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| 2 | 2018-05-27T05:49:00.000+03:00 | Qualcomm to meet China regulators in push to clear $44 billion NXP deal: sources | BEIJING (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ) is expecting to meet this week in Beijing with China’s antitrust regulators in a final push to secure clearance for its proposed $44 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV ( NXPI.O ), three sources told Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A sign on the Qualcomm campus is seen in San Diego, California, U.S. November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo The acquisition has been caught in the crosshairs of rising U.S.-China trade tensions, with sources saying an approval would depend on the progress of broader bilateral talks. The deal has got a nod from eight of the nine required global regulators, with Chinese clearance the only one pending. Qualcomm is likely to meet Chinese regulators before U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrives in China on Saturday, the sources briefed on Qualcomm’s discussions said. A Qualcomm team and officials from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) met in Beijing on Friday and had “productive” talks, the sources said. The San Diego-based firm is now “cautiously optimistic” the deal will go forward, one of the sources said, amid recent indications of a thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions that has seen both sides propose tens of billions of dollars in tariffs. On Friday, the Trump administration said it had reached a deal that would put ZTE Corp ( 000063.SZ )( 0763.HK ) back in business after the Chinese telecommunications company pays a $1.3 billion fine and makes management changes. Resolving the ZTE sales ban has been of chief importance to China’s leadership. The firm was banned in April from buying U.S. technology components for seven years after breaking an agreement it reached for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. “It feels as though it’s getting close to the end,” said the source Quote: d above. Qualcomm did not immediately reply to an email from Reuters seeking comment on Sunday, while calls to NXP went unanswered outside regular business hours. FILE PHOTO: A man works on a tent for NXP Semiconductors in preparation for the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo NEW SUBMISSION Qualcomm is now preparing a new submission to SAMR aimed at providing final guarantees and assurances, the sources said. China’s market regulator did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment outside of business hours. While there are no explicit ties between ZTE’s problems, Sino-U.S. trade tensions and Qualcomm-NXP merger clearance, there are “perceived linkages” and the timing of current discussions is “not coincidental”, two of the sources said. “The degree to which the two sides are moving to resolve trade tensions clearly has an impact,” one source said. Qualcomm in recent weeks has moved to restart discussions that have stalled since the end of last year. The company in April was forced to refile its China anti-trust application to clear the NXP deal, after talks reached a dead end. Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president, was in China last week, attending a big data industry expo in the southwest province of Guizhou. Earlier this month, China’s anti-trust regulator approved Qualcomm’s investment with a unit of state-owned Datang Telecom Technology Co. to design, package and test smartphone chipsets, one year after the joint venture was announced. Reporting By Matthew Miller; Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Elias Glenn; Editing by Himani Sarkar | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 3 | 2018-05-27T13:01:00.000+03:00 | Colombians vote for new president with peace deal, economy at stake | BOGOTA, May 27 (Reuters) - Colombians vote on Sunday in a deeply divisive presidential ballot that has stirred fears the winner could upset a fragile peace accord with Marxist FARC rebels or derail the nation’s business-friendly economic model. In the first election since the peace deal was signed in 2016 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), voters will decide on a replacement for President Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the five-decade-old conflict. Leading candidate, right-wing Ivan Duque, has pledged to alter the terms of the peace deal and to jail former rebels for war crimes. Leftist Gustavo Petro, polling second, has said he would overhaul Colombia’s orthodox economic policy and redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. Trailing them in the often-unreliable polls are mathematician and centrist Sergio Fajardo and former vice president German Vargas, who has Santos’ support. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, the top two will go to a runoff on June 17. Campaigning in the traditionally conservative nation has been marked by acrimonious accusations that rival candidates will collapse the economy with socialist policies, force the nation back to the battle field or bust the budget by overspending. “These elections will decide the future of Colombia and maybe steer it toward an even more divided society that could end in a deep crisis,” said Gregorio Sierra, a 52-year-old psychologist in the capital, Bogota. “It’s scary.” Business-friendly Duque, who was handpicked by hard-line former President Alvaro Uribe, has promised to cut corporate taxes and support oil and mining projects, as well as change the peace accord and impose tougher punishments for former FARC fighters. Under the terms of the deal, thousands of rebels demobilized and the group is now a political party. But the accord drew ire from many who believe the FARC should be in prison and not in Congress. Some areas abandoned by the FARC have suffered an increase in fighting between criminal gangs and remaining guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) over valuable illegal mining and drug trafficking territories. Colombia’s production of coca - the raw material for cocaine - has risen sharply, stirring concern in Washington. The election also coincides with a growing migration crisis from neighboring Venezuela. Colombia is appealing for international support to cope with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans streaming across the border to flee shortages of food and rising crime as their nation’s economy implodes. REALIGN AXIS Petro, a combative populist who was once a member of the now defunct M19 rebel group, supports the peace deal. But some of his economic policies spook investors and have prompted rivals to compare him to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He has promised to take power away from political and social elites he says have stymied progress and to carry out a complete economic overhaul. His pledges to end extractive industries and shift the focus of state-run oil company Ecopetrol to renewable energy have dismayed business leaders. Oil and coal are Colombia’s top exports. Polls suggest the end of the FARC conflict has shifted voters’ priorities to inequality and corruption from security issues - opening the door to the left for the first time. “These elections may realign the political axis to a more ideological right versus left,” said Francisco Miranda, a political consultant. “It would be the first time in the history of Colombia that an openly leftist leader, a socialist, may get through to the second round.” With the highest rejection rate among all candidates, Petro is highly unlikely to win. Amid pitched battles on social media between voters, Petro said that voting software had been tampered with in a bid to help Vargas reach the second round. Petro called on his followers to observe vote counting and may call for protests if he does not reach the run-off. During his tenure as mayor of Bogota he was briefly ousted over a trash collection scandal and led massive marches calling for his own reinstatement. In the affluent Usaquen neighborhood of the capital, Claudia Guerrero, a 28-year-old shop assistant, said she hoped fellow voters did not just hurl insults on social media but actually went to the polls. Abstention in the country is high - less than half of eligible voters tend to participate in elections. “I hope many young people vote and above all I hope the losers accept the results,” Guerrero said. “Not only the candidates, but their followers.” Graphic tmsnrt.rs/2rAQ4l1 on Latin American elections Reporting by Helen Murphy and Steven Grattan Editing by Daniel Flynn and Rosalba O'Brien | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180527.html | 0 |
| 4 | 2018-05-27T15:35:00.000+03:00 | Qualcomm to meet China regulators in push to clear $44 bln NXP deal- sources | * Qualcomm to meet regulators before Wilbur Ross arrives -sources * Qualcomm had productive talks with SAMR on Friday -sources * Qualcomm is now preparing a new submission to SAMR -sources By Matthew Miller BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc is expecting to meet this week in Beijing with China’s antitrust regulators in a final push to secure clearance for its proposed $44 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV, three sources told Reuters. The acquisition has been caught in the crosshairs of rising U.S.-China trade tensions, with sources saying an approval would depend on the progress of broader bilateral talks. The deal has got a nod from eight of the nine required global regulators, with Chinese clearance the only one pending. Qualcomm is likely to meet Chinese regulators before U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrives in China on Saturday, the sources briefed on Qualcomm’s discussions said. A Qualcomm team and officials from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) met in Beijing on Friday and had “productive” talks, the sources said. The San Diego-based firm is now “cautiously optimistic” the deal will go forward, one of the sources said, amid recent indications of a thaw in U.S.-China trade tensions that has seen both sides propose tens of billions of dollars in tariffs. On Friday, the Trump administration said it had reached a deal that would put ZTE Corp back in business after the Chinese telecommunications company pays a $1.3 billion fine and makes management changes. Resolving the ZTE sales ban has been of chief importance to China’s leadership. The firm was banned in April from buying U.S. technology components for seven years after breaking an agreement it reached for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. “It feels as though it’s getting close to the end,” said the source Quote: d above. NEW SUBMISSION Qualcomm is now preparing a new submission to SAMR aimed at providing final guarantees and assurances, the sources said. China’s market regulator did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment outside of business hours. While there are no explicit ties between ZTE’s problems, Sino-U.S. trade tensions and Qualcomm-NXP merger clearance, there are “perceived linkages” and the timing of current discussions is “not coincidental”, two of the sources said. “The degree to which the two sides are moving to resolve trade tensions clearly has an impact,” one source said. Qualcomm in recent weeks has moved to restart discussions that have stalled since the end of last year. The company in April was forced to refile its China anti-trust application to clear the NXP deal, after talks reached a dead end. Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president, was in China last week, attending a big data industry expo in the southwest province of Guizhou. Earlier this month, China’s anti-trust regulator approved Qualcomm’s investment with a unit of state-owned Datang Telecom Technology Co. to design, package and test smartphone chipsets, one year after the joint venture was announced. (Reporting By Matthew Miller; Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Elias Glenn; Editing by Himani Sarkar) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 5 | 2018-05-27T18:40:00.000+03:00 | Smiths Group, ICU Medical in talks on healthcare merger: source | (Reuters) - British engineering firm Smiths Group Plc ( SMIN.L ) is in very early stage discussions about a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical Inc ( ICUI.O ), the British group said on Sunday. There is no certainty that a transaction will be concluded from the talks, Smiths Group said in a statement that did not disclose any of the financial details under discussion. Sky News and the Financial Times had reported earlier on Sunday that the two companies were in talks. Smiths Group had been exploring options for some time for its medical business, the FT had reported. on.ft.com/2xir9YN Sky News said the talks could culminate in a joint venture. bit.ly/2s88bPN ICU Medical did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The British engineering company had reported a lower than expected first-half profit in March. The company’s largest unit, Smiths Medical, was hit by delays to new product launches and revenues at the division fell 5 percent to 451 million pounds ($600.2 million) for the first half of the year. Smiths, a provider of hospital equipment, industrial services and sensors to detect explosives, had said in March that its pre-tax profit fell 12 percent to 217 million pounds for the six months ending on Jan. 31, with revenues falling by 4.3 percent to 1.55 billion pounds. ICU Medical reported its first quarter results earlier in the month with revenues of $372 million and net income of $4.9 million. Reporting by Ben Martin in London and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and Daniel Wallis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 6 | 2018-05-27T20:42:00.000+03:00 | Brunei sells stake in Jordan Phosphate to Indian firms | AMMAN, May 27 (Reuters) - Brunei, the largest shareholder in Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), has agreed to sell a 37 percent stake to India’s two largest importers and producers of fertilisers in a deal worth around $130 million, the Amman stock exchange said on Sunday. Indian Potash Limited and Kisan International Trading FZE, a subsidiary of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), bought the stake in Jordan’s largest mining and chemical company from Kamil Holdings Limited, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, the exchange said in a statement. Brunei brought the stake in 2006 from Jordan when the country was seeking to attract foreign investment in an IMF-guided privatisation scheme to sell stakes in key state enterprises. The Brunei deal, which aimed to put the indebted and loss-making company on a sounder financial footing, was later criticised by Jordan’s parliament for alleged corruption, part of a backlash against privatisation and economic nationalism that swept the country. Industry sources say Brunei has been trying to divest its JPMC holding after former CEO Walid Kurdi, a relative of the royal family who fled the country in 2012, was given a 22 year prison sentence in absentia on charges of embezzlement of millions of dollars. Jordan had said more recently it wanted to buy back the shares but plans to regain control of some key companies, including JPMC, did not go ahead. The Amman stock exchange said the transaction involved the sale of 30.5 million shares to the Indian companies at 2.98 dinars ($4.20) per share. JPMC’s shares closed at 3.3 dinars on Sunday. Canada’s Potash Corp and Japan’s Mitsubishi were also in the running to buy the stake, an industry source familiar with the deal said. JPMC is one of the largest producers of phosphates in the world, producing up to seven million tonnes a year of rock phosphates, used as to make crop fertilizers. The company has in the last two decades expanded joint ventures with Indian and Japanese firms seeking investment opportunities overseas to secure requirements to meet fast growing fertiliser demand. JPMC has mining rights over 1 billion tonnes of the country’s 1.5 billion tonnes of proven reserves of phosphate, according to company estimates. The company has in the last two years embarked on a major restructuring plan to reduce 440 million dinars of debts and cut costs. Its losses were cut in half last year from 90 million to 46.6 million dinars. ($1=7090 dinars) (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi. Editing by Jane Merriman) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 7 | 2018-05-27T20:44:00.000+03:00 | Brunei sells stake in Jordan Phosphate to Indian firms | AMMAN (Reuters) - Brunei, the largest shareholder in Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), has agreed to sell a 37 percent stake to India’s two largest importers and producers of fertilisers in a deal worth around $130 million, the Amman stock exchange said on Sunday. Indian Potash Limited and Kisan International Trading FZE, a subsidiary of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), bought the stake in Jordan’s largest mining and chemical company from Kamil Holdings Limited, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, the exchange said in a statement. Brunei brought the stake in 2006 from Jordan when the country was seeking to attract foreign investment in an IMF-guided privatisation scheme to sell stakes in key state enterprises. The Brunei deal, which aimed to put the indebted and loss-making company on a sounder financial footing, was later criticised by Jordan’s parliament for alleged corruption, part of a backlash against privatisation and economic nationalism that swept the country. Industry sources say Brunei has been trying to divest its JPMC holding after former CEO Walid Kurdi, a relative of the royal family who fled the country in 2012, was given a 22 year prison sentence in absentia on charges of embezzlement of millions of dollars. Jordan had said more recently it wanted to buy back the shares but plans to regain control of some key companies, including JPMC, did not go ahead. The Amman stock exchange said the transaction involved the sale of 30.5 million shares to the Indian companies at 2.98 dinars ($4.20) per share. JPMC’s shares closed at 3.3 dinars on Sunday. Canada’s Potash Corp and Japan’s Mitsubishi were also in the running to buy the stake, an industry source familiar with the deal said. JPMC is one of the largest producers of phosphates in the world, producing up to seven million tonnes a year of rock phosphates, used as to make crop fertilizers. The company has in the last two decades expanded joint ventures with Indian and Japanese firms seeking investment opportunities overseas to secure requirements to meet fast growing fertiliser demand. JPMC has mining rights over 1 billion tonnes of the country’s 1.5 billion tonnes of proven reserves of phosphate, according to company estimates. The company has in the last two years embarked on a major restructuring plan to reduce 440 million dinars of debts and cut costs. Its losses were cut in half last year from 90 million to 46.6 million dinars. ($1=7090 dinars) Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi. Editing by Jane Merriman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 8 | 2018-05-27T23:35:00.000+03:00 | Smiths Group, ICU Medical in talks on healthcare merger- source | (Reuters) - British engineering firm Smiths Group Plc ( SMIN.L ) is in very early stage discussions about a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical Inc ( ICUI.O ), the British group said on Sunday. There is no certainty that a transaction will be concluded from the talks, Smiths Group said in a statement that did not disclose any of the financial details under discussion. Sky News and the Financial Times had reported earlier on Sunday that the two companies were in talks. Smiths Group had been exploring options for some time for its medical business, the FT had reported. on.ft.com/2xir9YN Sky News said the talks could culminate in a joint venture. bit.ly/2s88bPN ICU Medical did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The British engineering company had reported a lower than expected first-half profit in March. The company’s largest unit, Smiths Medical, was hit by delays to new product launches and revenues at the division fell 5 percent to 451 million pounds ($600.2 million) for the first half of the year. Smiths, a provider of hospital equipment, industrial services and sensors to detect explosives, had said in March that its pre-tax profit fell 12 percent to 217 million pounds for the six months ending on Jan. 31, with revenues falling by 4.3 percent to 1.55 billion pounds. ICU Medical reported its first quarter results earlier in the month with revenues of $372 million and net income of $4.9 million. Reporting by Ben Martin in London and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and Daniel Wallis | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 9 | 2018-05-27T23:35:00.000+03:00 | Smiths Group, ICU Medical in talks on healthcare merger- source | May 27 (Reuters) - British engineering firm Smiths Group Plc and U.S.-based ICU Medical Inc are in talks about a merger of their medical device businesses, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters. The talks are at a very early stage, according to the person. Sky News and the Financial Times had reported earlier on Sunday that the two companies were in talks. bit.ly/2s88bPN The FT said Smiths Group had been exploring options for some time for its medical business. on.ft.com/2xir9YN ICU Medical did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Smiths Group declined to comment. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Ben Martin. Editing by Jane Merriman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 10 | 2018-05-27T23:40:00.000+03:00 | Smiths Group, ICU Medical in talks on healthcare merger - source | May 27, 2018 / 8:39 PM / Updated 31 minutes ago Smiths Group, ICU Medical in talks about medical division merger Ben Martin , Kanishka Singh 2 Min Read (Reuters) - British engineering firm Smiths Group Plc ( SMIN.L ) is in very early stage discussions about a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical Inc ( ICUI.O ), the British group said on Sunday. There is no certainty that a transaction will be concluded from the talks, Smiths Group said in a statement that did not disclose any of the financial details under discussion. Sky News and the Financial Times had reported earlier on Sunday that the two companies were in talks. Smiths Group had been exploring options for some time for its medical business, the FT had reported. Sky News said the talks could culminate in a joint venture. ICU Medical did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The British engineering company had reported a lower than expected first-half profit in March. The company’s largest unit, Smiths Medical, was hit by delays to new product launches and revenues at the division fell 5 percent to 451 million pounds ($600.2 million) for the first half of the year. Smiths, a provider of hospital equipment, industrial services and sensors to detect explosives, had said in March that its pre-tax profit fell 12 percent to 217 million pounds for the six months ending on Jan. 31, with revenues falling by 4.3 percent to 1.55 billion pounds. ICU Medical reported its first quarter results earlier in the month with revenues of $372 million and net income of $4.9 million. Reporting by Ben Martin in London and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and Daniel Wallis | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 11 | 2018-05-28T01:09:00.000+03:00 | Chinalco seals deal to get foothold in Yunnan's aluminum market | BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state-owned Chinalco is set to close the gap on privately run China Hongqiao Group, the world’s top aluminum producer, after sealing a deal with the Yunnan government that gives it access to more smelting capacity. FILE PHOTO: A logo of Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) is seen outside its headquarters in Beijing, China, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Yunnan Metallurgical Group, which controls Yunnan Aluminum Co Ltd, will be merged into China Copper Co, a joint venture between Chinalco and the Yunnan provincial government, according to a Yunnan Aluminum statement on Monday. The joint venture is owned 58 percent by Chinalco, officially the Aluminum Corp of China, and 42 percent by the Yunnan government, said the statement, which was issued after the signing of an “in-principle” agreement in Kunming on Sunday. The move is the latest sign that Chinese aluminum producers want greater exposure to Yunnan, where hydropower is abundant, as the government cracks down on coal-fired power. “I wouldn’t say it was cheaper, but it’s more environmentally friendly (and) ... better for future development,” said Jackie Wang, an aluminum analyst at CRU in Beijing. The deal will give Chinalco access to Yunnan Aluminum’s 1.6 million tonnes of smelting capacity, with another 1.45 million tonnes in the pipeline or under construction, Wang said. Chinalco’s listed unit, known as Chalco, had smelting capacity of 3.93 million tonnes per year at the end of 2017, according to its annual report. China Hongqiao had 6.46 million tonnes a year of capacity at the end of 2017, according to a recent filing. While Chalco may actually have something less than the 3.93 million tonnes figure, combined with Yunnan Aluminum, it will be challenging Hongqiao’s volumes, said Paul Adkins, managing director of consultancy AZ China. “Yes, they will have as much as Hongqiao operating, though don’t forget Hongqiao has 2.6 million tonnes idle,” he said. “Chalco has idle assets too, but none that could come back and be profitable,” Adkins said. Chinalco did not answer a question concerning its current capacity or its capacity after the deal. A statement on Chalco’s website valued the strategic cooperation at over 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion). The deal will also give Chinalco its first lead and zinc assets as Yunnan Metallurgical Group also controls Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co, which announced the agreement in its own statement on Monday. Reporting by Josephine Mason and Tom Daly; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue | https://in.reuters.com/finance/commodities | 1 |
