Glencore is in exclusive talks to buy Canadian grain giant Viterra March 19, 2012 COMMODITIES giant Glencore is close to a deal to buy Viterra, Canada’s biggest grain handler, according to a source familiar with the matter. Viterra and Glencore are still in talks on price, but a deal could be reached within days at a price above C$16 per share, said the source, who could not speak publicly [...]
Julius Baer chair severs 120 year old family ties March 19, 2012 WHEN Julius Baer set up a private bank in Switzerland in the 1890s, modern skiing had just emerged and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would speed down the Alps in a tweed suit. Now, 120 years on, the Baer family has severed its link with the management of the bank. Raymond Baer has quit as chairman [...]
Glencore eyes deal as Viterra opens its books March 15, 2012 CANADA’S largest grain handler, Viterra, said yesterday it has opened its books to potential buyers, setting the stage for a possible bidding war and sending its shares 10 per cent higher. Viterra said it has established a process for considering expressions of interest, including confidentiality agreements. It shed no light on who might bid, but [...]
BofA Merrill Lynch moves to boost weakened broking unit March 14, 2012 SIMON Mackenzie-Smith, who has been drafted in to reinforce Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s battered UK corporate broking unit, has hired Peter Luck from UBS as he strives to retain the bank’s long list of clients following a raft of executive departures. Luck will be a senior player in the team at Merrill Lynch, which [...]
Ziggo brings a ray of sunshine to IPO market March 12, 2012 ALONG with the sunshine came a hint of optimism about the future of the faltering IPO market yesterday as the Dutch cable group Ziggo revealed there was sufficient demand for its upcoming £550m share issue. Private equity owners Cinven and Warburg Pincus, advised by STJ Advisors, are selling 35m secondary shares with guidance of €16.50 to [...]
Viterra rises on Glencore interest March 12, 2012 Shares in Viterra, the Canadian grain firm being circled by Glencore, jumped more than four per cent yesterday as more possible bidders emerged. The Saskatchewan firm briefly hit a three-and-a-half year high on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It has not spoken publicly since admitting third-party interest on Friday, now known to be from Glencore. Canadian [...]
Glencore eyes £3.5bn grain giant buyout March 11, 2012 COMMODITIES giant Glencore has emerged as the mystery bidder for Canadian grain giant Viterra. The Swiss trading firm, currently putting the final touches to a $90bn (£57bn) merger with mining group Xstrata, has made an approach for Viterra, which on Friday told the market it had been subject to expressions of interest. Glencore is already [...]
Xstrata in $500m deal to expand coking coal March 8, 2012 MINER Xstrata, which has agreed to a merger with trader Glencore, expanded its coking coal operations in Canada’s British Columbia yesterday with the $500m (£316.6m) purchase of assets from oil explorer Talisman Energy. Xstrata has been building its presence in the Peace River coalfield, in northern British Columbia, since acquiring First Coal last August. The [...]
It’s tough at the top: world’s richest fight to keep wealth March 7, 2012 MEXICAN telecoms magnate Carlos Slim Helu has kept his spot as the world’s richest man for the third year running, according to the Forbes list of billionaires out yesterday. But his family fortune slid $5bn to $69bn over the year, closing the gap between him and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who remains in second place [...]
Glencore boss fires shot at deal critics March 5, 2012 GLENCORE chief executive Ivan Glasenberg yesterday said the company’s “naysayers” who were trying to torpedo the proposed $37bn (£23bn) bid for miner Xstrata were failing to appreciate its potential. Glasenberg (pictured) said all sides would benefit from the extra clout the pair would have on world markets. However Standard Life, which has a 2.2 per cent [...]