Lagardere may be forced to sell bulk of Editis 4 Dec 2003 At least Lagardere bought the business from Vivendi for a song last year. Now it looks like it needed to. The French conglomerate was expected to sell a big slab of the publishing unit. But the proposed deal with Brussels is worse than expected.
Reed dives on profit warning 4 Dec 2003 The usually reliable Crispin Davis surprised investors by abandoning his target of doubledigit growth for next year. The weakness in education and business publishing is disappointing. But Davis should still get the benefit of the doubt.
Opec considers dumping the dollar 4 Dec 2003 Even though oil prices are high, exporting countries say they are no better off because of the falling dollar. Hence the sudden interest in pricing oil in euros or a basket of currencies.
Mobile stocks are upwardly mobile again 4 Dec 2003 Wireless carriers have generated good revenue growth while fixedline operators haven't. So relative valuations have shifted. Mobile doesn't yet count as expensive but forecasts have shot up. The onus is on the carriers to keep delivering.
Second bite of the cherry for TBI 4 Dec 2003 The airports group got egg on its face when it let a bid from Vinci slip out of its grasp in September 2001. Now Hochtief has come knocking. Investors can only hope that the architect of its last defence, Keith Brooks, doesn't muck things up this time.
Unicredito launches E1.3bn Generali convertible 4 Dec 2003 The Italian bank has been under pressure to reduce its exposure to the insurance group. The issue should cut its funding cost, while allowing Unicredito to keep its influence at Generali.
The reverse engineered IPO returns 4 Dec 2003 Collins Stewart has bought Center Parcs from private equity firm MidOcean Partners, and plans to float it immediately. With private equity funds hard pressed to return money to investors, this is looking like the new exit strategy.
Kingfisher not an easy buy for Home Depot 4 Dec 2003 The US home improvements giant's home market is saturating. And it certainly has the firepower to do a deal. But it might be hard to find enough synergies to justify paying Kingfisher's shareholders a premium.
Hungary faces old-fashioned currency crisis 3 Dec 2003 Unlike the US, not every country has the luxury of running huge current account and budget deficits while also avoiding a currency crisis. In many ways, Hungary is repeating Britain's ERM crisis 11 years ago. The difference is that Hungary s problems are all of its own making.
Business travellers slow to upgrade 3 Dec 2003 Both British Airways and KLM said longhaul business traffic was up in November. The snag is that prices haven't recovered. That means premium traffic may not quite be the shot in the arm airlines were hoping for.
Swiss Life issues convert to finance buyback 3 Dec 2003 The insurer wants to simplify its structure by buying the 7% of its operating subsidiary which it doesn t already own. But it is going through the complex process of issuing one form of quasiequity to retire another.
Philips writes off TV jv for E800m 3 Dec 2003 The Dutch conglomerate is taking a surprise writedown on its TV joint venture only 2 years after its establishment. Shortening product cycles and ferocious price competition have claimed another victim in electronics.
Private equity firms use IPO as takeover bait 3 Dec 2003 Through "parallel path" auctions like Oriflame, Grohe and Saga, sellers use the leverage of the public markets to flush out bidders. This only works if the equity markets are a credible alternative the collapse of Sweden's Dometic IPO suggests that is not the case.
Consob needs to show sharper teeth on Parmalat 3 Dec 2003 New boss Lamberto Cardia started the ball rolling. But since his initial success, he doesn't have much else to show. If he doesn't deliver some results soon, he will lose his first big chance to show that the notoriously sleepy regulator is waking up.
HSBC gatecrashes Scor rights issue 2 Dec 2003 The French insurer's capital raising looked dicey until HSBC entered the fray. It has made its extensive balance sheet available. Other distressed companies might take note.
Another LBO stuck with banks 2 Dec 2003 CSFB and two Italian banks lent E600m to the buyout of the world s second biggest spectacles group Safilo. But Safilo s performance has deteriorated and its credit rating has slipped. Plans to syndicate the loan have been put on the backburner.
Rhodia’s banks face condundrum in debt talks 2 Dec 2003 The issue is whether the French chemicals group needs a rights issue any time soon. Regardless of the pressures on Rhodia's balance sheet, a rights issue could be sensitive for the banks that sold its recent highyield bond.
Amvescap defiant in face of mutual fund probe 2 Dec 2003 Eliot Spitzer is pressing civil charges against the AngloUS fund manager in his ongoing assault on mutual funds. Unlike its rivals, Amvescap has not cut a deal to avoid court action. Continued defiance will leave a cloud over the shares.
Corporate bond rally may be linked to US deficit 2 Dec 2003 The bull run is stretching valuations. One explanation could be the financing of the US current account deficit. For America's trading partners recycling dollars into US securities, corporate bonds may be more attractive than Treasuries.
Euronext should scrap chief exec pact if it can 2 Dec 2003 It would be a bad move to replace JeanFrancois Theodore with his Dutch deputy because the pact says so. But that doesn t mean just rubber stamping Theodore in his post.
Abramovich 2: rivals 0 2 Dec 2003 The oil mogul seems to have exploited the troubles of his rival Khodorkovsky. Sibneft may get the top jobs if its Yukos merger is revived. A bit like Abramovich's success on the football pitch where his Chelsea has taken the lead from ManU.
Sony raises cheap cash with E1.9bn convertible 2 Dec 2003 The group's stock looks fairly valued, making it unlikely the bond will be exchanged for equity. It is hard to see why bonds paying no interest and convertible at more than a 60% premium are desirable for anyone except Sony.
Vivendi should keep breaking up 1 Dec 2003 The group isn't just a strategic muddle with its eclectic collection of telecom and media interests. It's also undervalued. Breaking up won t be easy. But at the very least, Vivendi could split off its telecom and media arms.
Dollar starting to overshoot – on the downside 1 Dec 2003 Snag is an overshoot is needed to correct past excess. If it is as big as the overshoot on the upside, the euro rate would go to $1.55. The European economy is already suffering from a weak dollar. The pain is likely to get worse.
EU’s cross-border merger agreement a muddled mess 1 Dec 2003 The EU's crossborder merger agreement doesn't do anything to strengthen shareholder rights. Indeed, it actually weakens them by adding to the confusion surrounding international bids and making it easier to enact poison pills.
Campari buys an expensive tipple 1 Dec 2003 The Italian drinks group has bought fellow red aperitif brand Aperol for a 64% premium to its own multiple of ebitda. With little space to cut costs, Campari must be betting Aperol can replicate its own international success.
Vedanta IPO shows volatility of mining stocks 1 Dec 2003 The Indian miner is due to float in December near the peak of the cycle and valuation ranges are huge. That makes investors lives harder, but is par for the course for the sector, which can trade at between 0.5 and 2 times NAV over the cycle.
Celltech looks like takeover bait 1 Dec 2003 Pfizer has dropped its right to sell Celltech's arthritis drug. With a majority of Celltech s value tied up in this one drug and new drugs hard to find the company may find suitors knocking.
Boeing drops CEO Condit 1 Dec 2003 The airplane group's recent Pentagon procurement scandals may be the trigger for Phil Condit's departure. But the bigger problem has been Boeing's management during the airline industry downturn it has let Airbus get the better of it.
Lazard holding companies discuss merger 1 Dec 2003 The immediate benefit of a merger between Rue Imperiale and Eurazeo would be to unlock the discount to NAV at Imperiale. But the bigger prize is to unlock the discount at Eurazeo. That would require the sale of its stake in Lazard.