| 12 | 2018-05-28T05:13:00.000+03:00 | China to host Iranian president amid nuclear deal doubt | May 28, 2018 / 2:15 AM / Updated 16 hours ago China to host Iran to avoid project disruption amid nuclear deal doubt Reuters Staff 3 Min Read BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next month at a regional summit aimed at avoiding disruption of joint projects, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as major powers scramble to save Iran’s nuclear deal after the United States pulled out. FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends a meeting with Muslim leaders and scholars in Hyderabad, India, February 15, 2018. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo Rouhani will pay a working visit to China and attend the summit of the China and Russia-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the ministry said. It did not give exact dates for his visit, but the summit is scheduled to be held on the second weekend of June in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao. Iran is currently an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, though it has long sought full membership. “Our hope is that China and Iran will have close consultation on the basis of observing the deal and push forward development of bilateral cooperation,” Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhang Hanhui said at a briefing. “We should together look into how to avoid major disruption of joint projects between the two sides,” he added. Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on Tehran. In return, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities, increasing the time it would need to produce an atom bomb if it chose to do so. Since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States this month, calling the agreement deeply flawed, European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. China has also strongly supported the deal and is one of its signatories. Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, were also invited to hold official bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the summit, the foreign ministry said. The summit, which runs from June 9-10, will attempt to create new agreements on security issues such as counter-terrorism and drug smuggling among the seven member bloc. Jointly led by Russia and China, the SCO was launched in 2001 to combat radical Islam and other regional security concerns. India and Pakistan became full members last year. Iran has long eyed an SCO membership and China has said it supports its application. Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/worldNews | 0 |
| 13 | 2018-05-28T05:16:00.000+03:00 | China to host Iranian president amid nuclear deal doubt | May 28, 2018 / 2:19 AM / Updated 4 hours ago China to host Iran to avoid project disruption amid nuclear deal doubt Reuters Staff 2 Min Read BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next month at a regional summit aimed at avoiding disruption of joint projects, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as major powers scramble to save Iran’s nuclear deal after the United States pulled out. FILE PHOTO - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey May 18, 2018. Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Pool via Reuters Rouhani will pay a working visit to China and attend the summit of the China and Russia-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the ministry said. It did not give exact dates for his visit, but the summit is scheduled to be held on the second weekend of June in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao. Iran is currently an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, though it has long sought full membership. “Our hope is that China and Iran will have close consultation on the basis of observing the deal and push forward development of bilateral cooperation,” Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhang Hanhui said at a briefing. “We should together look into how to avoid major disruption of joint projects between the two sides,” he added. Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on Tehran. In return, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities, increasing the time it would need to produce an atom bomb if it chose to do so. Since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States this month, calling the agreement deeply flawed, European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. China has also strongly supported the deal and is one of its signatories. Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry | http://feeds.feedburner.com/Reuters/UKWorldNews | 0 |
| 14 | 2018-05-28T05:16:00.000+03:00 | China to host Iranian president amid nuclear deal doubt | May 28, 2018 / 2:18 AM / Updated 26 minutes ago China to host Iranian president amid nuclear deal doubt Reuters Staff 2 Min Read BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next month at a regional summit in a Chinese coastal city, the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday, as major power scramble to save Iran’s nuclear deal after the United States pulled out. FILE PHOTO - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey May 18, 2018. Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Pool via Reuters Rouhani will pay a working visit to China and attend the summit of the China and Russia-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the ministry said. It did not give exact dates for his visit, but the summit is scheduled to be held on the second weekend of June in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao. Iran is currently an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, though it has long sought full membership. Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on Tehran. In return, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities, increasing the time it would need to produce an atom bomb if it chose to do so. Since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States this month, calling the agreement deeply flawed, European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. China has also strongly supported the deal and is one of its signatories. Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAWorldNews | 0 |
| 15 | 2018-05-28T06:06:00.000+03:00 | Germany seeking deal to end EU-U.S. trade dispute | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany is seeking to end a dispute between the United States and the European Union over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday. FILE PHOTO - German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Altmaier said he would discuss the issue with European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris this week. “We need to try to avoid higher tariffs,” Altmaier said. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum in March but the European Union has been granted exemptions until June 1. Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Catherine Evans | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets | 0 |
| 16 | 2018-05-28T06:08:00.000+03:00 | China to host Iran to avoid project disruption amid nuclear deal doubt | BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next month at a regional summit aimed at avoiding disruption of joint projects, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as major powers scramble to save Iran’s nuclear deal after the United States pulled out. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey May 18, 2018. Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Pool via Reuters Rouhani will pay a working visit to China and attend the summit of the China and Russia-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the ministry said. It did not give exact dates for his visit, but the summit is scheduled to be held on the second weekend of June in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao. Iran is currently an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, though it has long sought full membership. “Our hope is that China and Iran will have close consultation on the basis of observing the deal and push forward development of bilateral cooperation,” Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhang Hanhui said at a briefing. “We should together look into how to avoid major disruption of joint projects between the two sides,” he added. Russia has previously argued that with Western sanctions against Tehran lifted, it could finally become a member of the bloc which also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan and India. The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on Tehran. In return, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities, increasing the time it would need to produce an atom bomb if it chose to do so. Since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States this month, calling the agreement deeply flawed, European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal. China has also strongly supported the deal and is one of its signatories. Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, were also invited to hold official bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the summit, the foreign ministry said. The summit, which runs from June 9-10, will attempt to create new agreements on security issues such as counter-terrorism and drug smuggling among the seven member bloc. Jointly led by Russia and China, the SCO was launched in 2001 to combat radical Islam and other regional security concerns. India and Pakistan became full members last year. Iran has long eyed an SCO membership and China has said it supports its application. Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INworldNews | 0 |
| 17 | 2018-05-28T07:16:00.000+03:00 | Verint in talks to merge with Israel's NSO Group in $1 billion deal: source | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S.-based software company Verint Systems ( VRNT.O ) is in talks to merge its security division with Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group in a deal worth about $1 billion, a source close to the negotiations said on Monday. The transaction, if completed, would create one of the world’s largest cyber companies. NSO would remain an independent company as a new division within Verint, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The source also said the deal would likely be signed in the coming days. NSO declined to comment while Verint was not available outside U.S. business hours. The talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. NSO is best known as a suppliers of mobile surveillance tools to governments and law enforcement agencies. The company, founded in 2009 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, was in the spotlight last year amid allegations the Mexican government has used its Pegasus mobile spyware to target private citizens. The WSJ reported that under the proposed deal, Verint has offered to pay private equity firm Francisco Partners, which is NSO’s controlling shareholder, with its own stock and assumed debt. The newspaper said Francisco Partners, which paid $120 million to buy a majority stake in NSO in 2014, would become the largest shareholder in Verint if the deal is completed. Israeli media reported last July that Blackstone Group ( BX.N ) was in talks to buy part of NSO but sources told Reuters that the U.S. private equity firm pulled out of those discussions a month later. Verint shares have risen more than 5 percent this year and closed at $44.05 on Friday, valuing the company at $2.82 billion. Reporting by Steven Scheer; Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Jane Merriman | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 18 | 2018-05-28T07:31:00.000+03:00 | Verint in talks to buy Israeli software firm NSO for $1 billion: WSJ | (Reuters) - U.S. data analytics firm Verint Systems Inc ( VRNT.O ) is in talks to buy Israeli mobile surveillance software maker NSO Group for about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the situation. Verint has offered to pay private equity firm Francisco Partners, which is NSO's controlling shareholder, with its own stock and assumed debt, WSJ reported on.wsj.com/2GX7ptm. Francisco Partners will become the largest shareholder in Verint if the potential deal is completed, the newspaper added. Verint shares have risen more than 5 percent this year and closed at $44.05 on Friday, valuing the company at $2.82 billion. Verint, NSO and Francisco Partners could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours. Francisco Partners paid $120 million to buy a majority stake in NSO in 2014. NSO, founded in 2009 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, came under international scrutiny last year amid allegations the Mexican government has used its Pegasus mobile spyware to target private citizens. Israeli media reported last July that Blackstone Group ( BX.N ) was in talks to buy part of NSO but sources told Reuters that the U.S. private equity firm pulled out of those discussions a month later. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 19 | 2018-05-28T08:41:00.000+03:00 | New Development Bank says approves six new projects | SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by the BRICS group of major emerging economies, said on Monday it plans to raise 5 billion yuan ($782 million) through a yuan-denominated bond issue this year. Leslie Maasdorp, the NDB’s chief financial officer, told reporters on the sidelines of the bank’s annual meeting in Shanghai that the issue would be part of a 10 billion yuan bond programme approved by the NDB’s board. “Our next issue is going to be 5 billion renminbi,” he said. “We have to just go through a series of regulatory approvals, we’ve already appointed underwriters ... It’s going to be a matter of a few months, it will be during the course of 2018.” The bulk of the proceeds will go towards projects in China and the bank will carry out another yuan-denominated bond issue within the next two years, he said. Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB is seen as the first major achievement of the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - since they got together in 2009 to press for a bigger say in the global financial order created by Western powers after World War Two. In 2016, it completed the sale of a five-year, 3 billion yuan bond which was the first yuan-denominated green bond sold in mainland China by a multinational financial institution at the time. However, plans to issue bonds in currencies belonging to its other member countries have been delayed, the NDB’s president, K.V. Kamath, said. Kamath told Reuters in March last year that the NDB planned to raise up to $500 million via rupee-denominated masala bonds by the second half of 2017. “We did not proceed with other issues because we thought it appropriate to get our international credit rating exercise done before we approach the markets,” he said, adding that they expect to receive the rating by July. “The moment the rating exercise gets completed we will probably go into the other countries’ markets.” The bank has already received an AAA investment rating in China. The NDB also announced that it had approved six new projects that take its loan portfolio to more than $5.1 billion. The schemes include an environmental protection project being carried out by Brazil’s Petrobras, and a rural road construction and upgrade programme in India. It said the approvals meant that it now finances 21 projects in its member countries. ($1 = 6.3971 Chinese yuan renminbi) Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional Reporting by SHANGHAI Newsroom; Writing by John Ruwitch | https://in.reuters.com/finance | 0 |
| 20 | 2018-05-28T10:36:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Fortis Healthcare gets approval from Hero-Burman to re-open bidding | May 28, 2018 / 7:38 AM / Updated 26 minutes ago UPDATE 1-Fortis Healthcare gets approval from Hero-Burman to re-open bidding Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Adds background, quote from letter) May 28 (Reuters) - Fortis Healthcare Ltd on Monday said the consortium of Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office, which won a five-way bidding war for the Indian firm, has permitted re-opening the bidding process, amid shareholder concerns over the board’s choice of the underdog. Though permitted to re-open the bidding, Fortis had not yet made a decision on the matter, a spokesperson told Reuters. The board of the cash-strapped company approved the consortium’s offer to invest 18 billion rupees ($266.9 million) earlier this month. However, investors have been wary of the board’s selection, given the consortium’s offer was much lower than those of Manipal Hospitals Enterprises or Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Bhd . In a letter to the company’s board on Monday, the Hero-Burman group acknowledged stakeholders’ preference for re-opening the bidding process. “We believe that this situation may have arisen largely on account of the lack of information available to stakeholders,” Hero-Burman said. Disapproval from shareholders became evident after they voted out a director last week. Three other directors had resigned ahead of the vote. Fortis has been in the middle of a five-way bidding war with local and international suitors wanting to invest in the firm or buy it. Manipal sweetened its offer for a fifth time after the Hero-Burman offer was selected, and IHH extended the acceptance period for its offer. ($1 = 67.4500 Indian rupees) Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in BENGALURU and Zeba Siddiqui in MUMBAI; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Christopher Cushing | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 21 | 2018-05-28T10:56:00.000+03:00 | Germany seeking deal to end EU-U.S. trade dispute | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany is seeking to end a dispute between the United States and the European Union over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday. FILE PHOTO - German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Altmaier said he would discuss the issue with European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris this week. “We need to try to avoid higher tariffs,” Altmaier said. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum in March but the European Union has been granted exemptions until June 1. Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Catherine Evans | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBankingFinancial | 0 |
| 22 | 2018-05-28T11:02:00.000+03:00 | Indian trader group objects to Walmart-Flipkart deal | MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian trader body has raised objections to Walmart Inc’s ( WMT.N ) $16 billion acquisition of e-commerce firm Flipkart, though lawyers and sources said the complaint to the country’s antitrust regulator is unlikely to threaten the deal. FILE PHOTO: The logo of India's e-commerce firm Flipkart is seen on the company's office in Bengaluru, India April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) filed an objection to the U.S. retail giant’s buyout of roughly 77 percent of Bengaluru-based Flipkart, the body said on Monday, adding that the deal would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing. However, multiple sources close to the deal said that CAIT’s filing with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) did not pose a challenge to the acquisition. “It’s very unlikely the CCI will look into this complaint as both Flipkart and Walmart are not competing in India in relation to any products or services,” said a lawyer with knowledge of the deal. A source with direct knowledge of the deal said the CAIT complaint was “not a matter of concern”. Walmart’s bid is at aimed at competing with arch rival Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ) in a major growth market and prompted protests from Indian trade and nationalist groups that say small traders will suffer. Amazon’s presence in India means that a Walmart-Flipkart alliance would not be a threat to competition, a CCI official said. However, the deal could be politically sensitive because it might affect small and medium-sized traders, added the official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media. M. M. Sharma, head of competition law and policy at law firm Vaish Associates, said: “Blocking (of the deal) is highly unlikely, but the CCI will keep checks and balances so that competition in the market is maintained.” Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal, Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy; Editing by David Goodman | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 23 | 2018-05-28T11:02:00.000+03:00 | Germany seeking deal to end EU-U.S. trade dispute | May 28, 2018 / 8:05 AM / Updated 7 hours ago Germany seeking deal to end EU-U.S. trade dispute Reuters Staff 1 Min Read BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany is seeking to end a dispute between the United States and the European Union over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Monday. FILE PHOTO - German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Altmaier said he would discuss the issue with European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris this week. “We need to try to avoid higher tariffs,” Altmaier said. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum in March but the European Union has been granted exemptions until June 1. Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Catherine Evans | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews | 0 |
| 24 | 2018-05-28T11:09:00.000+03:00 | Chinalco seals deal to get foothold in Yunnan's aluminium market | BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state-owned Chinalco is set to close the gap on privately run China Hongqiao Group, the world’s top aluminum producer, after sealing a deal with the Yunnan government that gives it access to more smelting capacity. FILE PHOTO: A logo of Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) is seen outside its headquarters in Beijing, China, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Yunnan Metallurgical Group, which controls Yunnan Aluminum Co Ltd, will be merged into China Copper Co, a joint venture between Chinalco and the Yunnan provincial government, according to a Yunnan Aluminum statement on Monday. The joint venture is owned 58 percent by Chinalco, officially the Aluminum Corp of China, and 42 percent by the Yunnan government, said the statement, which was issued after the signing of an “in-principle” agreement in Kunming on Sunday. The move is the latest sign that Chinese aluminum producers want greater exposure to Yunnan, where hydropower is abundant, as the government cracks down on coal-fired power. “I wouldn’t say it was cheaper, but it’s more environmentally friendly (and) ... better for future development,” said Jackie Wang, an aluminum analyst at CRU in Beijing. The deal will give Chinalco access to Yunnan Aluminum’s 1.6 million tonnes of smelting capacity, with another 1.45 million tonnes in the pipeline or under construction, Wang said. Chinalco’s listed unit, known as Chalco, had smelting capacity of 3.93 million tonnes per year at the end of 2017, according to its annual report. China Hongqiao had 6.46 million tonnes a year of capacity at the end of 2017, according to a recent filing. While Chalco may actually have something less than the 3.93 million tonnes figure, combined with Yunnan Aluminum, it will be challenging Hongqiao’s volumes, said Paul Adkins, managing director of consultancy AZ China. “Yes, they will have as much as Hongqiao operating, though don’t forget Hongqiao has 2.6 million tonnes idle,” he said. “Chalco has idle assets too, but none that could come back and be profitable,” Adkins said. Chinalco did not answer a question concerning its current capacity or its capacity after the deal. A statement on Chalco’s website valued the strategic cooperation at over 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion). The deal will also give Chinalco its first lead and zinc assets as Yunnan Metallurgical Group also controls Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co, which announced the agreement in its own statement on Monday. Reporting by Josephine Mason and Tom Daly; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue | https://www.reuters.com/finance/commodities | 1 |
