Vedanta the latest exotic London IPO 17 Nov 2003 Exoticism seems to be in. Last week, Alea became the first Bermudan insurer to seek a listing in the UK. Next month, Vedanta will become the first Indian company with a primary listing in London.
Raymond Seitz has three strikes 17 Nov 2003 What do Hollinger, Marconi and Cable & Wireless all have in common? Apart from being disaster stories, that is. All three shared, at one time or another, a certain nonexecutive director Raymond Seitz, former US ambassador to the UK.
French pharma merger would make sense 17 Nov 2003 A combination of Sanofi and Aventis would create a politically pleasing and strategically prudent European giant. Better yet, the merger of the drugs makers would make financial sense, even with limited cost cutting.
Imperial Tobacco raises synergy targets 17 Nov 2003 The tobacco group is squeezing 25% more in costs out of its Reemtsma acquisition. But with Germany hiking its tobacco tax, it may not be able to hang on to all the benefits.
Lenders shun Deutsche’s Linpac deal 17 Nov 2003 Promising big leverage helped Deutsche Bank win the second quarter s biggest private equity deal, the £860m buyout of Linpac packaging. But only at a price. Deutsche is now struggling to sell down the loan because Linpac is seen as too highly geared.
Not much juice left in Italian banks 14 Nov 2003 True, the restructuring plays like Intesa, Capitalia and BNL have so far delivered on their cleanup plans. But consolidation still looks far away. Even to justify the current price, the banks would have to ratchet up performance further.
Lazard catches up with Big Bang 14 Nov 2003 Nearly two decades after Big Bang, Lazard is pouncing on stockbroker Panmure. Still, the timing is actually not bad and the price is right. But the deal also highlights some of Lazard s weaknesses, and suggests one of the City s last gentlemanly links with Cazenove is ending.
Havas slips further behind Publicis 14 Nov 2003 Unlike Publicis, it recorded a drop in organic revenues this quarter. Unless it smartens up its act, the smaller of France's two advertising groups will see its already chunky discount to Publicis widen.
James Murdoch inherits cushy job 14 Nov 2003 Everything keeps going right for BSkyB: subscriber numbers are growing, margins are expanding and debt is falling. It should be pretty easy for the new CEO to hit the next targets: achieving investment grade and paying out dividends.
A twist on Buffett’s bearish dollar parable 14 Nov 2003 For the first time in 72 years Warren Buffett is bailing on the dollar, which he calls the Squanderbuck , the currency of Squanderville . Buffett doesn t say what he bought instead. But commodity currencies are a likely bet.
IT services sales keep on shrinking 14 Nov 2003 The two largest European technologyservices companies, Cap Gemini and Atos Origin, continue to report falling sales. Only further mergers can deliver the cost cuts and heft needed to compete with US and offshore competition.
Allianz, ING struggle to please in Q3 14 Nov 2003 The latest results from two of Europe s largest insurers have cautioned investors not to be overly bullish about the industry s prospects. The costs of the past still weigh heavily. And insurers may not be as geared to the recovery as they were to the downturn.
Parmalat backs down 13 Nov 2003 Investors may be relieved that the E500m it invested in a Cayman Island fund is on its way back home. But they shouldn't forget this little jaunt in a hurry. It raises questions about Parmalat's investment policy, and its disclosure.
Alstom says doesn’t need Siemens 13 Nov 2003 CEO Patrick Kron would say that, wouldn't he? A deal would make sense, but would be hard to structure except as a German takeover. Quarterly results from both companies underline their divergent financial fortunes.
Celltech gets dose of bad medicine 13 Nov 2003 The UK biotech has suffered a huge setback from Pfizer's move to slow development of its main drug. More ominous still is its partner's request to review licensing terms for the drug. Investors may want to steer clear of Celltech.
Commerzbank defies belief with property write-down 13 Nov 2003 After all, the German bank wrote up a whopping profit just a year ago on the asset it has now written down. Investors are entitled to see this as another reason not to take what companies say especially German banks at face value.
RWE’s Roels on a roll 13 Nov 2003 The new CEO is slowly whipping the German utility into shape. Group debt is coming down thanks to disposals. Costs are falling too. But what s been achieved so far shows how much remains to be done. RWE is yet to prove that its multiutility strategy works.
BT ups dividend as revenues fall 13 Nov 2003 The dividend makes the shares interesting. But the UK telecoms group must show it can stabilise revenue to seal the buy case. BT is closer to achieving this than grim headlines suggest. But it is not quite there yet.
BNL rally has gone far enough 12 Nov 2003 The Italian bank s shares already discount a lot of restructuring. That looks like a hard slog. And the hopes for consolidation that boosted the shares look premature.
Conrad Black reportedly in talks with fast-food mogul 12 Nov 2003 Nelson Peltz is the latest in a string of options that Black has explored to help plug a potential funding hole at his Hollinger group. The snag is that Black, like all good press barons, doesn t want to give up control. No wonder he is having to wriggle so much.
Lufthansa should consider a spin-off 12 Nov 2003 Selling the noncore businesses at the bottom of the market wouldn t be a good idea, but spinning them off to shareholders might be. The German carrier thought diversifying away from its passenger business would make the group less cyclical. That hasn t really happened.
Oracle may drop PeopleSoft bid – report 12 Nov 2003 The $7.3bn hostile bid battle of the two software companies is a pointless distraction hurting both. Even competitor SAP may not be sad to see the battle end.
Corus in curious equity issue 12 Nov 2003 The £307m issue by the AngloDutch steel group is to be offered to existing shareholders but they can't sell on their rights. That pretty much forces shareholders to stump up the cash. For good measure, the offer is also underwritten.
Commerzbank raises E800m after E2.3bn loss 12 Nov 2003 The German bank couldn't have been so honest about its problems a year ago. But the market recovery has allowed it to bite the bullet. It has engaged in a full kitchensink exercise even admitting that its acquisition of fund manager Jupiter destroyed value.
Canary Wharf brushes off bidders 12 Nov 2003 Morgan Stanley, Brascan and Reichmann are back to the drawing boards. But they are struggling to offer anything that entices investors. Now is the time for the property group to unveil its own plan for breaking up and keeping the proceeds exclusively for its own shareholders.
UBS says bear market is obviously over 11 Nov 2003 The Swiss bank successfully weathered the downturn. Its biggest quarterly profit in three years shows that it is well positioned for the upturn too.
Germany unloads Deutsche Telekom, Post 11 Nov 2003 Given the difference between the E5.5bn proceeds and the market prices of the shares, the government appears to have taken a big hit. That s the good news: while selling to KfW is clearly a fudge, the government is at least showing resolve in getting its finances in order.
Olimpia prepares capital increase 11 Nov 2003 It also gives the lie to one argument used to justify the TI/Olivetti merger terms namely that Tronchetti was relaxing control. The transaction reinforces Marco Tronchetti Provera's control of Telecom Italia but seems to come with strings attached.
International Power slashes forecasts 11 Nov 2003 Depressed US electricity prices have plunged the outlook for the British generating company into darkness. But IP s current share price assumes that US power prices will remain depressed indefinitely. That is unrealistic.
Trade war or loss of face? 11 Nov 2003 Bush s options following the WTO s ruling that US steel tariffs are unlawful are unappetising. But that s what happens when you pursue a trade policy without diplomacy.