3 shares to watch this week

Goodman Fielder Ltd (ASX:GFF) experiences delays with its sale, Woolworths Limited (ASX:WOW) sells its hotel holdings and Sigma Pharmaceutical Limited (ASX:SIP) acquires Discount Drug Stores.

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Inevitably the flurry of activity on the ASX slows right down after reporting season ends.

There are no more results announcements causing rapid shifts in share prices, and the vacuum left in their wake provides the perfect opportunity for investors to take stock of their portfolio.

It's also the perfect opportunity to start looking at company notices in shares you own.

While they won't make or break your investing thesis, these three company announcements are an important measuring stick.

Goodman Fielder Ltd (ASX: GFF)

Goodman Fielder today announced delays in its Scheme of Arrangement with Wilmar International Limited.

Readers may recall Wilmar struck an arrangement earlier this year to acquire all of the Goodman Fielder shares they do not already own at a price of $0.675 per share.

After a unanimous vote in favour by directors, Goodman advises investors that the arrangement has been extended until 31 March 2015 after the Ministry of Commerce approval process in China took longer than anticipated.

The shareholder meeting to approve that scheme is currently planned for first quarter 2015.

Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW)

After divesting many of its shopping centre assets created during the GFC last year, Woolworths continued its divestment strategy with the sell-off of Dick Smith Holdings Ltd (ASX: DSH) and today announced the sale of 54 hotel properties to a consortium led by Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR).

Woolworths retains the leasehold to all properties and the hotel businesses will continue to operate as usual. This maintains earnings while freeing up $603 million in capital which may be used for debt reduction or other purposes.

Woolworths traditionally does not hold property assets for the long term so the most recent divestment is not a new trend, and will allow the company to focus on its core business while providing the funding for further opportunities in the future.

Sigma Pharmaceutical Limited (ASX: SIP)

Drug retailer Sigma today announced it has acquired the Discount Drug Store pharmacy brand (through subsidiary CHS), a portfolio of 121 stores for $26.7 million.

Funded from existing cash reserves and expected to be immediately earnings accretive, the purchase strengthens Sigma's distribution network.

With Discount Drug Stores expected to deliver $8-10 million EBITDA in its first full year of operation, the acquisition looks quite cheap and could be just the thing to improve earnings for Sigma, which has traditionally struggled to deliver earnings growth to shareholders.

Buying great shares with established prospects and holding them for the long term is the best way to grow your wealth over time.

While Woolworths is probably the only company from today's article that fits this criteria, here at The Motley Fool we've identified another ultra-promising stock with great prospects that we're pretty excited about.

We've declared it our Top Stock for 2014-2015, and as part of our quest to help the world invest better, we're sharing it with investors for free.

If you're interested, simply click on the link below and enter your email address – it takes less than 30 seconds – and we'll send you the report, completely FREE!

Motley Fool contributor Sean O'Neill doesn't own shares in any company mentioned.

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