| 25 | 2018-05-28T11:46:00.000+03:00 | Britain could sell 10 percent stake in RBS as soon as this week - Sky News | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could sell a 10 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland as soon as this week, Sky News reported on Monday, citing banking sources. FILE PHOTO: Royal Bank of Scotland signs are seen at a branch of the bank, in London, Britain December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo The British government still holds a 71 percent stake in the bank after stepping in with a taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. Sky reported that bankers expected Britain to announce the disposal of a stake worth at least 3 billion pounds ($4 billion), but added that any share sale could be delayed by market conditions or ministers’ concerns about value for money for taxpayers. At Friday’s closing share price of just under 290 pence, little more than half the 502 pence the government paid for them, the Treasury stands to lose billions of pounds on the sale. The British government pumped 45.5 billion pounds into RBS in the depths of the financial crisis, and efforts since then to recoup the money have been stymied by the plunge in the bank’s share price, regulatory probes in the United States and Brexit. In particular, a long-running investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the bank’s mis-selling of toxic mortgage-backed securities delayed the share sale. But RBS agreed a smaller than expected $4.9 billion settlement earlier this month, paving the way for a long-awaited return of cash to UK taxpayers. Britain said in November it would sell 15 billion pounds of RBS shares over five years, with 3 billion pounds to be sold by the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. “We don’t comment on market speculation,” a spokesman for the finance ministry said. A spokesman for RBS declined to comment on the report Both RBS and Lloyds were rescued during the 2007-9 financial crisis. Britain sold its remaining stake in Lloyds last year. ($1 = 0.7514 pounds) Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Jane Merriman and Adrian Croft Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 26 | 2018-05-28T11:58:00.000+03:00 | Verint in talks to merge with Israel's NSO Group at $1 bln value -source | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S.-based software company Verint Systems ( VRNT.O ) is in talks to merge its security division with Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group in a deal worth about $1 billion, a source close to the negotiations said on Monday. The transaction, if completed, would create one of the world’s largest cyber companies. NSO would remain an independent company as a new division within Verint, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The source also said the deal would likely be signed in the coming days. NSO declined to comment while Verint was not available outside U.S. business hours. The talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. NSO is best known as a suppliers of mobile surveillance tools to governments and law enforcement agencies. The company, founded in 2009 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, was in the spotlight last year amid allegations the Mexican government has used its Pegasus mobile spyware to target private citizens. The WSJ reported that under the proposed deal, Verint has offered to pay private equity firm Francisco Partners, which is NSO’s controlling shareholder, with its own stock and assumed debt. The newspaper said Francisco Partners, which paid $120 million to buy a majority stake in NSO in 2014, would become the largest shareholder in Verint if the deal is completed. Israeli media reported last July that Blackstone Group ( BX.N ) was in talks to buy part of NSO but sources told Reuters that the U.S. private equity firm pulled out of those discussions a month later. Verint shares have risen more than 5 percent this year and closed at $44.05 on Friday, valuing the company at $2.82 billion. Reporting by Steven Scheer; Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Jane Merriman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 27 | 2018-05-28T12:04:00.000+03:00 | Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake | May 28, 2018 / 9:06 AM / Updated 16 minutes ago Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake Helen Murphy , Daniel Flynn 6 Min Read BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia headed for its most divisive presidential race in decades after right-winger Ivan Duque won Sunday’s first-round vote, triggering a runoff with leftist Gustavo Petro that could upset a historic peace deal or see a reversal in business-friendly policies. It is the first time in Colombia's modern history that an openly leftist candidate has reached the second round of a presidential vote, a prospect that has unnerved some investors in Latin America's fourth largest economy. (Graphic: Latin American elections tmsnrt.rs/2rAQ4l1 ) Duque, a 41-year-old former official of the Washington-based InterAmerican Development Bank, was the convincing winner of Sunday’s ballot with 39 percent of votes, ahead of Petro, an outspoken ex-mayor of Bogota, with 25 percent, broadly in line with polls. However, Duque’s pledge to overhaul the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by scrapping immunity for those convicted of crimes has alarmed many Colombians, weary after five decades of conflict that killed more than 200,000 people and left 7 million others displaced. Though outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for forging the accord, it has deeply divided the nation of around 50 million people. The deal was narrowly rejected in a referendum before Congress finally approved a modified version. Petro, himself a former member of the now defunct M-19 rebel group, has backed the peace agreement, along with the three other losing candidates, meaning Duque may need to moderate his position to attract wavering voters in the June 17 second round. “We don’t want to shatter the agreement. We want to make it clear that a Colombia of peace is a Colombia where peace meets justice,” Duque said in a victory speech on Sunday to cheering supporters, in which he complimented third-place finisher Sergio Fajardo and said their social agendas had much in common. Fajardo, a center-left mathematician who won 24 percent of the vote, has declined to endorse either candidate for the second round, saying his supporters would make up their own minds. “It would be disrespectful to say I am the owner of the votes,” Fajardo told Blu Radio on Monday, adding that he would meet with his team to discuss options. All recent polls have predicted that Duque would beat Petro in a second round, and that Fajardo was the only candidate who could have posed a risk to the conservative frontrunner if he had made it through. However, some political analysts in Colombia said that the votes of the center-left could be enough for Petro to at least mount a serious challenge to Duque, provided he can dodge his rival’s accusations of radicalism. “Petro was quite clearly behind Duque in the vote so that will reassure the markets,” said Camilo Perez, head of economic studies at Banco de Bogota. “But the fact that Fajardo was so close to Petro may generate nervousness, as his approach is probably closer to Petro’s and that could send votes (Petro’s) way.” A woman sells newspapers that show candidates Gustavo Petro and Ivan Duque go to the second round of presidential election, in Bogota, Colombia May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga However, Petro’s more hardline rhetoric could also put off center-left voters, said Citigroup analyst Munir Jalil. Colombia’s COLCAP stock index was down 0.65 percent, with many investors assuming the election was Duque’s to lose. The yield on the local Treasury bond maturing July 2024 slipped to 6.044 from 6.071 on Friday, while trade in the peso currency was closed for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. ‘ENRICHING THE POOR’ The winner of the second round will face an intimidating array of challenges, from stubbornly low economic growth to threats to Colombia’s prized investment grade credit rating, as well as difficulties in implementing the peace accord. Some areas abandoned by the FARC have suffered an increase in fighting between criminal gangs and a remaining guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), over valuable illegal mining and drug trafficking territories. Polls suggest the end of the FARC conflict has shifted voters’ priorities to inequality and corruption from security issues, opening the door to the left for the first time. However, a growing crisis in neighboring socialist-run Venezuela, which has driven hundreds of thousands of desperate people across the border, is a thorn in Petro’s side. Duque’s camp allege he would plunge Colombia into a similar crisis. While Duque has pledged to cut taxes and support private enterprise, Petro has promised to take power away from the political and social elites he accuses of stymieing development. At his election night party in the capital, Petro struck a moderate tone, though, as both he and Duque seek to attract centrist voters. “When we talk about defeating poverty, we’re not talking about impoverishing the rich, but about enriching the poor,” said the bespectacled Petro, surrounded by family members. Slideshow (3 Images) In a country where oil and coal are the top export earners, Petro’s pledges to end extractive industries have dismayed business leaders and centrists. “Our country has never lived such a polarized moment as this and Petro represents a huge danger,” Mariana Riaño, a 21-year-old student, said at Duque’s celebration party at a conference center in Bogota. “But we are going to beat him.” Reporting by Helen Murphy, Luis Jaime Acosta, Nelson Bocanegra and Steven Grattan; Additional reporting by Dylan Baddour; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Rosalba O'Brien | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INworldNews | 0 |
| 28 | 2018-05-28T12:07:00.000+03:00 | Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake | May 28, 2018 / 9:08 AM / Updated 21 minutes ago Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake Helen Murphy, Daniel Flynn 5 Min Read BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia headed for its most divisive presidential race in decades after rightwinger Ivan Duque won Sunday’s first-round vote, triggering a runoff with leftist Gustavo Petro that could upset a historic peace deal or derail business friendly reforms. Right wing presidential candidate Ivan Duque (C) greets supporters after polls closed in the first round of the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Nacho Doce It was the first time in the modern history of the conservative South American nation that a leftist candidate had reached the second round of a presidential vote, a prospect that has spooked some investors in Latin America’s fourth-largest economy in recent weeks. Duque, a 41-year-old former official of the Washington-based InterAmerican Development Bank, was the convincing winner of the ballot with 39 percent of votes, ahead of Petro, an outspoken former mayor of Bogota, on 25 percent, in line with polls. However, Duque’s pledge to overhaul the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by scrapping immunity for those convicted of crimes has worried many Colombians, weary after five decades of conflict that killed about 200,000 people. Though outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for forging the accord, it deeply divided the nation of more than 50 million people and was narrowly rejected in a popular vote before Congress finally approved a modified version. Petro, and three other losing candidates, have backed the deal, meaning Duque may need to moderate his position to attract wavering voters. Center-left mathematician Sergio Fajardo, who came third, with 24 percent of votes, declined to endorse either candidate for the second round, saying his supporters would make up their own minds. Political pundits in Colombia said that if June’s vote went along ideological lines, the votes of the centre-left could be enough for Petro to seriously challenge Duque, if he can dodge his rival’s accusations of radicalism. “Petro was quite clearly behind Duque in the vote, so that will reassure the markets,” Camilo Perez, head of economic studies at Banco de Bogota. “But the fact that Fajardo was so close to Petro may generate nervousness, as his approach is probably closer to Petro’s and that could send votes his way.” Right wing presidential candidate Ivan Duque greets supporters after polls closed in the first round of the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Nacho Doce ARRAY OF CHALLENGES The winner of the second round will face an intimidating array of challenges, from stubbornly low economic growth to threats to Colombia’s prized investment grade credit rating, besides difficulties in implementing the peace accord. Some areas abandoned by the FARC have suffered an increase in fighting between criminal gangs and a remaining guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), over valuable illegal mining and drug trafficking territories. Colombia’s production of coca, the raw material for cocaine, tripled between 2012 and 2016, stirring concern in Washington. Polls suggest the end of the FARC conflict has shifted voters’ priorities to inequality and corruption from security issues - opening the door to the left for the first time. However, a growing crisis in neighbouring socialist-run Venezuela, which has driven hundreds of thousands of desperate people to flee across the border, is a thorn in the side for Petro, with Duque’s camp saying he would plunge Colombia into a similar crisis. Petro has promised to take power away from political and social elites he accuses of having stymied development, and to carry out a complete economic overhaul. At his election night party in the capital, communist party militants waved red flags above the crowd, yet Petro struck a moderate tone as both he and Duque sought to attract centrist voters. “When we talk about defeating poverty, we’re not talking about impoverishing the rich, but about enriching the poor,” said the bespectacled Petro, surrounded by family members. Slideshow (4 Images) However, in a country where oil and coal are the top export earners, Petro’s pledges to end extractive industries and shift the focus of state-run oil company Ecopetrol to renewable energy have dismayed business leaders. “Our country has never lived such a polarized moment as this and Petro represents a huge danger, but we are going to beat him,” Mariana Riaño, a 21-year-old student, said at Duque’s celebration party at a conference centre in Bogota. Reporting by Helen Murphy, Nelson Bocanegra and Steven Grattan; Additional reporting by Dylan Baddour; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Clarence Fernandez 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAWorldNews | 0 |
| 29 | 2018-05-28T12:07:00.000+03:00 | Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake | May 28, 2018 / 9:08 AM / Updated an hour ago Colombia heads for divisive runoff with peace deal at stake Helen Murphy , Daniel Flynn 5 Min Read BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia headed for its most divisive presidential race in decades after rightwinger Ivan Duque won Sunday’s first-round vote, triggering a runoff with leftist Gustavo Petro that could upset a historic peace deal or derail business friendly reforms. Right wing presidential candidate Ivan Duque (C) greets supporters after polls closed in the first round of the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Nacho Doce It was the first time in the modern history of the conservative South American nation that a leftist candidate had reached the second round of a presidential vote, a prospect that has spooked some investors in Latin America’s fourth-largest economy in recent weeks. Duque, a 41-year-old former official of the Washington-based InterAmerican Development Bank, was the convincing winner of the ballot with 39 percent of votes, ahead of Petro, an outspoken former mayor of Bogota, on 25 percent, in line with polls. However, Duque’s pledge to overhaul the 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by scrapping immunity for those convicted of crimes has worried many Colombians, weary after five decades of conflict that killed about 200,000 people. Though outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for forging the accord, it deeply divided the nation of more than 50 million people and was narrowly rejected in a popular vote before Congress finally approved a modified version. Petro, and three other losing candidates, have backed the deal, meaning Duque may need to moderate his position to attract wavering voters. Center-left mathematician Sergio Fajardo, who came third, with 24 percent of votes, declined to endorse either candidate for the second round, saying his supporters would make up their own minds. Right wing presidential candidate Ivan Duque greets supporters after polls closed in the first round of the presidential election in Bogota, Colombia May 27, 2018. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Political pundits in Colombia said that if June’s vote went along ideological lines, the votes of the centre-left could be enough for Petro to seriously challenge Duque, if he can dodge his rival’s accusations of radicalism. “Petro was quite clearly behind Duque in the vote, so that will reassure the markets,” Camilo Perez, head of economic studies at Banco de Bogota. “But the fact that Fajardo was so close to Petro may generate nervousness, as his approach is probably closer to Petro’s and that could send votes his way.” ARRAY OF CHALLENGES The winner of the second round will face an intimidating array of challenges, from stubbornly low economic growth to threats to Colombia’s prized investment grade credit rating, besides difficulties in implementing the peace accord. Some areas abandoned by the FARC have suffered an increase in fighting between criminal gangs and a remaining guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), over valuable illegal mining and drug trafficking territories. Slideshow (4 Images) Colombia’s production of coca, the raw material for cocaine, tripled between 2012 and 2016, stirring concern in Washington. Polls suggest the end of the FARC conflict has shifted voters’ priorities to inequality and corruption from security issues - opening the door to the left for the first time. However, a growing crisis in neighbouring socialist-run Venezuela, which has driven hundreds of thousands of desperate people to flee across the border, is a thorn in the side for Petro, with Duque’s camp saying he would plunge Colombia into a similar crisis. Petro has promised to take power away from political and social elites he accuses of having stymied development, and to carry out a complete economic overhaul. At his election night party in the capital, communist party militants waved red flags above the crowd, yet Petro struck a moderate tone as both he and Duque sought to attract centrist voters. “When we talk about defeating poverty, we’re not talking about impoverishing the rich, but about enriching the poor,” said the bespectacled Petro, surrounded by family members. However, in a country where oil and coal are the top export earners, Petro’s pledges to end extractive industries and shift the focus of state-run oil company Ecopetrol to renewable energy have dismayed business leaders. “Our country has never lived such a polarized moment as this and Petro represents a huge danger, but we are going to beat him,” Mariana Riaño, a 21-year-old student, said at Duque’s celebration party at a conference centre in Bogota. Reporting by Helen Murphy, Nelson Bocanegra and Steven Grattan; Additional reporting by Dylan Baddour; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Clarence Fernandez | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews | 0 |
| 30 | 2018-05-28T12:11:00.000+03:00 | Verint in talks to buy Israeli software firm NSO for $1 bln -WSJ | (Reuters) - U.S. data analytics firm Verint Systems Inc ( VRNT.O ) is in talks to buy Israeli mobile surveillance software maker NSO Group for about $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the situation. Verint has offered to pay private equity firm Francisco Partners, which is NSO's controlling shareholder, with its own stock and assumed debt, WSJ reported on.wsj.com/2GX7ptm. Francisco Partners will become the largest shareholder in Verint if the potential deal is completed, the newspaper added. Verint shares have risen more than 5 percent this year and closed at $44.05 on Friday, valuing the company at $2.82 billion. Verint, NSO and Francisco Partners could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours. Francisco Partners paid $120 million to buy a majority stake in NSO in 2014. NSO, founded in 2009 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, came under international scrutiny last year amid allegations the Mexican government has used its Pegasus mobile spyware to target private citizens. Israeli media reported last July that Blackstone Group ( BX.N ) was in talks to buy part of NSO but sources told Reuters that the U.S. private equity firm pulled out of those discussions a month later. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 31 | 2018-05-28T13:01:00.000+03:00 | Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange -ministry | May 28, 2018 / 10:02 AM / a day ago Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange -ministry Reuters Staff 1 Min Read CAIRO, May 28 (Reuters) - Egypt’s state-owned Holding Company for Chemical Industries has agreed to sell up to 4 percent of its stake in Eastern Tobacco on the Cairo exchange, Minister of Public Enterprise Khaled Badawy said in a statement on Monday. Badawy, who also heads the holding company, said the move is part of the government’s broader initiative to sell stakes in various state companies on the Cairo exchange. (Reporting by Ehab Farouk Writing by Eric Knecht Editing by David Goodman) 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAegyptNews | 0 |
| 32 | 2018-05-28T13:03:00.000+03:00 | Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | BRASILIA, May 28 (Reuters) - Petrobras shares fell as much as 9 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and changed the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has shuttered factories and caused food and fuel shortages. As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter and remain frozen at that level for 60 days. Yet to avoid breaking budget rules, the Brazilian congress would need to approve several tax measures, a daunting endeavor ahead of this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. The measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. After the initial 60-day period price freeze, state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Should global diesel prices fall in coming months, the government could choose to trim subsidies, Finance Minister Eduardo Guardia said. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. Still, its shares plunged to a four-month low. For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load - a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente has tried to reverse - contributing to the diesel price hikes that triggered the truckers’ rebellion. Renewed worries about Petrobras’ independence from political inference have shaved 113 billion reais off its market capitalization since the truckers’ strike began a week ago. To partially offset the subsidies’ cost, which could reach as much as 9.5 billion reais ($2.6 billion) this year, and avoid missing its 2018 budget goal, Guardia said the government would cut spending by 3.8 billion reais. It will also have to hike taxes to offset an additional 4-billion real loss from diesel tax cuts to avoid breaking budget rules. That would be partially paid for by an increase in payroll taxes that has struggled to win congressional approval for months, but would also require further tax measures that the government will unveil once that plan is passed, Guardia said. Guardia also said the government will implement a variable tax on diesel imports that will kick in whenever global prices fall below local benchmark prices, protecting Petrobras’ competitiveness. Newspaper Valor Econômico had reported on Monday that Petrobras had proposed such a plan. $1 = 3.71 reais Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Bruno Federowski Editing by Nick Zieminski | https://in.reuters.com/markets/bonds | 0 |
