Mitsubishi to invest £1.76bn in Indonesia January 24, 2011 JAPAN’S biggest trading house, Mitsubishi, has decided to invest in a liquefied natural gas project worth $2.8bn (£1.76bn) in Indonesia via a joint venture, shoring up the confidence of investors who once feared the deal might go awry. Securing two million tonnes of LNG a year from 2014 would have little impact on the world’s [...]
RockTenn buys Smurfit-Stone January 24, 2011 PACAKAGING and paper company RockTenn has agreed to buy bigger rival Smurfit-Stone Container for $3.5bn (£2.2bn) in cash and stock seven months after Smurfit emerged from bankruptcy with less debt and higher profit potential. The deal will triple RockTenn’s annual revenue to more than $9bn and make the combined company the second-largest containerboard producer in [...]
China Hongqiao plans HK listing to raise $2.2bn January 24, 2011 CHINA HONGQIAO Group, the largest privately owned aluminium hydroxide producer in China, has launched the roadshow for its Hong Kong initial public offering, hoping to raise up to $2.2bn (£1.38bn). The deal involves 1.74bn primary shares with a guidance price range set at HK$7.10-$9.90 (57p-80p), representing a 2011 price to earnings ratio of 7.23-10.08 times, [...]
Sanofi-Aventis extends offer for Genzyme again January 24, 2011 FRENCH drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis extended its $18.5bn (£11.6bn) tender offer for US biotech Genzyme yesterday for a second time, as the companies continued talks. Sanofi said 0.4 per cent of Genzyme’s shares were tendered by a Friday deadline, and that its $69 per share offer, which has been rejected by Genzyme, would now run until 15 [...]
Novartis will acquire Genoptix for $470m January 24, 2011 NOVARTIS announced yesterday that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Genoptix, a specialised laboratory providing diagnostic services to haematologists and oncologists. Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis will commence a tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Genoptix at $25.00 (£15.70) per share in cash. This [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 24, 2011 Remuneration Consultants Group The body responsible for developing the voluntary code of conduct for executive remuneration consultants has appointed two new non-executive directors: Philippa Hird (pictured) and William Claxton-Smith. Hird is a leading human resources professional, having been group director of HR at ITV and being a current non-exec at HMRC. Claxton-Smith was head of corporate [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 24, 2011 BSKYB Nomura rates the media group “buy” with a target price of £10.60. The broker expects strong half-year results when the firm reports on 27 January, with underlying earnings of £486m and 346,000 new HD customers. Nomura believes the government is likely to refer News Corp’s bid for Sky to the Competition Commission. RSA UBS [...]
SKY NEWS BITES THE HAND THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE FEEDING IT January 24, 2011 SOME puzzling editorial choices have been afoot at Sky News this week. On Sunday, Gordon Brown’s disclosure that he asked the police to look into whether his phone was hacked by the News of the World topped its agenda all day. And yesterday the attack of foot-in-mouth disease that afflicted Sky Sports’ Andy Gray and [...]
The price of cocoa soars as Ivory Coast bans exports January 24, 2011 THE president-elect of the world’s biggest producer of cocoa – the Ivory Coast – banned cocoa exports for a month yesterday, causing the price to jump 7 per cent to £2,307 a tonne in early London trading, a 7.4 per cent rise from Friday’s close – the highest price in six months. The ban has [...]
THE TIPSTER January 24, 2011 THE improving risk appetite and the prospect of better yields on cash deposits threaten to create a top for precious metal prices. So the question is can gold re-test the $1,400/oz level in the near term? The current IG Markets price on spot gold is $1,350.25-$1,350.75. Kesa Electricals, the parent company of the electrical retailer [...]
