Reckitt close to Schiff takeover November 20, 2012 Reckitt Benckiser said yesterday it looked forward to clinching a deal to buy US vitamin maker Schiff Nutrition after rival bidder Bayer announced it would not increase its offer. Reckitt last week trumped Bayer’s $1.2bn (£754m) agreed deal to buy Schiff with a higher offer of $1.4bn. “Our original tender offer still stands and we [...]
Diageo tender offer next year November 20, 2012 Diageo will launch a mandatory share tender offer to buy up to 26 per cent additional stake in India’s United Spirits from public shareholders on 7 January, the manager to the offer said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, Diageo agreed to buy a majority stake in United Spirits, controlled [...]
ITC to review Samsung v Apple November 20, 2012 Samsung was handed a boost in its ongoing patent dispute with Apple yesterday when the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said it would review a judge’s decision earlier in the year that Apple did not copy Samsung technology in its products. The ITC has the power to ban sales of products if they are found [...]
Dialight leaps on new LED orders November 20, 2012 Shares in LED maker Dialight rose more than six per cent yesterday as the Newmarket-based company said it had won a major contract with a US power plant operator for more than 1,000 LED lighting fixtures. The order has a value of around £400,000. “This order signals further penetration of the clean energy market and [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 20, 2012 State Street Simone Vroegop has been appointed head of consultant relations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the financial services provider. She was previously vice president and head of business development for the company’s global services business in the Amsterdam office. Charles Russell Shahram Taghavi has been appointed head of immigration at the [...]
Best of the Brokers November 20, 2012 EXOR UBS has downgraded the Fiat majority-owner from “buy” to “neutral” on the back of a downgrade to Fiat. Its target price for Exor is now €20, from €22.40, as Fiat raises cash to buy Chrysler. COMPASS Investec has thrown its weight behind the catering giant, raising its target price to 800p while reiterating a [...]
Glenstrata merger boosts mining stocks as FTSE pares early losses November 20, 2012 UK shares reversed early losses yesterday, helped by the completion of the long-awaited takeover of miner Xstrata by commodities trader Glencore which boosted both stocks. Xstrata led the risers, adding 3.1 per cent, after its shareholders approved the $31bn deal which had been on the cards ever since Glencore listed last year. Mining stocks, which [...]
Bernanke and HP woes halt rally in stocks November 20, 2012 WALL Street halted its two-day rally yesterday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank lacks tools to cushion the US economy from the impact of the “fiscal cliff.” The day’s biggest disappointment was Hewlett-Packard shares, which sank to a 10-year low after the computer and printer maker swung to a fourth-quarter loss [...]
Lesson from Australia: Retirement benefits don’t have to bankrupt us November 20, 2012 WHEN The Who’s Roger Daltrey first sang “I hope I die before I get old,” he was probably not planning on receiving the winter fuel allowance. Yet 47 years later, at some stage this month a £200 cheque from the UK taxpayer will drop through his letterbox. Daltrey is one of a growing number of [...]
Cheating students hold the key to better government decision-making November 20, 2012 WHAT is the connection between executive pay, petty crime, and plagiarism by students? Economics can help us with the solution. It all links back to the concept of externalities. To illustrate the idea, economists use the example of a factory, which imposes costs on others through pollution. But Thomas Schelling, a Nobel Prize winner, extended [...]