| 33 | 2018-05-28T13:06:00.000+03:00 | EU mergers and takeovers (May 28) | BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — UK private equity group 3i Group Plc to acquire a 35 percent stake in ferry operator Scandlines after selling the company to infrastructure funds First State Investments and Hermes Investment Management (approved May 25) — Global asset management company Carlyle and U.S. investment company TA Associates to jointly acquire sales marketing company Discoverorg which is now solely controlled by TA Associates (approved May 17) NEW LISTINGS — Israeli drugmaker Teva to acquire sole control of part of U.S. consumer products maker Procter & Gamble’s OTC business in which it currently has a minority stake (notified May 25/deadline June 29) — French bank BNP Paribas to acquire ABN Amro Bank Luxembourg from Dutch bank ABN Amro (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to acquire joint control of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire Cisco System’s video software unit (notified Nat 23/deadline June 27/simplified) — U.S. chemicals company Lyondellbasell Industries to acquire U.S. peer A. Schulman (notified May 23/deadline June 27) EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES — U.S coatings maker Axalta Coating Systems to acquire wire enamel manufacturer IVA’s European and Chinese operations (notified April 16/deadline May 28/withdrawn May 14) — Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) to acquire lamp maker Aura Light International AB (notified April 19/deadline May 31/simplified.withdrawn May 8) FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE MAY 30 — U.S. cable company Liberty Global to acquire Dutch peer Ziggo (notified April 4/deadline extended to May 30 from May 15 after Liberty Global offered concessions) JUNE 1 — Swiss engineering company ABB to acquire General Electric’s industrial solutions business (notified April 20/deadline June 1) JUNE 7 — German power grid makers Stadtwerke Olching and Bayernwerk Net to set up two joint ventures (notified April 26/deadline June 7/simplified) JUNE 8 — Private equity firm One Equity Partners to acquire packaging company Walki Holding (notified April 27/deadline June 8/simplified) JUNE 11 — Investment firm HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK insurance broker Capita Specialist Insurance Soluions Ld (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) — U.S. insurer American International Group to acquire Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings Ltd (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) JUNE 12 — South African chemicals company Tronox to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to June 12 from June 7) — Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2’s Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline June 12) JUNE 13 — Private equity firm Rhone Capital LLC and founders of swimming pool equipment maker Fluidra to acquire joint control of the merged Fluidra and its peer Zodiac Holdco (notified May 3/deadline June 13) JUNE 14 — Private equity funds Altor Funds to acquire Swedish packaging company Trioplast Idustrier (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm AEA Investors and investment firm British Columbia Investment Management Corp to acquire joint control of window coverings maker SIWF Holdings Inc (Springs) (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm Platinum Equity to acquire U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s blood glucose monitoring business LifeScan (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — U.S. real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson and French insurer Axa to set up a joint venture (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) JUNE 15 — U.S. tyre maker Goodyear and Japanese peer Bridgestone to acquire joint control of joint venture Tirehub, which will combine the U.S. tyre wholesale distribution businesses of both companies (notified May 7/deadline June 15/simplified) — Finnish utility Fortum to acquire a controlling stake in German peer Uniper from German energy company E.ON (notified May 7/deadline June 15) — U.S. cable operator Comcast’s to acquire British pay-TV company Sky (notified May 7/deadline June 15) JUNE 18 — Private equity firms HG Capital and TA Associates to acquire joint control of software company Access Group, which is now solely controlled by TA (notified May 8/deadline June 18/simplified) JUNE 19 — Canadian private equity firm Onex and U.S. investment fund Vista to acquire joint control of software company Severin Topco (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) — Oaktree Capital Group and Spanish real estate holding company Bitarte, which is a unit of Spanish bank Banco de Sabadell, to set up a joint venture (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) JUNE 20 — Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners to jointly acquire British fibre network operator Cityfibre Infrastructure Holdings (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) — UK infrastructure management company AMP Capital and Spanish airport infrastructure management company Aena Internacional to jointly acquire Luton Airport (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) JUNE 25 — Chinese car parts maker Beijing Automotive Group’s subsidiary BHAP and Spanish peer Gestamp Automocion to set up a joint venture (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — U.S. private equity firms HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK risk management services provider Professional Fee Protection Ltd (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — T-Mobile Austria, which is a unit of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, to acquire UPC Austria, which is a subsidiary of cable operator UPC (notified May 18/deadline June 25) JUNE 26 — U.S. asset manager Blackstone to acquire Spanish gaming company Cirsa (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay’s worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline June 26) — Austrian construction company Strabag and German peer Max Boegl International to set up a joint venture (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire tech software company Exclusive Group (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German companies Thyssen Alfa and Max Aicher Recycling to acquire joint control of Noris Metallrecycling (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) JUNE 27 — German travel group TUI to acquire Spain’s Hotelbeds Group’s destinations services business (notified May 23/deadline June 27/simplified) AUG 9 — German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to Aug. 9) SEPT 4 — iPhone maker Apple to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline extended to Sept. 4 from April 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation) DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 34 | 2018-05-28T13:20:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange | May 28, 2018 / 10:22 AM / Updated 17 hours ago UPDATE 1-Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Adds detail, context) CAIRO, May 28 (Reuters) - Egypt’s state-owned Holding Company for Chemical Industries has agreed to sell up to 4 percent of its stake in Eastern Tobacco on the Cairo exchange, Minister of Public Enterprise Khaled Badawy said in a statement on Monday. Badawy, who also heads the holding company, said the move is part of the government’s broader initiative to sell stakes in various state companies on the Cairo exchange to raise government funds and draw more investors to the exchange. In March Egypt announced the names of 23 state companies that will sell stakes this year under a plan to raise 80 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.47 billion) through minority share offerings on the Cairo bourse. Badawy said proceeds from the Eastern Tobacco sale will be used to restructure and develop subsidiaries of the chemical holding company. ($1 = 17.9050 Egyptian pounds) Reporting by Ehab Farouk Writing by Eric Knecht Editing by David Goodman 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAegyptNews | 0 |
| 35 | 2018-05-28T13:27:00.000+03:00 | ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise | JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit will sell its 50 percent stake in trading and shipping company MIHBV to its joint venture partner Macsteel Holdings Luxembourg (MacHold) for $220 million, the steel maker said on Monday. “The proceeds of the sale will significantly strengthen the balance sheet of ArcelorMittal South Africa and will be used to fund working capital requirements and investments in the operating businesses,” ArcelorMittal SA Chief Executive Kobus Verster said in a statement. The company’s share price rose more than 24 percent at one point on the news before ending 5.4 percent higher. MacHold already holds a 50 percent stake in MIHBV, which is engaged in steel trading and shipping. The other 50 percent is held by ArcelorMittal SA. “In the early years, most of the steel for the joint venture was sourced from ArcelorMittal South Africa. Today, while it remains an important source of steel products, ArcelorMittal SA supplies less than 20 percent of the total tonnages traded and less than 2 percent of volumes shipped by MIHBV,” Verster said. “The investment is no longer considered to be a core asset and we have decided to dispose of our interest,” he said. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard Editing by Edmund Blair) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 36 | 2018-05-28T13:33:00.000+03:00 | New Development Bank says approves six new projects | SHANGHAI, May 28 (Reuters) - The New Development Bank set up by the BRICS group of major emerging economies said on Monday that it has approved six new projects that take its loan book to $5.1 billion. The bank, set up in 2015, made the announcement at its annual meeting in Shanghai. (Reporting by Brenda Goh Writing by John Ruwitch) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBankingFinancial | 0 |
| 37 | 2018-05-28T13:37:00.000+03:00 | Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Petrobras shares plunged 15 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and softened the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has wreaked havoc on Latin America’s largest economy. People wait in line to fill canisters with gasoline at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter, or about 13 percent of the current price at the pump, and remain frozen for 60 days. Shareholders in state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ), which earlier this month soared after the company reported its highest profits in five years, have been hammered as the stock lost nearly a third of its value in the past week. Compounding the sense of crisis, Petrobras management sent a letter to its workers urging them not to follow through on a strike planned for later in the week, saying “paralysis and pressure for adjusting prices” would hurt the company or country as a whole. Under the deal announced by Temer, after the initial 60-day period price freeze, Petrobras will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. But investors were skeptical. Since May 18, when speculation began that the government might need to negotiate with truckers over diesel prices, Petrobras has lost 127.5 billion reais ($34.13 billion) in market value. Its drop on Monday led a broader sell-off in Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP , which slumped 4.5 percent and is now in negative territory for the year. LATEST CONCESSION The latest pricing announcement “suggests increasing risk that the government will interfere in Petrobras affairs again or force them to subsidize the domestic market again,” said Morningstar analyst Allen Good, adding it was “a change in the market-friendly policy implemented in the last couple of years.” For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load, a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente - whose days some investors fear may be numbered - has tried to reverse. “There were rumors last week Parente might resign,” Good said. “The latest decisions might force his hand.” Petrobras has denied the rumors, saying Parente has no intention of quitting. The subsidy and tax cut measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. A truckers’ association behind the nationwide protest has told drivers to get back to work, but the government said progress had been slow and highway police said 556 highway blockades by protesters remained in place. The moves also left Temer’s government scrambling to win congressional approval for several tax measures needed to avoid breaking budget rules, a daunting endeavor ahead of October’s congressional and presidential elections. Brazilian farm groups, meanwhile, warned that production and exports of key commodities like coffee and soy would fall if the truckers continue to block roads. [nE6N1SV00B] Some 64 million chickens have starved to death as a result of the strike, meat group ABPA said on Sunday. Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter. As many as 150 poultry and pork processing plants have stopped production for lack of feed and storage space, the association said. Among other sectors, Brazilian steelmakers like Cia Siderurgica Nacional ( CSNA3.SA ) and Usiminas ( USIM5.SA ) may lose up to 20 percent of their revenue in May due to the strike, analysts from XP Investimentos said in a research note. Shares in food retailers Carrefour Brasil ( CARR.PA ) and GPA SA ( PCAR4.SA ) also fell as analysts warned their supply chains would suffer. ($1 = 3.7359 reais) Additional reporting by Ana Mano, Gram Slattery, Paula Laier and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Bruno Federowski; Editing by James Dalgleish and Tom Brown | https://in.reuters.com/markets/bonds | 0 |
| 38 | 2018-05-28T14:14:00.000+03:00 | Indian traders' group files objection to Walmart-Flipkart deal | MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian trader body has raised objections to Walmart Inc’s ( WMT.N ) $16 billion acquisition of e-commerce firm Flipkart, though lawyers and sources said the complaint to the country’s antitrust regulator is unlikely to threaten the deal. FILE PHOTO: The logo of India's e-commerce firm Flipkart is seen on the company's office in Bengaluru, India April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) filed an objection to the U.S. retail giant’s buyout of roughly 77 percent of Bengaluru-based Flipkart, the body said on Monday, adding that the deal would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing. However, multiple sources close to the deal said that CAIT’s filing with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) did not pose a challenge to the acquisition. “It’s very unlikely the CCI will look into this complaint as both Flipkart and Walmart are not competing in India in relation to any products or services,” said a lawyer with knowledge of the deal. A source with direct knowledge of the deal said the CAIT complaint was “not a matter of concern”. Walmart’s bid is at aimed at competing with arch rival Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ) in a major growth market and prompted protests from Indian trade and nationalist groups that say small traders will suffer. Amazon’s presence in India means that a Walmart-Flipkart alliance would not be a threat to competition, a CCI official said. However, the deal could be politically sensitive because it might affect small and medium-sized traders, added the official, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media. M. M. Sharma, head of competition law and policy at law firm Vaish Associates, said: “Blocking (of the deal) is highly unlikely, but the CCI will keep checks and balances so that competition in the market is maintained.” Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal, Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy; Editing by David Goodman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 39 | 2018-05-28T14:19:00.000+03:00 | Indian traders' group files objection to Walmart-Flipkart deal | MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian trader body has raised objections to Walmart Inc’s $16 billion acquisition of e-commerce firm Flipkart, though lawyers and sources said the complaint to the country’s antitrust regulator is unlikely to threaten the deal. FILE PHOTO: The logo of India's e-commerce firm Flipkart is seen on the company's office in Bengaluru, India April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) filed an objection to the U.S. retail giant’s buyout of roughly 77 percent of Bengaluru-based Flipkart, the body said on Monday, adding that the deal would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing. However, multiple sources close to the deal said that CAIT’s filing with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) did not pose a challenge to the acquisition. “It’s very unlikely the CCI will look into this complaint as both Flipkart and Walmart are not competing in India in relation to any products or services,” said a lawyer with knowledge of the deal. A source with direct knowledge of the deal said the CAIT complaint was “not a matter of concern”. Walmart’s bid is at aimed at competing with arch rival Amazon.com Inc in a major growth market and prompted protests from Indian trade and nationalist groups that say small traders will suffer. Amazon’s presence in India means that a Walmart-Flipkart alliance would not be a threat to competition, a CCI official said. However, the deal could be politically sensitive because it might affect small and medium-sized traders, added the official, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. M. M. Sharma, head of competition law and policy at law firm Vaish Associates, said: “Blocking (of the deal) is highly unlikely, but the CCI will keep checks and balances so that competition in the market is maintained.” Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal, Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy; Editing by David Goodman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INtopNews | 1 |
| 40 | 2018-05-28T14:38:00.000+03:00 | Indian traders' group files objection to Walmart-Flipkart deal | May 28, 2018 / 11:39 AM / Updated 37 minutes ago Indian trader group objects to Walmart-Flipkart deal Reuters Staff 2 Min Read MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian trader body has raised objections to Walmart Inc’s $16 billion acquisition of e-commerce firm Flipkart, though lawyers and sources said the complaint to the country’s antitrust regulator is unlikely to threaten the deal. FILE PHOTO: A Common myna sits next to the logo of India's e-commerce firm Flipkart installed on the company's office in Bengaluru, India April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) filed an objection to the U.S. retail giant’s buyout of roughly 77 percent of Bengaluru-based Flipkart, the body said on Monday, adding that the deal would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing. However, multiple sources close to the deal said that CAIT’s filing with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) did not pose a challenge to the acquisition. “It’s very unlikely the CCI will look into this complaint as both Flipkart and Walmart are not competing in India in relation to any products or services,” said a lawyer with knowledge of the deal. FILE PHOTO: The Walmart logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo A source with direct knowledge of the deal said the CAIT complaint was “not a matter of concern”. Walmart’s bid is at aimed at competing with arch rival Amazon.com Inc in a major growth market and prompted protests from Indian trade and nationalist groups that say small traders will suffer. Amazon’s presence in India means that a Walmart-Flipkart alliance would not be a threat to competition, a CCI official said. However, the deal could be politically sensitive because it might affect small and medium-sized traders, added the official, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. M. M. Sharma, head of competition law and policy at law firm Vaish Associates, said: “Blocking (of the deal) is highly unlikely, but the CCI will keep checks and balances so that competition in the market is maintained.” Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal, Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy; Editing by David Goodman | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 1 |
| 41 | 2018-05-28T15:02:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | (Adds reaction to accord from truckers’ association, more on wider economic and companies impact of strike) By Marcela Ayres and Alexandra Alper BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, May 28 (Reuters) - Petrobras shares fell as much as 9 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and softened the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has wreaked havoc on Latin America’s largest economy. As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter, or about 13 percent of the current price at the pump, and remain frozen for 60 days. A truckers’ association behind the nationwide protest told drivers to get back to work, adding that it expected the number of blockades of key roadways to decline significantly by Monday afternoon. Yet to avoid breaking budget rules, the Brazilian congress would need to approve several tax measures, a daunting endeavor ahead of this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. The measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. Brazilian farm groups warned on Monday that production and exports of key commodities like coffee and soy would fall if the truckers continue to block roads. Some 64 million chickens have starved to death as a result of the strike, meat group ABPA said on Sunday. Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter. As many as 150 poultry and pork processing plants have stopped production for lack of feed and storage space, the association has said. After the initial 60-day period price freeze, state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Should global diesel prices fall in coming months, the government could choose to trim subsidies, Finance Minister Eduardo Guardia said. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. Still, its shares plunged to a four-month low, leading a broader sell-off in Brazil’s benchmark Bovespa index, which slumped 4 percent. The latest pricing announcement “suggests increasing risk that the government will interfere in Petrobras affairs again or force them to subsidize the domestic market again,” said Morningstar analyst Allen Good, adding that the change to monthly pricing adjustments from daily was “a change in the market-friendly policy implemented in the last couple of years.” For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load, a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente has tried to reverse. The policy contributed to the diesel price hikes that triggered the truckers’ rebellion. The pricing turmoil has raised questions about how long the market-friendly CEO will stay on. “There were rumors last week Parente might resign,” Good said. “The latest decisions might force his hand.” Petrobras on Friday denied the rumors, saying Parente had no intention of quitting. Renewed worries about Petrobras’ independence from political inference have shaved 113 billion reais off its market capitalization since the truckers’ strike began a week ago. Brazilian steelmakers like Cia Siderurgica Nacional and Usiminas may lose up to 20 percent of their revenue in May due to the strike, analysts from XP Investimentos said in a research note. Shares in food retailers Carrefour Brasil and GPA SA also fell as analysts warned their supply chains would suffer. Petrobras management separately urged its workers not to follow through on a strike planned for later in the week, saying that “paralysis and pressure for adjusting prices” would not be positive for the company or country as a whole. To partially offset the subsidies’ cost, which could reach as much as 9.5 billion reais ($2.6 billion) this year, and avoid missing its 2018 budget goal, Guardia said the government would cut spending by 3.8 billion reais. It will also have to hike taxes to offset an additional 4-billion real loss from diesel tax cuts to avoid breaking budget rules. That would be partially paid for by an increase in payroll taxes that has struggled to win congressional approval for months, but would also require further tax measures that the government will unveil once that plan is passed, Guardia said. Guardia also said the government will implement a variable tax on diesel imports that will kick in whenever global prices fall below local benchmark prices, protecting Petrobras’ competitiveness. Newspaper Valor Econômico had reported on Monday that Petrobras had proposed such a plan. $1 = 3.71 reais Additional reporting by Ana Mano, Gram Slattery and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Bruno Federowski Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets | 0 |
| 42 | 2018-05-28T15:57:00.000+03:00 | Britain could sell 3 billion pound stake in RBS as soon as this week - Sky News | May 28, 2018 / 12:57 PM / Updated 12 hours ago Britain could sell 10 percent stake in RBS as soon as this week - Sky News Reuters Staff 2 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could sell a 10 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland as soon as this week, Sky News reported on Monday, citing banking sources. FILE PHOTO: Royal Bank of Scotland signs are seen at a branch of the bank, in London, Britain December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo The British government still holds a 71 percent stake in the bank after stepping in with a taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. Sky reported that bankers expected Britain to announce the disposal of a stake worth at least 3 billion pounds, but added that any share sale could be delayed by market conditions or ministers’ concerns about value for money for taxpayers. At Friday’s closing share price of just under 290 pence, little more than half the 502 pence the government paid for them, the Treasury stands to lose billions of pounds on the sale. The British government pumped 45.5 billion pounds into RBS in the depths of the financial crisis, and efforts since then to recoup the money have been stymied by the plunge in the bank’s share price, regulatory probes in the United States and Brexit. In particular, a long-running investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the bank’s mis-selling of toxic mortgage-backed securities delayed the share sale. But RBS agreed a smaller than expected $4.9 billion settlement earlier this month, paving the way for a long-awaited return of cash to UK taxpayers. Britain said in November it would sell 15 billion pounds of RBS shares over five years, with 3 billion pounds to be sold by the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. “We don’t comment on market speculation,” a spokesman for the finance ministry said. A spokesman for RBS declined to comment on the report Both RBS and Lloyds were rescued during the 2007-9 financial crisis. Britain sold its remaining stake in Lloyds last year. Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Jane Merriman and Adrian Croft | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews/ | 0 |
