POTASH IN TALKS TO BLOCK BHP BID August 23, 2010 CANADIAN fertiliser producer PotashCorp is courting a range of potential “white knight” partners in a determined attempt to see off a $40bn (£25.5bn) hostile bid from mining giant BHP Billiton, the company confirmed yesterday. The world’s largest potash producer said it had been approached by and had initiated contact with a number of third parties, [...]
PotashCorp hunts for a white knight August 23, 2010 THIS is shaping up to be a classic takeover wrangle. First came the unsolicited bid – at $39.6bn (£25.5bn), BHP Billiton’s offer is a 20 per cent premium to PotashCorp’s undisturbed share price – which was immediately knocked back. Then came the anguished rhetoric from PotashCorp about the “grossly inadequate” level of BHP’s approach. The [...]
BHP FACES RISING BID DISCONTENT August 22, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton could be left with a diplomatic crisis on its hands if it does not move swiftly to address growing investor disquiet over the cost of the company’s mammoth $40bn (£26bn) hostile bid for Canadian fertiliser giant PotashCorp. BHP will this week attempt to calm shareholder fears at a gruelling series of [...]
Coalition under fire over City regulation August 22, 2010 PRESSURE is mounting on the government to rethink the details of its plans to transform the financial regulatory structure in the UK, which senior bankers have warned could close off avenues for discussion between regulators and the industry. Of particular concern to the banks is the new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which will answer only [...]
France offers tax breaks to woo UK banks August 22, 2010 THE government is facing calls to head off attempts by France and Germany to lure the world’s biggest investment banks away from London by offering them lucrative tax breaks. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) urged ministers to delay launching new rules on pay, bonuses and banks’ capital holdings until other nations do the same. The [...]
BHP deal to hand Potash CEO $400m August 19, 2010 POTASH chief executive Bill Doyle stands to make more than $400m (£257m) from the firm’s sale to mining giant BHP Billiton if the controversial takeover goes ahead, as BHP ramps up its efforts to persuade its shareholders a $40bn hostile bid is worthwhile. Doyle, head of the Canadian fertiliser firm, could make even more if [...]
Bank lending to UK businesses remains weak August 19, 2010 NET lending to British businesses fell for the fourth month in a row in June while mortgage approvals slumped to their lowest level in over a year last month, figures from the Bank of England showed yesterday. In its Trends in Lending report, the central bank showed that the net monthly flow of lending to [...]
Potash on hunt for a white knight August 18, 2010 CANADIAN fertiliser firm PotashCorp yesterday signalled its intention to court potential “white knight” bidders, after mining giant BHP Billiton turned hostile with its own $40bn (£25.6bn) offer. PotashCorp has roundly rebuffed its suitor’s preliminary overtures, describing the $130-a-share offer as “grossly inadequate”. Sources close to the Canadian firm yesterday indicated it would now actively seek [...]
BHP Billiton August 18, 2010 AS the late Wall Street legend Bruce Wasserstein was famed for saying, it’s time for BHP Billiton’s advisers to start “bidding ‘em up”. Because there is quite simply no way the miner will get its hands on Canada’s Potash for $130 (£83.32) a share, an offer that values the fertiliser giant at around $40bn. There’s [...]
Reflections on the Philip Green saga August 16, 2010 MY first contact with Sir Philip Green came around two decades ago when he was running a small public company called Amber Day. I had written a two paragraph story for the Independent newspaper which provoked the retailing tycoon to scream down the phone at me the following day. “I cut out your article out [...]