Analysts pan Microsoft and Nokia tie-up February 14, 2011 NOKIA chief executive Stephen Elop defended his firm’s partnership with Microsoft yesterday after the deal sent its shares tumbling a further five per cent. Shares in the Finnish firm have now lost a staggering 19 per cent since the deal was announced on Friday, knocking €6bn (£5bn) off its market value. Elop said Nokia will [...]
Twitter boss fails to scotch bid rumoursTECHNOLOGY February 14, 2011 TWITTER chief executive Dick Costolo yesterday refused to scotch talk that his microblogging site could be bought for up to $10bn (£6.25bn) by Google or Facebook. He avoided the question when asked about suggestions that Twitter may be a takeover target, saying only they were “just rumours” and he had “no idea where they came [...]
Dotcom frenzy as Zynga gets $9bn price tag February 14, 2011 ONLINE gaming group Zynga is holding talks with potential investors which could lead to it raising $250m (£156m) in new funding. That may give Zynga a valuation of between $7bn and $9bn, in yet another example of rich valuations for technology companies that some analysts have compared to the dotcom boom. Zynga, known for games [...]
Echostar to buy Hughes in $2bn deal February 14, 2011 ECHOSTAR Corp agreed to buy Hughes Communications for about $1.33bn (£830m), excluding debt, as the digital set-top box maker looks to beef up its broadband satellite services offerings. Under the terms of the deal, Hughes’ shareholders will get $60.70 per share, a 31 per cent premium over the stock’s 19 January close, a day before [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHY HAS NOKIA’S DEAL BEEN SO BADLY RECEIVED? February 14, 2011 JAMES CRAWSHAW | S&P EQUITY RESEARCH It was a mistake to kill off Symbian prematurely. It will take two or more years to transition to Windows and meanwhile no-one will want to buy a Symbian phone. TERO KUITTINEN | MKM PARTNERS We expect that Nokia’s smartphone market share will collapse as developers abandon Symbian support [...]
Wood Group soars after $2.8bn sale February 14, 2011 SHARES in oils services business John Wood Group rose more than 14 per cent yesterday after it sold its well support unit to General Electric for $2.8bn (£1.75bn). The sale was labelled “top dollar” by analysts as the price was substantially over estimates of $1.5-2bn. Aberdeen-based Wood Group’s shares gained 14.06 per cent to 652p [...]
The only surprise was the price GE paid February 14, 2011 EVERYONE knew Wood Group was about to sell its well support unit to GE, but few thought it would fetch as much as $2.8bn (£1.75bn). Management have covered themselves in glory with this deal. Whatever multiple you look at – 17.4 times 2010 ebitda or 30 times earnings – it is clear that Wood drove [...]
SEC tries to reassure on trading rules February 14, 2011 THE TOP US securities regulator will seek to assure lawmakers today that the agency is treading carefully as it crafts new over-the-counter derivatives rules to ensure that they will not have a harmful impact on the market. “We are progressing at a deliberate pace, taking the time necessary to thoughtfully consider the issues raised by [...]
Advisers line up for the biggest deal in town February 14, 2011 WHEN you’re trying to build up a franchise in mergers and acquisitions, there’s nothing better than being signed up to work on one of the biggest deals in town. So naturally Barclays Capital and RBC Capital Markets were as pleased as punch to be advising the London Stock Exchange on its £4.3bn merger with Canada’s [...]
Rolls Royce bags £1.4bn Emirates deal February 14, 2011 ENGINE maker Rolls Royce yesterday announced that it has won a $2.2bn (£1.37bn) long-term maintenance contract with Emirates airline. The deal covers Rolls Royce’s engines in the airline’s fleet of 70 Airbus craft. It adds to current contracts to take the total number of Emirates aircraft serviced by Rolls-Royce to 128. “We are delighted to [...]