| 43 | 2018-05-28T15:58:00.000+03:00 | BRIEF-MCI.CreditVentures 2.0 FIZ Plans To Sell Its Entire Stake In Genomed | May 28 (Reuters) - GENOMED SA: * SAID ON FRIDAY MCI.CREDITVENTURES 2.0 FIZ (FUND) ACCEPTED AN OFFER FROM DIAGNOSTYKA SP. Z O.O. TO BUY THE FUND’S ENTIRE STAKE IN CO * THE FUND HOLDS 460,889 SHARES IN CO * BOTH PARTIES PLAN TO FINALISE THE TRANSACTION IN COMING WEEKS Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 44 | 2018-05-28T16:47:00.000+03:00 | Britain could sell 10 percent stake in RBS as soon as this week: Sky News | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could sell a 10 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) as soon as this week, Sky News reported on Monday, citing banking sources. FILE PHOTO: Royal Bank of Scotland signs are seen at a branch of the bank, in London, Britain December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo The British government still holds a 71 percent stake in the bank after stepping in with a taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. Sky reported that bankers expected Britain to announce the disposal of a stake worth at least 3 billion pounds ($4 billion), but added that any share sale could be delayed by market conditions or ministers’ concerns about value for money for taxpayers. At Friday’s closing share price of just under 290 pence, little more than half the 502 pence the government paid for them, the Treasury stands to lose billions of pounds on the sale. The British government pumped 45.5 billion pounds into RBS in the depths of the financial crisis, and efforts since then to recoup the money have been stymied by the plunge in the bank’s share price, regulatory probes in the United States and Brexit. In particular, a long-running investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the bank’s mis-selling of toxic mortgage-backed securities delayed the share sale. But RBS agreed a smaller than expected $4.9 billion settlement earlier this month, paving the way for a long-awaited return of cash to UK taxpayers. Britain said in November it would sell 15 billion pounds of RBS shares over five years, with 3 billion pounds to be sold by the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year. “We don’t comment on market speculation,” a spokesman for the finance ministry said. A spokesman for RBS declined to comment on the report Both RBS and Lloyds were rescued during the 2007-9 financial crisis. Britain sold its remaining stake in Lloyds last year. Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Jane Merriman and Adrian Croft | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews | 0 |
| 45 | 2018-05-28T16:59:00.000+03:00 | Verint in talks to merge with Israel's NSO Group at $1 bln value -source | JERUSALEM, May 28 (Reuters) - U.S.-based software company Verint Systems is in talks to merge its security division with Israeli cyber surveillance firm NSO Group at a value for NSO of about $1 billion, a source close to the negotiations said on Monday. NSO Group would remain an independent company as a division within Verint, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. NSO declined to comment while Verint was not available outside U.S. business hours. The talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. NSO is one of the world’s better known suppliers of mobile surveillance tools to governments and law enforcement agencies. But they have been criticised by online privacy activists who have accused the company of creating spyware used to target rights groups and reporters around the world. (Reporting by Steven Scheer Editing by Jeffrey Heller) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 46 | 2018-05-28T17:38:00.000+03:00 | BRIEF-Rockbridge Fund Buys 6.19% Stake In CreativeForge Games | May 28 (Reuters) - CREATIVEFORGE GAMES SA: * SAID ON FRIDAY THAT ROCKBRIDGE TFI SA ACQUIRED 6.19% STAKE IN COMPANY * BEFORE TRANSACTION ROCKBRIDGE FUND DID NOT OWN ANY SHARES OF COMPANY Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 47 | 2018-05-28T18:00:00.000+03:00 | Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Petrobras shares plunged 15 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and softened the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has wreaked havoc on Latin America’s largest economy. People wait in line to fill canisters with gasoline at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter, or about 13 percent of the current price at the pump, and remain frozen for 60 days. Shareholders in state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ), which earlier this month soared after the company reported its highest profits in five years, have been hammered as the stock lost nearly a third of its value in the past week. Compounding the sense of crisis, Petrobras management sent a letter to its workers urging them not to follow through on a strike planned for later in the week, saying “paralysis and pressure for adjusting prices” would hurt the company or country as a whole. Under the deal announced by Temer, after the initial 60-day period price freeze, Petrobras will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. But investors were skeptical. Since May 18, when speculation began that the government might need to negotiate with truckers over diesel prices, Petrobras has lost 127.5 billion reais ($34.13 billion) in market value. Its drop on Monday led a broader sell-off in Brazil's benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP , which slumped 4.5 percent and is now in negative territory for the year. LATEST CONCESSION The latest pricing announcement “suggests increasing risk that the government will interfere in Petrobras affairs again or force them to subsidize the domestic market again,” said Morningstar analyst Allen Good, adding it was “a change in the market-friendly policy implemented in the last couple of years.” For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load, a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente - whose days some investors fear may be numbered - has tried to reverse. “There were rumors last week Parente might resign,” Good said. “The latest decisions might force his hand.” Petrobras has denied the rumors, saying Parente has no intention of quitting. The subsidy and tax cut measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. A truckers’ association behind the nationwide protest has told drivers to get back to work, but the government said progress had been slow and highway police said 556 highway blockades by protesters remained in place. The moves also left Temer’s government scrambling to win congressional approval for several tax measures needed to avoid breaking budget rules, a daunting endeavor ahead of October’s congressional and presidential elections. Brazilian farm groups, meanwhile, warned that production and exports of key commodities like coffee and soy would fall if the truckers continue to block roads. [nE6N1SV00B] Some 64 million chickens have starved to death as a result of the strike, meat group ABPA said on Sunday. Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter. As many as 150 poultry and pork processing plants have stopped production for lack of feed and storage space, the association said. Among other sectors, Brazilian steelmakers like Cia Siderurgica Nacional ( CSNA3.SA ) and Usiminas ( USIM5.SA ) may lose up to 20 percent of their revenue in May due to the strike, analysts from XP Investimentos said in a research note. Shares in food retailers Carrefour Brasil ( CARR.PA ) and GPA SA ( PCAR4.SA ) also fell as analysts warned their supply chains would suffer. ($1 = 3.7359 reais) Additional reporting by Ana Mano, Gram Slattery, Paula Laier and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Bruno Federowski; Editing by James Dalgleish and Tom Brown | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 48 | 2018-05-28T18:03:00.000+03:00 | Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange -ministry | CAIRO, May 28 (Reuters) - Egypt’s state-owned Holding Company for Chemical Industries has agreed to sell up to 4 percent of its stake in Eastern Tobacco on the Cairo exchange, Minister of Public Enterprise Khaled Badawy said in a statement on Monday. Badawy, who also heads the holding company, said the move is part of the government’s broader initiative to sell stakes in various state companies on the Cairo exchange. (Reporting by Ehab Farouk Writing by Eric Knecht Editing by David Goodman) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 49 | 2018-05-28T18:03:00.000+03:00 | BRIEF-Brazil's Eletrobras says board approved sale of stakes in 70 subsidiaries- filing | May 28 (Reuters) - Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA : * BRAZIL’S POWER HOLDING CO SAYS BOARD APPROVED SALE OF STAKES IN 70 SUBSIDIARIES- FILING * BRAZIL’S ELETROBRAS SAYS STAKES REFER TO COMPANIES HOLDING WIND FARMS AND TRANSMISSION LINES- FILING * BRAZIL’S ELETROBRAS SAYS MININUM PRICE FOR ALL COMPANIES IS 2.8 BILLION REAIS - FILING * ELETROBRAS SAYS CREDIT SUISSE WAS HIRED TO MANAGE THE SALE OF THE STAKES IN SUBSIDIARIES - FILING * BRAZIL’S ELETROBRAS SAYS BOARD APPROVED PLAN ANNOUNCED BY COMPANY IN JUNE 2017, FEBRUARY 2018 - FILING Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 50 | 2018-05-28T18:05:00.000+03:00 | EU mergers and takeovers (May 28) | BRUSSELS, May 28 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — UK private equity group 3i Group Plc to acquire a 35 percent stake in ferry operator Scandlines after selling the company to infrastructure funds First State Investments and Hermes Investment Management (approved May 25) — Global asset management company Carlyle and U.S. investment company TA Associates to jointly acquire sales marketing company Discoverorg which is now solely controlled by TA Associates (approved May 17) NEW LISTINGS — Israeli drugmaker Teva to acquire sole control of part of U.S. consumer products maker Procter & Gamble’s OTC business in which it currently has a minority stake (notified May 25/deadline June 29) — French bank BNP Paribas to acquire ABN Amro Bank Luxembourg from Dutch bank ABN Amro (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to acquire joint control of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire Cisco System’s video software unit (notified Nat 23/deadline June 27/simplified) — U.S. chemicals company Lyondellbasell Industries to acquire U.S. peer A. Schulman (notified May 23/deadline June 27) EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES — U.S coatings maker Axalta Coating Systems to acquire wire enamel manufacturer IVA’s European and Chinese operations (notified April 16/deadline May 28/withdrawn May 14) — Swedish bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) to acquire lamp maker Aura Light International AB (notified April 19/deadline May 31/simplified.withdrawn May 8) FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE MAY 30 — U.S. cable company Liberty Global to acquire Dutch peer Ziggo (notified April 4/deadline extended to May 30 from May 15 after Liberty Global offered concessions) JUNE 1 — Swiss engineering company ABB to acquire General Electric’s industrial solutions business (notified April 20/deadline June 1) JUNE 7 — German power grid makers Stadtwerke Olching and Bayernwerk Net to set up two joint ventures (notified April 26/deadline June 7/simplified) JUNE 8 — Private equity firm One Equity Partners to acquire packaging company Walki Holding (notified April 27/deadline June 8/simplified) JUNE 11 — Investment firm HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK insurance broker Capita Specialist Insurance Soluions Ld (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) — U.S. insurer American International Group to acquire Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings Ltd (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) JUNE 12 — South African chemicals company Tronox to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to June 12 from June 7) — Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2’s Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline June 12) JUNE 13 — Private equity firm Rhone Capital LLC and founders of swimming pool equipment maker Fluidra to acquire joint control of the merged Fluidra and its peer Zodiac Holdco (notified May 3/deadline June 13) JUNE 14 — Private equity funds Altor Funds to acquire Swedish packaging company Trioplast Idustrier (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm AEA Investors and investment firm British Columbia Investment Management Corp to acquire joint control of window coverings maker SIWF Holdings Inc (Springs) (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm Platinum Equity to acquire U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s blood glucose monitoring business LifeScan (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — U.S. real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson and French insurer Axa to set up a joint venture (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) JUNE 15 — U.S. tyre maker Goodyear and Japanese peer Bridgestone to acquire joint control of joint venture Tirehub, which will combine the U.S. tyre wholesale distribution businesses of both companies (notified May 7/deadline June 15/simplified) — Finnish utility Fortum to acquire a controlling stake in German peer Uniper from German energy company E.ON (notified May 7/deadline June 15) — U.S. cable operator Comcast’s to acquire British pay-TV company Sky (notified May 7/deadline June 15) JUNE 18 — Private equity firms HG Capital and TA Associates to acquire joint control of software company Access Group, which is now solely controlled by TA (notified May 8/deadline June 18/simplified) JUNE 19 — Canadian private equity firm Onex and U.S. investment fund Vista to acquire joint control of software company Severin Topco (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) — Oaktree Capital Group and Spanish real estate holding company Bitarte, which is a unit of Spanish bank Banco de Sabadell, to set up a joint venture (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) JUNE 20 — Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners to jointly acquire British fibre network operator Cityfibre Infrastructure Holdings (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) — UK infrastructure management company AMP Capital and Spanish airport infrastructure management company Aena Internacional to jointly acquire Luton Airport (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) JUNE 25 — Chinese car parts maker Beijing Automotive Group’s subsidiary BHAP and Spanish peer Gestamp Automocion to set up a joint venture (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — U.S. private equity firms HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK risk management services provider Professional Fee Protection Ltd (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — T-Mobile Austria, which is a unit of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, to acquire UPC Austria, which is a subsidiary of cable operator UPC (notified May 18/deadline June 25) JUNE 26 — U.S. asset manager Blackstone to acquire Spanish gaming company Cirsa (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay’s worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline June 26) — Austrian construction company Strabag and German peer Max Boegl International to set up a joint venture (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire tech software company Exclusive Group (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German companies Thyssen Alfa and Max Aicher Recycling to acquire joint control of Noris Metallrecycling (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) JUNE 27 — German travel group TUI to acquire Spain’s Hotelbeds Group’s destinations services business (notified May 23/deadline June 27/simplified) AUG 9 — German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to Aug. 9) SEPT 4 — iPhone maker Apple to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline extended to Sept. 4 from April 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation) DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 51 | 2018-05-28T18:08:00.000+03:00 | India wants Iran nuclear deal partners to engage after U.S. pullout | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India wants nations that are party to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to engage constructively with Tehran, a government statement said, after the withdrawal of the United States from the pact. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj walk after a photo opportunity in New Delhi, India, May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain The statement was issued after a meeting of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj with her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif. The statement said parties involved in the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, “should engage constructively for peaceful resolution of the issues that have arisen with respect to the agreement”. Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Edmund Blair | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INformulaOne | 0 |
| 52 | 2018-05-28T18:23:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Egypt to sell up to 4 pct of Eastern Tobacco stake on Cairo exchange | (Adds detail, context) CAIRO, May 28 (Reuters) - Egypt’s state-owned Holding Company for Chemical Industries has agreed to sell up to 4 percent of its stake in Eastern Tobacco on the Cairo exchange, Minister of Public Enterprise Khaled Badawy said in a statement on Monday. Badawy, who also heads the holding company, said the move is part of the government’s broader initiative to sell stakes in various state companies on the Cairo exchange to raise government funds and draw more investors to the exchange. In March Egypt announced the names of 23 state companies that will sell stakes this year under a plan to raise 80 billion Egyptian pounds ($4.47 billion) through minority share offerings on the Cairo bourse. Badawy said proceeds from the Eastern Tobacco sale will be used to restructure and develop subsidiaries of the chemical holding company. ($1 = 17.9050 Egyptian pounds) Reporting by Ehab Farouk Writing by Eric Knecht Editing by David Goodman | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 53 | 2018-05-28T18:23:00.000+03:00 | ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise | May 28, 2018 / 3:24 PM / Updated 12 hours ago ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise Reuters Staff 2 Min Read JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit will sell its 50 percent stake in trading and shipping company MIHBV to its joint venture partner Macsteel Holdings Luxembourg (MacHold) for $220 million, the steel maker said on Monday. “The proceeds of the sale will significantly strengthen the balance sheet of ArcelorMittal South Africa and will be used to fund working capital requirements and investments in the operating businesses,” ArcelorMittal SA Chief Executive Kobus Verster said in a statement. The company’s share price rose more than 24 percent at one point on the news before ending 5.4 percent higher. MacHold already holds a 50 percent stake in MIHBV, which is engaged in steel trading and shipping. The other 50 percent is held by ArcelorMittal SA. “In the early years, most of the steel for the joint venture was sourced from ArcelorMittal South Africa. Today, while it remains an important source of steel products, ArcelorMittal SA supplies less than 20 percent of the total tonnages traded and less than 2 percent of volumes shipped by MIHBV,” Verster said. “The investment is no longer considered to be a core asset and we have decided to dispose of our interest,” he said. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard Editing by Edmund Blair) 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAsouthAfricaNews | 0 |
| 54 | 2018-05-28T18:29:00.000+03:00 | Bombardier sells 30 CS300 aircraft to Air Baltic for $2.9 bln | May 28 (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc said on Monday it had completed the sale of 30 CS300 aircraft to Latvia’s Air Baltic Corp, valuing the firm order at about $2.9 billion based on the list price. The Canadian plane and train maker also said options and purchase rights were in place for 30 more such aircraft, which would make it a nearly $5.9 billion deal. Air Baltic has become the largest European C Series customer with the order, the companies said. The new order deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019. Air Baltic said in January it expected to buy more CSeries planes from Bombardier in the following months. (Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 55 | 2018-05-28T18:29:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-New EU bank capital rules favourable for cross-border mergers | (Adds Quote: s, background, details) PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - A new agreement on EU bank capital rules helps lift regulatory obstacles to cross-border bank mergers but further steps are still needed, France’s central bank head said on Monday. EU finance ministers reached an agreement on Friday on how to apply new global bank capital rules that overhauled financial regulations after the 2008-2009 global crisis. As part of the package, Europe’s biggest banks, such as France’s BNP Paribas, would see their exposure to other countries in the bloc to be treated as safer domestic exposure, thus potentially reducing capital surcharge they pay, according to the agreement. “In 2018, we should continue to continue our efforts to encourage consolidation in the European financial sector,” Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told journalists. Since the end of the financial crisis, European banks have largely ignored calls to merge from some central bankers, who think that consolidation would make it easier to transmit monetary policy more evenly across the euro zone. Villeroy, who is also head of France’s ACPR financial sector regulator, said that the ministers’ agreement on Friday was “a very good step, but we are not there yet”. He added that the next step should be to focus on quickly setting up a common backstop to prop up the sector’s rescue facility, known as the Single Resolution Fund. “As soon as the resolution (mechanism) is completed, the environment will be favourable for the emergence of cross-boarder banking and insurance groups, Villeroy said. Turning to France specifically, Villeroy renewed concerns about surging corporate and household borrowing, which has pushed private-sector debt to record levels. He added that France’s financial stability council, which includes him and the finance minister, was prepared to take action at a meeting next month, including by requiring banks to hold extra capital. Villeroy said the point was not to rein in borrowing, but rather to ensure banks had enough capital available to keep lending should the credit cycle take a turn for the worst in the future. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Matthieu Protard, Editing by Leigh Thomas) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 56 | 2018-05-28T18:48:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 2-Polenergia's majority shareholder says it will not sell shares to PGE | (Adds analyst comment) WARSAW, May 28 (Reuters) - Kulczyk Investments, the majority shareholder in Polish energy firm Polenergia, does not plan to sell its shares in the company in the tender offer announced last week by state-run utility PGE, dealing a blow to PGE’s ambitions. “Polenergia is a long-term investment for the Kulczyk family and thus they do not intend to respond to the share tender offer,” Kulczyk Investments, which owns a 50.2-percent stake in Polenergia, said in a statement on Monday. PGE offered to buy all Polenergia’s shares for 16.29 zlotys each, which would value the transaction at around 740 million zlotys. PGE declined to comment. PGE can still go ahead with the tender offer, but, as things stand, it could not acquire a majority of Polenergia shares. “I suspect that the key issue was that the price offered by PGE was a minimum price and it is not attractive for the majority shareholder. It is PGE’s turn now,” said Robert Maj, analyst at Ipopema Securities. By 1222 GMT shares in Polenergia, which surged last week when the tender offer was announced, had fallen by 0.57 percent to 17.30 zlotys while PGE rose by 1.1 percent. PGE, which produces most of its electricity from lignite and is one of Europe’s biggest polluters, has said the takeover would help it reduce carbon emissions due to Polenergia’s portfolio of wind farms. Shares in Polenergia have gained 43 percent since the start of the year, after a 14 percent rise in 2017. But in 2016 the company’s value slid by 61.5 percent due to the policies of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which hit investors in Poland’s wind farms. This year PiS, which considers wind farms an unstable source of electricity, has taken a step back and proposed to change some of the regulations imposed in the past years. “The reasons for the decrease in Polenergia’s value are known, but is is difficult to blame PGE for using the market opportunity,” said Pawel Puchalski, head of equity research at DM BZ WBK. The Kulczyk family, one of Poland’s richest, also owns a chemical group Ciech in Poland. Polish authorities are looking at the sale of Ciech to Jan Kulczyk, who died in 2015, by the former government in 2014. PiS argues that the former government sold its stake in Ciech too cheaply to Kulczyk. Other shareholders in Polenergia include China-Central and Eastern Europe Investment Co-operation Fund, which has a 15.99-percent stake, as well as pension funds owned by Aviva, Nationale-Nederlanden and Generali. