
regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, including approval 
by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission. 

As a result, New Enron has not issued any of its authorized shares, 
except for 1,000 shares of Common Stock issued to Enron in connection with the 
formation of New Enron. Furthermore, New Enron has no assets, liabilities or 
equity as of December 31, 1996 (or as of the date hereof), except for immaterial 
amounts of cash contributed by Enron in connection with the formation of New 
Enron. In addition, New Enron has conducted no operations and has incurred no 
liabilities. 

ACCORDINGLY, THERE ARE NO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OR MANAGEMENT'S 
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS IN THIS 
REPORT. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Upon the consummation of the Mergers, the assets, liabilities and 
equity of Enron and PGC will become assets, liabilities and equity of New Enron 
and will be included in New Enron's financial statements." 


Therefore, the new firm with cik 0001024401 was created artificially to facilitate the merger of Enron and PGC. 
I would suggest that you contact S&P to check how they handle mergers. 

S&P Global Market Intelligence (Compustat/Capital IQ) 
Contact: client...@capitaliq.com 

Best Regards, 
WRDS