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Anna Koper Editing by Marcin Goettig and Adrian Croft) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 57 | 2018-05-28T19:18:00.000+03:00 | Indian traders' group files objection to Walmart-Flipkart deal | MUMBAI, May 28 (Reuters) - The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has filed an objection to Walmart Inc’s $16 billion merger with e-commerce company Flipkart with the country’s competition watchdog, it said on Monday. U.S. retail giant Walmart said this month that it would pay $16 billion for a roughly 77 percent stake in Flipkart, which CAIT’s filing said would create unfair competition and result in predatory pricing. The deal is aimed at helping Walmart to compete with Amazon.com in a major growth market, prompting protests from trade and nationalist groups that say small traders will suffer. (Reporting by Abhirup Roy Editing by David Goodman) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 58 | 2018-05-28T19:32:00.000+03:00 | ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC: Telegraph | (Reuters) - British broadcaster ITV Plc ( ITV.L ) is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. FILE PHOTO: A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo /File Photo According to terms of the joint venture, BBC has the right to buy out its partner at a set price before the end of next week, the newspaper reported. The companies are attempting a deal to create a competitor to entertainment company Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ), the report said. bit.ly/2sfuS4C The opportunity to seal the deal will close within two weeks, according to the report. UKTV, whose channels include Dave and Gold, is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Discovery Inc ( DISCA.O ), which earlier this year completed its acquisition of U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive, the former owner of UKTV. Discovery is working on an alternative plan for breaking up UKTV, the Telegraph said. BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc ( SKYB.L ) as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added. In November, the Telegraph had reported that BBC’s commercial arm was considering a 500-million-pound bid for full control of UKTV. ITV is currently in the middle of a strategic review under new Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said she would provide investors with an update of the review at the group’s half-year results in July. ITV, BBC and Discovery did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. ($1 = 0.7513 pounds) Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 59 | 2018-05-28T20:00:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | (Adds reaction to accord from truckers’ association, more on wider economic and companies impact of strike) By Marcela Ayres and Alexandra Alper BRASILIA/SAO PAULO, May 28 (Reuters) - Petrobras shares fell as much as 9 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and softened the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has wreaked havoc on Latin America’s largest economy. As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter, or about 13 percent of the current price at the pump, and remain frozen for 60 days. A truckers’ association behind the nationwide protest told drivers to get back to work, adding that it expected the number of blockades of key roadways to decline significantly by Monday afternoon. Yet to avoid breaking budget rules, the Brazilian congress would need to approve several tax measures, a daunting endeavor ahead of this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. The measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. Brazilian farm groups warned on Monday that production and exports of key commodities like coffee and soy would fall if the truckers continue to block roads. Some 64 million chickens have starved to death as a result of the strike, meat group ABPA said on Sunday. Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter. As many as 150 poultry and pork processing plants have stopped production for lack of feed and storage space, the association has said. After the initial 60-day period price freeze, state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Should global diesel prices fall in coming months, the government could choose to trim subsidies, Finance Minister Eduardo Guardia said. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. Still, its shares plunged to a four-month low, leading a broader sell-off in Brazil’s benchmark Bovespa index, which slumped 4 percent. The latest pricing announcement “suggests increasing risk that the government will interfere in Petrobras affairs again or force them to subsidize the domestic market again,” said Morningstar analyst Allen Good, adding that the change to monthly pricing adjustments from daily was “a change in the market-friendly policy implemented in the last couple of years.” For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load, a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente has tried to reverse. The policy contributed to the diesel price hikes that triggered the truckers’ rebellion. The pricing turmoil has raised questions about how long the market-friendly CEO will stay on. “There were rumors last week Parente might resign,” Good said. “The latest decisions might force his hand.” Petrobras on Friday denied the rumors, saying Parente had no intention of quitting. Renewed worries about Petrobras’ independence from political inference have shaved 113 billion reais off its market capitalization since the truckers’ strike began a week ago. Brazilian steelmakers like Cia Siderurgica Nacional and Usiminas may lose up to 20 percent of their revenue in May due to the strike, analysts from XP Investimentos said in a research note. Shares in food retailers Carrefour Brasil and GPA SA also fell as analysts warned their supply chains would suffer. Petrobras management separately urged its workers not to follow through on a strike planned for later in the week, saying that “paralysis and pressure for adjusting prices” would not be positive for the company or country as a whole. To partially offset the subsidies’ cost, which could reach as much as 9.5 billion reais ($2.6 billion) this year, and avoid missing its 2018 budget goal, Guardia said the government would cut spending by 3.8 billion reais. It will also have to hike taxes to offset an additional 4-billion real loss from diesel tax cuts to avoid breaking budget rules. That would be partially paid for by an increase in payroll taxes that has struggled to win congressional approval for months, but would also require further tax measures that the government will unveil once that plan is passed, Guardia said. Guardia also said the government will implement a variable tax on diesel imports that will kick in whenever global prices fall below local benchmark prices, protecting Petrobras’ competitiveness. Newspaper Valor Econômico had reported on Monday that Petrobras had proposed such a plan. $1 = 3.71 reais Additional reporting by Ana Mano, Gram Slattery and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Bruno Federowski Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 60 | 2018-05-28T20:40:00.000+03:00 | Britain could sell 3 bln pound stake in RBS as soon as this week -Sky News | LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Britain could sell a stake worth at least 3 billion pounds ($3.99 billion) in Royal Bank of Scotland as soon as this week, Sky News reported on Monday, citing banking sources. The British government still holds a stake of more than 70 percent in the bank after stepping in with a taxpayer bailout during the financial crisis. RBS and Britain’s finance ministry were not immediately available to comment on the report. $1 = 0.7514 pounds Reporting by Alistair Smout. Editing by Jane Merriman | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 61 | 2018-05-28T22:27:00.000+03:00 | JAB set to buy Pret a Manger for $2 billion: FT | (Reuters) - Luxembourg-based JAB Holdings is set to buy British sandwich chain Pret A Manger for 1.5 billion pounds ($2.0 billion), including debt, from its private equity owners, the Financial Times reported late on Monday. The deal could be unveiled as soon as Tuesday, the report said, citing three unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the situation. on.ft.com/2xhqbMu Pret’s private equity owner, Bridgepoint, bought the chain at the height of the buyout boom in 2008 for 500 million euros. JAB, the family office of Europe’s billionaire Reimann clan, has built up the world’s second-largest coffee business over the past five years. It controls packaged brands such as Kenco and Douwe Egberts; retail chains like Peet’s and Espresso House; and Keurig, the leading at-home single-serve brewer system in the United States. Reuters reported last year that Philippines fast food chain Jollibee Foods Corp ( JFC.PS ) was exploring a bid worth over $1 billion for Pret. Pret A Manger and JAB Holdings did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. ($1 = 0.7514 pounds) Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 62 | 2018-05-28T23:03:00.000+03:00 | India wants Iran nuclear deal partners to engage after U.S. pullout | NEW DELHI, May 28 (Reuters) - India wants nations that are party to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to engage constructively with Tehran, a government statement said, after the withdrawal of the United States from the pact. The statement was issued after a meeting of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj with her Iranian counterpart Javed Zarif. The statement said parties involved in the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, “should engage constructively for peaceful resolution of the issues that have arisen with respect to the agreement”. Reporting by Nidhi Verma Editing by Edmund Blair | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 63 | 2018-05-28T23:03:00.000+03:00 | Petrobras plunges as Brazil offers deal to end truckers' strike | BRASILIA, May 28 (Reuters) - Petrobras shares fell as much as 9 percent on Monday after Brazil’s government offered new fuel subsidies and changed the oil producer’s pricing policy in a bid to settle a truckers’ strike that has shuttered factories and caused food and fuel shortages. As a result of tax cuts and subsidies announced by President Michel Temer late on Sunday, domestic diesel prices would fall 0.46 real per liter and remain frozen at that level for 60 days. Yet to avoid breaking budget rules, the Brazilian congress would need to approve several tax measures, a daunting endeavor ahead of this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. The measures represented Temer’s latest concessions to the truckers, whose strike has won popular support even as it has severely hampered the flow of food, fuel and key exports in Latin America’s largest economy. After the initial 60-day period price freeze, state-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA will start adjusting diesel prices monthly, a switch from its current policy of daily price changes. Should global diesel prices fall in coming months, the government could choose to trim subsidies, Finance Minister Eduardo Guardia said. Petrobras said in a securities filing that the government had agreed to compensate it for any losses. Still, its shares plunged to a four-month low. For years, Petrobras subsidized domestic fuel prices, boosting its debt load - a policy current Chief Executive Pedro Parente has tried to reverse - contributing to the diesel price hikes that triggered the truckers’ rebellion. Renewed worries about Petrobras’ independence from political inference have shaved 113 billion reais off its market capitalization since the truckers’ strike began a week ago. To partially offset the subsidies’ cost, which could reach as much as 9.5 billion reais ($2.6 billion) this year, and avoid missing its 2018 budget goal, Guardia said the government would cut spending by 3.8 billion reais. It will also have to hike taxes to offset an additional 4-billion real loss from diesel tax cuts to avoid breaking budget rules. That would be partially paid for by an increase in payroll taxes that has struggled to win congressional approval for months, but would also require further tax measures that the government will unveil once that plan is passed, Guardia said. Guardia also said the government will implement a variable tax on diesel imports that will kick in whenever global prices fall below local benchmark prices, protecting Petrobras’ competitiveness. Newspaper Valor Econômico had reported on Monday that Petrobras had proposed such a plan. $1 = 3.71 reais Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Bruno Federowski Editing by Nick Zieminski | https://www.reuters.com/markets/bonds | 0 |
| 64 | 2018-05-28T23:23:00.000+03:00 | ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise | JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit will sell its 50 percent stake in trading and shipping company MIHBV to its joint venture partner Macsteel Holdings Luxembourg (MacHold) for $220 million, the steel maker said on Monday. “The proceeds of the sale will significantly strengthen the balance sheet of ArcelorMittal South Africa and will be used to fund working capital requirements and investments in the operating businesses,” ArcelorMittal SA Chief Executive Kobus Verster said in a statement. The company’s share price rose more than 24 percent at one point on the news before ending 5.4 percent higher. MacHold already holds a 50 percent stake in MIHBV, which is engaged in steel trading and shipping. The other 50 percent is held by ArcelorMittal SA. “In the early years, most of the steel for the joint venture was sourced from ArcelorMittal South Africa. Today, while it remains an important source of steel products, ArcelorMittal SA supplies less than 20 percent of the total tonnages traded and less than 2 percent of volumes shipped by MIHBV,” Verster said. “The investment is no longer considered to be a core asset and we have decided to dispose of our interest,” he said. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard Editing by Edmund Blair) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 65 | 2018-05-29T00:09:00.000+03:00 | Canada likely to buy Trans Mountain pipeline project: Bloomberg | (Reuters) - Canada is likely to buy Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline and its proposed expansion project in an attempt to ensure that it is built, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the talks. FILE PHOTO: Replacement pipe is stored near crude oil storage tanks at Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline terminal in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo The company, a unit of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc, had stopped all non-essential work on the C$7.4 billion ($5.70 billion) project in April, citing permitting delays and political opposition in British Columbia, and said it would scrap the expansion unless the legal challenges are resolved by May 31. Expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which takes crude from Alberta’s oil sands to a facility in the Pacific province of British Columbia, has also faced opposition from environmental groups and some aboriginal groups. The minority left-leaning New Democratic government in British Columbia, citing the risks of a major spill, opposes the project. This year it proposed new rules to temporarily block increased shipments of crude while it examined oil spill preparedness and response. Canada's finance minister, Bill Morneau, is expected to announce on Tuesday whether or not the government plans to support the expansion of the pipeline expansion, the Canadian Press reported earlier on Monday. Bloomberg bloom.bg/2GVVOL3also reported that the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday. “We’re not commenting on speculation,” a spokesman for Morneau told Reuters, while Kinder Morgan Canada was not available for comment outside regular business hours. Options for the pipeline expansion include the government buying the project and selling it after completion or buying it on an interim basis and selling it to investors for further construction, the Canadian Press reported. bit.ly/2GXafPh Morneau had unveiled a third option, which is to leave construction to Kinder Morgan Canada, but cover any cost overruns incurred as a result of political interference, the Canadian Press reported. Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri | https://in.reuters.com/finance/commodities | 0 |
| 66 | 2018-05-29T00:23:00.000+03:00 | ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC -Telegraph | (Reuters) - British broadcaster ITV Plc ( ITV.L ) is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. FILE PHOTO: A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo /File Photo According to terms of the joint venture, BBC has the right to buy out its partner at a set price before the end of next week, the newspaper reported. The companies are attempting to create a deal that would compete with entertainment company Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ), the report said. bit.ly/2sfuS4C The opportunity to seal the deal will close within two weeks, according to the report. BBC declined to comment on the Telegraph report. ITV and Discovery did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. UKTV, whose channels include Dave and Gold, is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Discovery Inc ( DISCA.O ), which earlier this year completed its acquisition of U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive, the former owner of UKTV. Discovery is working on an alternative plan for breaking up UKTV, the Telegraph said. BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc ( SKYB.L ) as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added. In November, the Telegraph had reported that BBC’s commercial arm was considering a 500-million-pound bid for full control of UKTV. ITV is currently in the middle of a strategic review under new Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said she would provide investors with an update of the review at the group’s half-year results in July. ($1 = 0.7513 pounds) Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown and Diane Craft | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 67 | 2018-05-29T00:33:00.000+03:00 | ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC - Telegraph | May 28, 2018 / 9:34 PM / Updated 8 hours ago ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC - Telegraph Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Reuters) - British broadcaster ITV Plc ( ITV.L ) is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo According to terms of the joint venture, BBC has the right to buy out its partner at a set price before the end of next week, the newspaper reported. The companies are attempting to create a deal that would compete with entertainment company Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ), the report said. bit.ly/2sfuS4C A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo The opportunity to seal the deal will close within two weeks, according to the report. BBC declined to comment on the Telegraph report. ITV and Discovery did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. UKTV, whose channels include Dave and Gold, is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Discovery Inc ( DISCA.O ), which earlier this year completed its acquisition of U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive, the former owner of UKTV. Discovery is working on an alternative plan for breaking up UKTV, the Telegraph said. BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc ( SKYB.L ) as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added. In November, the Telegraph had reported that BBC’s commercial arm was considering a 500-million-pound bid for full control of UKTV. ITV is currently in the middle of a strategic review under new Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said she would provide investors with an update of the review at the group’s half-year results in July. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown and Diane Craft | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews/ | 0 |
| 68 | 2018-05-29T01:32:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal | May 29, 2018 / 3:32 AM / Updated 11 hours ago Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal Reuters Staff 2 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will inject some of its online pharmacy business into a listed unit in a deal valued at HK$10.6 billion ($1.35 billion), the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: A sign of Alibaba Group is seen during the fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, December 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd will buy Ali JK Nutritional Products Holding Limited, which controls sales of medical devices, healthcare products, adult products and healthcare services on Alibaba’s Tmall platform. The deal will see parent Alibaba receive newly issued shares in Ali Health, taking its economic interest in the firm to 56.2 percent from 48.1 percent currently. Alibaba will also have a 67.5 percent voting interest in Ali Health after the deal. The deal should bolster business for Ali Health amid a broader push into a fast-growing healthcare technology market by other firms in China, such as Tencent Holdings-backed WeDoctor and recently listed Ping An Healthcare. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement that healthcare was a “strategically important” business area for the firm and that the deal would help turn Ali Health into the country’s “best healthcare ecosystem”. Ali Health’s CEO added that the deal would help the firm expand by adding new categories to its offering. Chinese healthcare spending is set to hit $1 trillion by 2020, up from $357 billion in 2011, according to consultancy McKinsey & Co, with technology firms increasingly looking to break into a growing private healthcare market. The business unit being injected into Ali Health generated a gross merchandise volume of around 20.56 billion yuan ($3.21 billion) in the financial year to March 31 and had over 3,300 related merchants, Ali Health said in a statement. Alibaba said the deal was subject to approval from Ali Health shareholders and the Hong Kong stock exchange. ($1 = 7.8451 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.4065 Chinese yuan) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 69 | 2018-05-29T01:37:00.000+03:00 | ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC - Telegraph | (Reuters) - British broadcaster ITV Plc is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo According to terms of the joint venture, BBC has the right to buy out its partner at a set price before the end of next week, the newspaper reported. The companies are attempting to create a deal that would compete with entertainment company Netflix Inc, the report said. The opportunity to seal the deal will close within two weeks, according to the report. BBC declined to comment on the Telegraph report. ITV and Discovery did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. UKTV, whose channels include Dave and Gold, is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Discovery Inc, which earlier this year completed its acquisition of U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive, the former owner of UKTV. Discovery is working on an alternative plan for breaking up UKTV, the Telegraph said. BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added. In November, the Telegraph had reported that BBC’s commercial arm was considering a 500-million-pound bid for full control of UKTV. ITV is currently in the middle of a strategic review under new Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said she would provide investors with an update of the review at the group’s half-year results in July. ($1 = 0.7513 pounds) A company sign is displayed outside an ITV studio in London, Britain July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown and Diane Craft Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance | 0 |
| 70 | 2018-05-29T01:42:00.000+03:00 | Chinese firm in talks to takeover German auto supplier Grammer | SHANGHAI/MUNICH (Reuters) - Auto supplier Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts ( 603997.SS ) is aiming to buy German rival Grammer ( GMMG.DE ) in an agreed deal at a time when Chinese takeovers face increased scrutiny from German and European authorities eager to protect domestic know-how. The two companies signed a business combination agreement on Tuesday under which Ningo would offer 61.25 euros per share for Grammer, valuing the group at around 772 million euros ($893 million), including dividends. Shares in Grammer closed 19.3 percent higher at 61.20 euros, just below the Ningbo offer price, on the news. Grammer said the two companies aimed to deepen a strategic partnership, which started when the Chinese company took a stake in Grammer early last year, and to optimise its global footprint and secure a global growth strategy, without giving more detail. The offer will test Germany’s willingness to tolerate Chinese takeovers, following an unsolicited approach by Geely ( 0175.HK ) chairman Li Shufu to secure a $9 billion stake in Daimler ( DAIGn.DE ). Ningbo’s offer comes as European lawmakers finalise a European proposal for greater scrutiny of investments made with state influence or aimed at transferring key technologies to a third country, a clear reference to some Chinese state-led firms that have bought European rivals. It also comes less than a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during a trip to China, called on the world’s No.2 economy to open up key industries to outside markets, demanding greater reciprocity between both regions when it comes to takeovers and market access to technologies. Sources familiar with the matter said that Ningbo Jifeng is offering to guarantee jobs at Grammer for 7-1/2 years as part of the proposed transaction, which could soften possible opposition to a takeover. Related Coverage Factbox: Chinese investments in German companies Ningbo Jifeng already holds 25.51 percent of shares in Grammer, having raised its stake in October last year. Sources told Reuters around that time the Chinese firm wanted to increase its stake amid a power struggle with a rival shareholder, Bosnia’s Hastor family. Its management has generally welcomed the attention of Ningbo Jifeng, another supplier of vehicle interior components, as a potential “white knight” in its conflict with Hastor. “We would view such a bid as positive as it offers the Hastor group a good opportunity to exit,” DZ Bank analyst Michael Punzet wrote in a note, keeping a “hold” rating on the stock. Grammer said on Tuesday its executive board welcomed and supported the takeover offer. Ningbo Jifeng’s offer will be conditional upon it obtaining at least 50 percent plus one share in Grammer, including the stake it already holds, as well as regulatory approvals. Sources said the Chinese group was currently not aiming for a domination agreement, though. ($1 = 0.8644 euros) Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Edward Taylor; Editing by Himani Sarkar/Alexandra Hudson/David Evans | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 71 | 2018-05-29T03:23:00.000+03:00 | JAB set to buy Pret a Manger for $2 bln - FT | (Reuters) - Luxembourg-based JAB Holdings is set to buy British sandwich chain Pret A Manger for 1.5 billion pounds ($2.0 billion), including debt, from its private equity owners, the Financial Times reported late on Monday. The deal could be unveiled as soon as Tuesday, the report said, citing three unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the situation. on.ft.com/2xhqbMu Pret’s private equity owner, Bridgepoint, bought the chain at the height of the buyout boom in 2008 for 500 million euros. JAB, the family office of Europe’s billionaire Reimann clan, has built up the world’s second-largest coffee business over the past five years. It controls packaged brands such as Kenco and Douwe Egberts; retail chains like Peet’s and Espresso House; and Keurig, the leading at-home single-serve brewer system in the United States. Reuters reported last year that Philippines fast food chain Jollibee Foods Corp ( JFC.PS ) was exploring a bid worth over $1 billion for Pret. Pret A Manger and JAB Holdings did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. ($1 = 0.7514 pounds) Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 1 |
| 72 | 2018-05-29T03:28:00.000+03:00 | JAB set to buy Pret a Manger for $2 billion - FT | May 29, 2018 / 12:28 AM / Updated 42 minutes ago Pret A Manger sold for £1.5 billion to Germany's deal-hungry Reimann family Ben Martin 4 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - British sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger was sold for $2 billion (1.5 billion pounds) on Tuesday to an investment fund of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, as part of a global acquisition spree aimed at challenging Nestle ( NESN.S ) in the coffee sector. The sale values Pret at more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) including debt and gives Pret founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham a final exit from their remaining investment in the chain they founded 32 years ago. It also gives a windfall to Pret’s 12,000 staff as Chief Executive Clive Schlee said via Twitter they would each get a 1,000 pound bonus once the deal completes. Pret, whose organic coffee and upmarket sandwiches such as crayfish and rocket proved popular enough to propel its growth from a single shop in London to a 530-strong global chain, generated revenue of 879 million pounds last year. For Luxembourg-based purchaser JAB Holdings, the acquisition of a majority stake in Pret from private equity firm Bridgepoint and other minority investors is the latest in a multi-billion dollar series of takeovers designed to expand its coffee and beverage empire. JAB has already bought Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Keurig subsequently struck a deal worth more than $21 billion to combine with soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group. BAKERY DEALS JAB, whose owners the publicity-shy Reimann family are descended from Ludwig Reimann, a chemist who in the 19th century joined the chemicals business founded by Johann Adam Benckiser and married into Benckiser’s family, has also made a string of deals including for bakery chains Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread, as well as Krispy Kreme. Slideshow (3 Images) Nestle meanwhile recently boosted its position as the world’s biggest coffee company with a $7.15 billion licensing deal with Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ). Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in Pret a decade ago for about 345 million pounds and had been examining an exit via a New York stock market listing before opting to sell to JAB. The sale price represents a multiple of 15 times Pret’s 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of more than 100 million pounds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. “Management’s proven track record and commitment to customer service, investment in innovation and approach to freshly prepared food position Pret well as it capitalises on evolving consumer taste and lifestyle preferences,” said JAB Chief Executive Olivier Goudet. The sale to the Reimann family’s firm was first reported by the Financial Times. The Pret sale comes a month after Whitbread ( WTB.L ) said it would demerge its Costa coffee chain within two years, a lengthy timeframe that stoked speculation Costa may attract a bidder which some bankers speculated could be JAB. JP Morgan advised Bridgepoint on the Pret deal, while JAB worked with HSBC. Reporting by Ben Martin; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes | http://feeds.feedburner.com/Reuters/UKTopNews | 1 |
| 73 | 2018-05-29T04:18:00.000+03:00 | Vitol aims to sell stake worth about $2.3 billion in Viva Energy float: sources | MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Global energy trader Vitol [VITOLV.UL] and its partners plan to float their Australian Viva Energy business, potentially worth nearly A$5 billion ($3.8 billion), in July, three people familiar with the transaction said on Tuesday. The owners want to sell up to 60 percent of the refinery, fuel supply and petrol stations business, in what would be Australia’s biggest initial public offering since the government’s float of Medibank Private in 2014. They expect to fetch up to A$3 billion ($2.3 billion) from the sale, based on an earnings multiple in line with rival Caltex Australia Ltd ( CTX.AX ) on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of A$650 million. Caltex’s enterprise value is around 7.3 times forecast EBITDA, according to Thomson Reuters data. The planned IPO comes amid a shake-up in Australia’s petrol retailing industry, with Caltex scrapping its franchise model and taking over petrol station operations, but it was not immediately clear why Vitol and its partners are launching their stake sale this year, or what they plan to do with the funds. Analysts will be briefing investors starting this week on Viva’s plans. Viva has appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche and UBS to run the IPO, four people said. The four sources cannot be identified because they are subject to confidentiality until the prospectus is released. The three banks and Viva declined to comment. The float plan was first reported by the Australian Financial Review. An e-mail and phone call to a Vitol spokeswoman in London did not receive an immediate response. Viva Energy was built from Royal Dutch Shell’s ( RDSa.L ) former refinery and petrol station business in Australia, which Vitol bought for $2.6 billion in 2014. Vitol’s co-owners include Abu Dhabi Investment Corp. Viva supplies around a quarter of Australia’s fuel, partly from the Geelong refinery near Melbourne, with import terminals, and about 1,000 Shell-branded petrol stations, with convenience stores run by Wesfarmers’ ( WES.AX ) Coles arm. The company spun off the petrol station sites in 2016 into a property trust. Viva Energy REIT ( VVR.AX ) units have fallen from an issue price of A$2.20 in August 2016 to A$2.05, valuing the property trust at A$1.5 billion. The move to list Viva Energy follows Vitol’s float of its African venture Vivo Energy in London, which debuted with a valuation of nearly 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in early May. Vitol and its partners, however, scrapped an IPO of their European oil products venture, Varo Energy, in April, citing poor market conditions at the time. Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 74 | 2018-05-29T05:05:00.000+03:00 | Canada likely to buy Trans Mountain pipeline project - Bloomberg | May 29, 2018 / 2:06 AM / Updated an hour ago Canada likely to buy Trans Mountain pipeline project - Bloomberg Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Reuters) - Canada is likely to buy Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s ( KML.TO ) Trans Mountain oil pipeline and its proposed expansion project in an attempt to ensure that it is built, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the talks. FILE PHOTO: Replacement pipe is stored near crude oil storage tanks at Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline terminal in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo The deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, Bloomberg said bloom.bg/2GVVOL3. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 75 | 2018-05-29T05:08:00.000+03:00 | Pret A Manger sold for $2 billion to Germany's deal-hungry Reimann family | LONDON (Reuters) - British sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger was sold for $2 billion on Tuesday to an investment fund of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, as part of a global acquisition spree aimed at challenging Nestle ( NESN.S ) in the coffee sector. FILE PHOTO: A branded bag at a Pret A Manger cafe in London, Britain, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo The sale values Pret at more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) including debt and gives Pret founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham a final exit from their remaining investment in the chain they founded 32 years ago. It also gives a windfall to Pret’s 12,000 staff as Chief Executive Clive Schlee said via Twitter they would each get a 1,000 pound bonus once the deal completes. Pret, whose organic coffee and upmarket sandwiches such as crayfish and rocket proved popular enough to propel its growth from a single shop in London to a 530-strong global chain, generated revenue of 879 million pounds last year. For Luxembourg-based purchaser JAB Holdings, the acquisition of a majority stake in Pret from private equity firm Bridgepoint and other minority investors is the latest in a multi-billion dollar series of takeovers designed to expand its coffee and beverage empire. JAB has already bought Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Keurig subsequently struck a deal worth more than $21 billion to combine with soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group. BAKERY DEALS JAB, whose owners the publicity-shy Reimann family are descended from Ludwig Reimann, a chemist who in the 19th century joined the chemicals business founded by Johann Adam Benckiser and married into Benckiser’s family, has also made a string of deals including for bakery chains Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread, as well as Krispy Kreme. Slideshow (2 Images) Nestle meanwhile recently boosted its position as the world’s biggest coffee company with a $7.15 billion licensing deal with Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ). Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in Pret a decade ago for about 345 million pounds and had been examining an exit via a New York listing before opting to sell to JAB. The sale price represents a multiple of 15 times Pret’s 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of more than 100 million pounds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. “Management’s proven track record and commitment to customer service, investment in innovation and approach to freshly prepared food position Pret well as it capitalises on evolving consumer taste and lifestyle preferences,” said JAB Chief Executive Olivier Goudet. The sale to the Reimann family’s firm was first reported by the Financial Times. The Pret sale comes a month after Whitbread ( WTB.L ) said it would demerge its Costa coffee chain within two years, a lengthy timeframe that stoked speculation Costa could attract a bidder which some bankers speculated could be JAB. JP Morgan advised Bridgepoint on the Pret deal. Reporting by Ben Martin; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 76 | 2018-05-29T05:08:00.000+03:00 | Canada likely to buy Trans Mountain pipeline project: Bloomberg | (Reuters) - Canada is likely to buy Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline and its proposed expansion project in an attempt to ensure that it is built, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the talks. FILE PHOTO: Replacement pipe is stored near crude oil storage tanks at Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline terminal in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo The company, a unit of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc, had stopped all non-essential work on the C$7.4 billion ($5.70 billion) project in April, citing permitting delays and political opposition in British Columbia, and said it would scrap the expansion unless the legal challenges are resolved by May 31. Expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which takes crude from Alberta’s oil sands to a facility in the Pacific province of British Columbia, has also faced opposition from environmental groups and some aboriginal groups. The minority left-leaning New Democratic government in British Columbia, citing the risks of a major spill, opposes the project. This year it proposed new rules to temporarily block increased shipments of crude while it examined oil spill preparedness and response. Slideshow (3 Images) Canada's finance minister, Bill Morneau, is expected to announce on Tuesday whether or not the government plans to support the expansion of the pipeline expansion, the Canadian Press reported earlier on Monday. Bloomberg bloom.bg/2GVVOL3also reported that the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday. “We’re not commenting on speculation,” a spokesman for Morneau told Reuters, while Kinder Morgan Canada was not available for comment outside regular business hours. Options for the pipeline expansion include the government buying the project and selling it after completion or buying it on an interim basis and selling it to investors for further construction, the Canadian Press reported. bit.ly/2GXafPh Morneau had unveiled a third option, which is to leave construction to Kinder Morgan Canada, but cover any cost overruns incurred as a result of political interference, the Canadian Press reported. Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews | 0 |
| 77 | 2018-05-29T05:24:00.000+03:00 | ITV mulls buying half of UKTV in deal with BBC -Telegraph | May 28 (Reuters) - British broadcaster ITV Plc is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday. According to terms of the joint venture, BBC has the right to buy out its partner at a set price before the end of next week, the newspaper reported. The companies are attempting a deal to create a competitor to entertainment company Netflix Inc, the report said. bit.ly/2sfuS4C The opportunity to seal the deal will close within two weeks, according to the report. UKTV, whose channels include Dave and Gold, is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Discovery Inc, which earlier this year completed its acquisition of U.S. broadcaster Scripps Networks Interactive, the former owner of UKTV. Discovery is working on an alternative plan for breaking up UKTV, the Telegraph said. BBC had earlier approached Sky Plc as a potential partner in the joint venture but the talks did not work out, the report added. In November, the Telegraph had reported that BBC’s commercial arm was considering a 500-million-pound bid for full control of UKTV. ITV is currently in the middle of a strategic review under new Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said she would provide investors with an update of the review at the group’s half-year results in July. ITV, BBC and Discovery did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. ($1 = 0.7513 pounds) Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Tom Brown | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 78 | 2018-05-29T05:47:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal | May 29, 2018 / 2:49 AM / Updated 16 hours ago Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal Reuters Staff 2 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will inject some of its online pharmacy business into a listed unit in a deal valued at HK$10.6 billion ($1.35 billion), the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: A sign of Alibaba Group is seen during the fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, December 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd will buy Ali JK Nutritional Products Holding Limited, which controls sales of medical devices, healthcare products, adult products and healthcare services on Alibaba’s Tmall platform. The deal will see parent Alibaba receive newly issued shares in Ali Health, taking its economic interest in the firm to 56.2 percent from 48.1 percent currently. Alibaba will also have a 67.5 percent voting interest in Ali Health after the deal. The deal should bolster business for Ali Health amid a broader push into a fast-growing healthcare technology market by other firms in China, such as Tencent Holdings-backed WeDoctor and recently listed Ping An Healthcare. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement that healthcare was a “strategically important” business area for the firm and that the deal would help turn Ali Health into the country’s “best healthcare ecosystem”. Ali Health’s CEO added that the deal would help the firm expand by adding new categories to its offering. Chinese healthcare spending is set to hit $1 trillion by 2020, up from $357 billion in 2011, according to consultancy McKinsey & Co, with technology firms increasingly looking to break into a growing private healthcare market. The business unit being injected into Ali Health generated a gross merchandise volume of around 20.56 billion yuan ($3.21 billion) in the financial year to March 31 and had over 3,300 related merchants, Ali Health said in a statement. Alibaba said the deal was subject to approval from Ali Health shareholders and the Hong Kong stock exchange. ($1 = 7.8451 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.4065 Chinese yuan) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/healthNews | 0 |
| 79 | 2018-05-29T05:47:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal | May 29, 2018 / 2:46 AM / Updated 12 hours ago Alibaba injects pharmacy assets into healthcare unit in $1.4 billion deal Reuters Staff 2 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will inject some of its online pharmacy business into a listed unit in a deal valued at HK$10.6 billion ($1.35 billion), the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: A sign of Alibaba Group is seen during the fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, December 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd will buy Ali JK Nutritional Products Holding Limited, which controls sales of medical devices, healthcare products, adult products and healthcare services on Alibaba’s Tmall platform. The deal will see parent Alibaba receive newly issued shares in Ali Health, taking its economic interest in the firm to 56.2 percent from 48.1 percent currently. Alibaba will also have a 67.5 percent voting interest in Ali Health after the deal. The deal should bolster business for Ali Health amid a broader push into a fast-growing healthcare technology market by other firms in China, such as Tencent Holdings-backed WeDoctor and recently listed Ping An Healthcare. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement that healthcare was a “strategically important” business area for the firm and that the deal would help turn Ali Health into the country’s “best healthcare ecosystem”. Ali Health’s CEO added that the deal would help the firm expand by adding new categories to its offering. Chinese healthcare spending is set to hit $1 trillion by 2020, up from $357 billion in 2011, according to consultancy McKinsey & Co, with technology firms increasingly looking to break into a growing private healthcare market. The business unit being injected into Ali Health generated a gross merchandise volume of around 20.56 billion yuan ($3.21 billion) in the financial year to March 31 and had over 3,300 related merchants, Ali Health said in a statement. Alibaba said the deal was subject to approval from Ali Health shareholders and the Hong Kong stock exchange. ($1 = 7.8451 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.4065 Chinese yuan) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKhealth/ | 0 |
| 80 | 2018-05-29T06:45:00.000+03:00 | Chinese firm in talks to takeover German auto supplier Grammer | May 29, 2018 / 3:46 AM / Updated 27 minutes ago Chinese firm in talks to takeover German auto supplier Grammer Reuters Staff 2 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co Ltd ( 603997.SS ) is in talks to buy Grammer AG ( GMMG.DE ) in a deal that would value the German auto supplier at around 752 million euros (656 million pounds), Grammer said in a statement. The acquisition would mark the latest Chinese investment in German technology, after a $9 billion deal earlier this year saw the Chinese magnate behind Geely Auto ( 0175.HK ) take a major stake in Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ). Ningbo Jifeng, already a major shareholder in Grammer, is in “advanced negotiations” with the firm and has offered 60 euros per share with a further proposed dividend of 1.25 euros per share in a potential takeover bid, the German company said. Grammer shares closed at 51.3 euros on Monday and are down a just over 1 percent so far this year. It has a market capitalisation of 648.3 million euros. Grammer said it was uncertain whether the negotiations will be concluded successfully and a takeover offer will be launched. It added it was “assessing strategic options in the best interest of the company”. Ningbo Jifeng raised its stake in Grammer in October last year to 25.51 percent. Sources told Reuters around then the Chinese firm wanted to increase its stake amid an power struggle with a rival shareholder, Bosnia’s Hastor family. Grammer’s management has generally welcomed the attention of Ningbo Jifeng, another supplier of vehicle interior components, as a potential “white knight” in its conflict with Hastor. Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Himani Sarkar | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 81 | 2018-05-29T06:58:00.000+03:00 | Greece's Piraeus Bank to sell $1.7 billion bad loans to Bain Capital | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s largest lender Piraeus Bank ( BOPr.AT ) said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell a 1.45 billion euro ($1.7 billion)portfolio of secured, non-performing business loans to Bain Capital Credit as part of moves to reduce its bad debts. Greek banks have been under regulatory pressure to tackle their bad debt problem, which restricts their ability to expand credit and help the economy recover, with so-called non-performing exposures (NPEs) being their biggest challenge. Piraeus said the deal, subject to approval by regulators and Greece’s HFSF bank rescue fund, which owns 26.2 percent of the lender, would reduce its NPE ratio by 100 basis points and boost equity capital by 20 basis points. It did not provide further details on the pricing. Piraeus, which holds 32.2 billion euros in non-performing exposures, was advised by UBS on the deal. Greek central bank data shows non-performing exposures fell by 4.7 billion euros to 95.7 billion at the end of December, 43.1 percent of overall loan books. Bain Capital Credit is a credit specialist with about $37 billion in assets under management, investing across credit strategies, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, distressed debt and non-performing loans (NPLs). Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Alexander Smith | https://in.reuters.com/markets/bonds | 0 |
| 82 | 2018-05-29T07:09:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Australia's Galaxy Resources to sell tenements in Argentina to POSCO for $280 mln | (Adds background, chairman commentary) May 29 (Reuters) - Australian lithium miner Galaxy Resources Ltd agreed on Tuesday to sell a package of mining tenements in Argentina to South Korean steelmaker POSCO for $280 million. The land is located in the northern area of the giant Salar del Hombre Muerto salt flat. Galaxy will retain ownership of all tenements in the southern basin. The company intends to use the proceeds from the deal to fund development of its flagship Sal de Vida project. “This transaction with POSCO provides a substantial cash injection which underpins the development of Galaxy’s Sal de Vida brine project in the Catamarca Province of Argentina”, Chairman Martin Rowley said. Galaxy had earlier appointed JP Morgan Australia to evaluate “strategic options” for its Sal de Vida lithium and potash project in Argentina. Sal de Vida has the potential to generate total annual revenues around $354 million, scaling up to 25,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate and 95,000 tonnes of potassium chloride, according to the company’s website. The transaction is subject to approval from the POSCO board, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 83 | 2018-05-29T07:28:00.000+03:00 | RPT-UPDATE 2-KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business, countering BASF | (Adds picture) * KWS wants to buy Bayer’s vegetable seed business * Bayer has already agreed vegetable seed sale to BASF * KWS offer is non-binding, financial terms not disclosed By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat has made a rival offer for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF as part of its planned merger with Monsanto. KWS on Tuesday said its non-binding proposal was first made to Bayer on Jan. 26, but not disclosed to investors at the time. Frustration over Bayer’s rejection despite a “highly attractive price” led KWS to break cover on the bid, in the hope that antitrust regulators will regard it more favourably, KWS Chief Executive Hagen Duenbostel told Reuters. Having turned down the KWS bid, Bayer continued to negotiate the sale of the vegetable assets - known under the Nunhems brand - with BASF, which was already due to buy other Bayer assets worth 5.9 billion euros ($6.8 billion). “Somebody has to move. We’ve waited so long, we decided to make a move now to get the ball rolling,” said Duenbostel. KWS let itself “be guided” by a multiple of close to 17 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the proposed price, which Duenbostel said was what Bayer agreed to pay for all of Monsanto. He declined to give more detailed terms. Sales of more than 400 million euros at the vegetable unit and an EBITDA margin of about 20 percent would translate to a bid value of roughly 1.4 billion euros. BASF last month agreed to pay up to 1.7 billion euros for a bundle of assets comprising Bayer’s vegetable seeds business, seed treatments and digital farming activities. That would come on top of 5.9 billion euros worth of Bayer assets including soy, cotton and canola seed and herbicide businesses that BASF agreed to buy in October. While BASF has already secured EU antitrust approval for the October transaction, the go-ahead for BASF to also snap up the vegetable business is still outstanding, a Bayer spokesman said. He declined to comment further. BASF said it had an agreed deal with Bayer and declined to comment on KWS’s move. Shares in KWS Saat fell 4.3 percent at 0844 GMT on concern the deal would be too big a financial burden for a buyer with a market value of about 2 billion euros. “Isn’t it a little too big for KWS?” a Frankfurt-based trader said. Bayer’s bid to buy seed and chemical company Monsanto is on track to win U.S. antitrust approval by the end of May, unless there is a last-minute complication, two people familiar with the matter said in late April. ($1 = 0.8672 euros) (Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Edward Taylor and Alexandra Hudson) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 84 | 2018-05-29T09:11:00.000+03:00 | ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise | May 28, 2018 / 3:33 PM / Updated 12 hours ago ArcelorMittal South Africa to sell stake in Macsteel, shares rise Reuters Staff 2 Min Read JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal’s South Africa unit will sell its 50 percent stake in trading and shipping company MIHBV to its joint venture partner Macsteel Holdings Luxembourg (MacHold) for $220 million, the steel maker said on Monday. A red-hot steel plate passes through a press at the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ghent, Belgium, July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo “The proceeds of the sale will significantly strengthen the balance sheet of ArcelorMittal South Africa and will be used to fund working capital requirements and investments in the operating businesses,” ArcelorMittal SA Chief Executive Kobus Verster said in a statement. The company’s share price rose more than 24 percent at one point on the news before ending 5.4 percent higher. MacHold already holds a 50 percent stake in MIHBV, which is engaged in steel trading and shipping. The other 50 percent is held by ArcelorMittal SA. “In the early years, most of the steel for the joint venture was sourced from ArcelorMittal South Africa. Today, while it remains an important source of steel products, ArcelorMittal SA supplies less than 20 percent of the total tonnages traded and less than 2 percent of volumes shipped by MIHBV,” Verster said. “The investment is no longer considered to be a core asset and we have decided to dispose of our interest,” he said. Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Edmund Blair 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAbusinessNews | 0 |
| 85 | 2018-05-29T09:18:00.000+03:00 | KKR to buy BMC Software | (Reuters) - Investment firm KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) will buy enterprise software provider BMC Software from an investor group, the companies said on Tuesday. The investor group includes Bain Capital Private Equity, Golden Gate Capital, GIC, Insight Venture Partners and Elliott Management. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal. The New York Post reported last week the deal was worth about $10 billion. Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 86 | 2018-05-29T09:28:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba leads consortium in $1.4 billion deal for stake in Chinese courier ZTO | May 29, 2018 / 11:28 AM / Updated 9 hours ago Alibaba leads consortium in $1.4 billion deal for stake in Chinese courier ZTO Reuters Staff 3 Min Read SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ) on Tuesday said it has led a consortium of investors to buy about 10 percent of Chinese courier ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc ( ZTO.N ) for $1.38 billion, as part of the e-commerce firm’s push into offline services. FILE PHOTO: Workers listen to their line manager as he prepares them for the upcoming Singles Day shopping festival, at a sorting centre of ZTO Express, in Chaoyang district, Beijing, China November 8, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee The consortium includes Alibaba’s majority-owned logistics affiliate Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd, Alibaba and ZTO said in a joint statement without disclosing the identity of other investors. They said they expect the deal to close in June. The investment would be Alibaba’s third in a Chinese courier after buying a minority stakes in YTO Express Group Co Ltd ( 600233.SS ) and Best Inc BSTI.N. The e-commerce firm has been expanding its logistics network at home and abroad as it works to diversify its customer base. As part of that effort, it became majority shareholder in September of Cainiao, which provides logistics support to Alibaba’s main e-commerce platform, Taobao. ZTO owns 1 percent of Cainiao, which it co-founded with Alibaba and over a dozen other Chinese companies in 2013. ZTO’s chairman, Lai Meisong, told Reuters the latest deal would allow ZTO and Alibaba to better share resources and help ZTO cut costs through access to new technologies. He said the pair decided to enter a deal so as to work more closely on operations and build trust between affiliates. FILE PHOTO: A worker unloads parcels from a vehicle of the ZTO Express delivery in Beijing, China, October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo ZTO said Alibaba will have a seat on its board. “This trust will improve the efficiency of our cooperation,” Lai said in a telephone interview. Shanghai-based ZTO’s $1.4 billion New York listing was the United States’ largest listing in 2016 and was the biggest by a Chinese firm since Alibaba’s $25 billion initial public offering in 2014. ZTO shares closed at a lifetime high of $19.30 on Friday, their most recent day of trading, valuing the firm at $13.7 billion. Earlier this month, ZTO reported a 36 percent on-year rise in first quarter revenue. It said it handled 6.2 billion parcels in 2017, giving it a 15.5 percent market share, from 7.6 percent in 2011. Reporting by Brenda GohEditing by Christopher Cushing | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 87 | 2018-05-29T09:28:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-KKR to buy enterprise software firm BMC | (Adds details) May 29 (Reuters) - Investment firm KKR & Co will buy enterprise software provider BMC Software from an investor group, the companies said on Tuesday. The group includes Bain Capital Private Equity, Golden Gate Capital, GIC, Insight Venture Partners and Elliott Management. Citing a single source familiar with the deal, the New York Post reported last week BMC could be worth around $10 billion, having been bought by Bain and Golden Gate for $6.9 billion in 2013. The statement on Monday gave no indication of the deal value. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Macquarie and Mizuho Bank provided financing for the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were BMC’s financial advisers, while Macquarie Capital advised KKR. (Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 88 | 2018-05-29T10:03:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create agriculture giant | FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division, said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.” A Bayer spokesman said the planned sale of businesses with 2.2 billion euros ($2.54 billion) in sales to BASF already agreed to address antitrust concerns, mainly in Europe, were not materially different from the DoJ’s demands. “Receipt of the DOJ’s approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. Shares in Bayer jumped to the top of Germany’s DAX index in early Wednesday trading and were trading up 2.8 percent at 101.6 euros by 0833 GMT. Bernstein analysts said the DoJ approval made it possible for Bayer to close the Monsanto deal by the end of June. After months of delays in a drawn-out review process the ruling brings Bayer close to creating an agricultural supplies giant with sales of about 20 billion euros, based on 2017 figures, when taking into account the divestments. At current foreign exchange rates, that compares to about 12.4 billion euros at DowDuPont’s Corteva Agriscience unit, 11 billion euros at ChemChina’s Syngenta and 7.9 billion at BASF, including businesses to be acquired. Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals tie-ups. U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical and DuPont merged in September 2017 and are now in the process of splitting into three units. In other consolidation in the sector, China’s state-owned ChemChina purchased Syngenta and two huge Canadian fertilizer producers merged to form a new company, now called Nutrien. Bayer committed to selling its entire cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seeds businesses and digital farming business, as well its Liberty herbicide, which competes with Monsanto’s Roundup. Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer agreed to sell assets with revenues of 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), to rival BASF for 7.6 billion euros. Bayer said in a statement it expected Bayer and Monsanto to begin the integration process as soon as the sales to BASF are complete, which it said are expected to take two months to complete. If Bayer does not close the deal by June 14, Monsanto could withdraw from the takeover agreement and seek a higher price. It has already secured the go-ahead from key jurisdictions, including the European Union, Brazil and Russia. Apart from the United States, it still needs clearance in Canada and Mexico. In a separate statement, Bayer said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF as a suitable buyer of the businesses to be divested. German seed seller KWS Saat, which had made an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, said on Wednesday it accepted the Commission’s decision. Bayer last week said synergies from folding Monsanto into its organization would be about $300 million below its previous target because it will have to sell more businesses than initially expected. ($1 = 0.8668 euros) Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss; Editing by Mark Potter, Dan Grebler and David Evans | https://in.reuters.com/news/technology | 1 |
| 89 | 2018-05-29T10:04:00.000+03:00 | Canada likely to buy Trans Mountain pipeline project - Bloomberg | May 28 (Reuters) - Canada is likely to buy Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline and its proposed expansion project in an attempt to ensure that it is built, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the talks. The deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, Bloomberg said bloom.bg/2GVVOL3. Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 90 | 2018-05-29T10:50:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-JAB buys majority stake in Britain's Pret A Manger | LONDON (Reuters) - British sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger was sold for $2 billion on Tuesday to an investment fund of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, as part of a global acquisition spree aimed at challenging Nestle ( NESN.S ) in the coffee sector. FILE PHOTO: A branded bag at a Pret A Manger cafe in London, Britain, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo The sale values Pret at more than 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) including debt and gives Pret founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham a final exit from their remaining investment in the chain they founded 32 years ago. It also gives a windfall to Pret’s 12,000 staff as Chief Executive Clive Schlee said via Twitter they would each get a 1,000 pound bonus once the deal completes. Pret, whose organic coffee and upmarket sandwiches such as crayfish and rocket proved popular enough to propel its growth from a single shop in London to a 530-strong global chain, generated revenue of 879 million pounds last year. For Luxembourg-based purchaser JAB Holdings, the acquisition of a majority stake in Pret from private equity firm Bridgepoint and other minority investors is the latest in a multi-billion dollar series of takeovers designed to expand its coffee and beverage empire. Slideshow (2 Images) JAB has already bought Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Keurig subsequently struck a deal worth more than $21 billion to combine with soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group. BAKERY DEALS JAB, whose owners the publicity-shy Reimann family are descended from Ludwig Reimann, a chemist who in the 19th century joined the chemicals business founded by Johann Adam Benckiser and married into Benckiser’s family, has also made a string of deals including for bakery chains Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread, as well as Krispy Kreme. Nestle meanwhile recently boosted its position as the world’s biggest coffee company with a $7.15 billion licensing deal with Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ). Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in Pret a decade ago for about 345 million pounds and had been examining an exit via a New York listing before opting to sell to JAB. The sale price represents a multiple of 15 times Pret’s 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of more than 100 million pounds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. “Management’s proven track record and commitment to customer service, investment in innovation and approach to freshly prepared food position Pret well as it capitalises on evolving consumer taste and lifestyle preferences,” said JAB Chief Executive Olivier Goudet. The sale to the Reimann family’s firm was first reported by the Financial Times. The Pret sale comes a month after Whitbread ( WTB.L ) said it would demerge its Costa coffee chain within two years, a lengthy timeframe that stoked speculation Costa could attract a bidder which some bankers speculated could be JAB. JP Morgan advised Bridgepoint on the Pret deal. Reporting by Ben Martin; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 91 | 2018-05-29T10:51:00.000+03:00 | JAB buys majority stake in Pret A Manger | May 29, 2018 / 7:07 AM / Updated an hour ago JAB buys majority stake in Britain's Pret A Manger Ben Martin 2 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - JAB Holdings, the private company of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, is expanding its coffee empire with a majority stake in British sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger. FILE PHOTO: A branded bag at a Pret A Manger cafe in London, Britain, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo Luxembourg-based JAB is buying Pret from private equity firm Bridgepoint and other minority investors for an undisclosed sum, Pret said on Tuesday. A Pret spokeswoman declined to comment on the value of the deal, but the Financial Times reported earlier that the price was 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) including debt. Slideshow (2 Images) The deal marks the latest in a string of coffee industry acquisitions by JAB, including Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, as it looks to challenge Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle ( NESN.S ). Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee company, struck a $7.15 billion licensing deal with Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ) this month. Pret opened its first shop in London in 1986 and now generates revenue of 879 million pounds ($1.17 billion) from 530 stores in countries including the United States and China. Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in the chain a decade ago for about 345 million pounds and had been examining a potential stock market listing before opting to sell to JAB. “Management’s proven track record and commitment to customer service, investment in innovation and approach to freshly prepared food position Pret well as it capitalizes on evolving consumer taste and lifestyle preferences,” said JAB Chief Executive Olivier Goudet. Reporting by Ben Martin; Editing by David Goodman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews | 1 |
| 92 | 2018-05-29T11:38:00.000+03:00 | Environment ministry says state steel firm expanded without approval: document | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s environment ministry has found that state-controlled Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) expanded a steel plant without its approval, according to a government letter seen by Reuters. The company in January sought the permission from the ministry to expand the plant’s capacity to 6.3 million tonnes a year from 4 million tonnes, but went ahead with the project before receiving clearance, the ministry said in a letter to the steel ministry, which controls RINL. “It is submitted that (RINL) has carried about 90 percent expansion without obtaining requisite prior environmental clearance,” Arun Kumar Mehta, a top bureaucrat in the environment ministry, wrote in the letter dated May 25. Mehta added that RINL flouted environmental rules and hence the company should “initiate necessary exemplary disciplinary action” against officials responsible for the violation. An RINL executive, who declined to be named citing government rules, said the company has been asked to appear before an environment ministry panel in connection with the issue. An RINL spokesman had no immediate comment. The company started out in 1992 with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. It plans to eventually raise the capacity to above 7.3 million tonnes. Editing by Krishna N. Das and Edmund Blair | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 93 | 2018-05-29T11:39:00.000+03:00 | Chinese firm in talks to takeover German auto supplier Grammer | SHANGHAI, May 29 (Reuters) - China’s Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co Ltd is in talks to buy Grammer AG in a deal that would value the German auto supplier at around 752 million euros ($874 million), Grammer said in a statement. The acquisition would mark the latest Chinese investment in German technology, after a $9 billion deal earlier this year saw the Chinese magnate behind Geely Auto take a major stake in Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler AG. Ningbo Jifeng, already a major shareholder in Grammer, is in “advanced negotiations” with the firm and has offered 60 euros per share with a further proposed dividend of 1.25 euros per share in a potential takeover bid, the German company said. Grammer shares closed at 51.3 euros on Monday and are down a just over 1 percent so far this year. It has a market capitalisation of 648.3 million euros. Grammer said it was uncertain whether the negotiations will be concluded successfully and a takeover offer will be launched. It added it was “assessing strategic options in the best interest of the company”. Ningbo Jifeng raised its stake in Grammer in October last year to 25.51 percent. Sources told Reuters around then the Chinese firm wanted to increase its stake amid an power struggle with a rival shareholder, Bosnia’s Hastor family. Grammer’s management has generally welcomed the attention of Ningbo Jifeng, another supplier of vehicle interior components, as a potential “white knight” in its conflict with Hastor. ($1 = 0.8604 euros) (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Himani Sarkar) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 94 | 2018-05-29T11:44:00.000+03:00 | Chinese firm in talks to takeover German auto supplier Grammer | SHANGHAI/MUNICH (Reuters) - Auto supplier Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts ( 603997.SS ) is aiming to buy German rival Grammer ( GMMG.DE ) in an agreed deal at a time when Chinese takeovers face increased scrutiny from German and European authorities eager to protect domestic know-how. The two companies signed a business combination agreement on Tuesday under which Ningo would offer 61.25 euros per share for Grammer, valuing the group at around 772 million euros ($893 million), including dividends. Shares in Grammer closed 19.3 percent higher at 61.20 euros, just below the Ningbo offer price, on the news. Grammer said the two companies aimed to deepen a strategic partnership, which started when the Chinese company took a stake in Grammer early last year, and to optimise its global footprint and secure a global growth strategy, without giving more detail. The offer will test Germany’s willingness to tolerate Chinese takeovers, following an unsolicited approach by Geely ( 0175.HK ) chairman Li Shufu to secure a $9 billion stake in Daimler ( DAIGn.DE ). Related Coverage Factbox: Chinese investments in German companies Ningbo’s offer comes as European lawmakers finalise a European proposal for greater scrutiny of investments made with state influence or aimed at transferring key technologies to a third country, a clear reference to some Chinese state-led firms that have bought European rivals. It also comes less than a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during a trip to China, called on the world’s No.2 economy to open up key industries to outside markets, demanding greater reciprocity between both regions when it comes to takeovers and market access to technologies. Sources familiar with the matter said that Ningbo Jifeng is offering to guarantee jobs at Grammer for 7-1/2 years as part of the proposed transaction, which could soften possible opposition to a takeover. Ningbo Jifeng already holds 25.51 percent of shares in Grammer, having raised its stake in October last year. Sources told Reuters around that time the Chinese firm wanted to increase its stake amid a power struggle with a rival shareholder, Bosnia’s Hastor family. Its management has generally welcomed the attention of Ningbo Jifeng, another supplier of vehicle interior components, as a potential “white knight” in its conflict with Hastor. “We would view such a bid as positive as it offers the Hastor group a good opportunity to exit,” DZ Bank analyst Michael Punzet wrote in a note, keeping a “hold” rating on the stock. Grammer said on Tuesday its executive board welcomed and supported the takeover offer. Ningbo Jifeng’s offer will be conditional upon it obtaining at least 50 percent plus one share in Grammer, including the stake it already holds, as well as regulatory approvals. Sources said the Chinese group was currently not aiming for a domination agreement, though. ($1 = 0.8644 euros) Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz and Edward Taylor; Editing by Himani Sarkar/Alexandra Hudson/David Evans | https://www.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 95 | 2018-05-29T11:53:00.000+03:00 | KKR to buy BMC Software in its biggest deal since financial crisis | (Reuters) - KKR & Co LP ( KKR.N ) said on Tuesday it will acquire U.S. business software company BMC Software in a deal which sources valued at $8.5 billion, including debt, making it the buyout firm’s largest acquisition since the 2008 financial crisis. The size of the deal underscores how private equity firms are turning to bigger leveraged buyouts as they seek to put a record $1 trillion of unused investor money to work. Private equity firms are paid management and performance fees only on investor capital that is deployed on deals. KKR has also partnered with U.S. hospital operator HCA Healthcare Inc ( HCA.N ) to make an offer for U.S. physician services provider Envision Healthcare Corp ( EVHC.N ) which has a value including debt of close to $10 billion, Reuters reported earlier this month. KKR agreed to buy BMC from private equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, which acquired BMC in 2013 for $6.9 billion. Representatives for KKR, Bain and Golden Gate declined to comment on the purchase price, which was disclosed by sources on condition of anonymity. The acquisition of BMC, which provides software that helps companies organise their tech support functions, comes as software companies are reorienting themselves to focus on higher-margin businesses such as cloud computing, cyber security and data analytics to counter a slowdown in their legacy businesses. KKR has invested about $26 billion in the technology sector over the past decade, and BMC will join a portfolio that includes Mitchell, Epicor and Calabrio - all firms that make software used by businesses. KKR expects to use BMC as a platform to make further acquisitions, a person familiar with the strategy said. Making bolt-on purchases is an increasingly common strategy for private equity firms to increase scale and pricing power in their markets. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Macquarie and Mizuho Bank provided financing for the acquisition. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were BMC’s financial advisers, while Macquarie Capital advised KKR. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York and Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Phil Berlowitz | https://in.reuters.com/ | 1 |
| 96 | 2018-05-29T12:20:00.000+03:00 | Britain shares join European sell-off; Dixons hammered | May 29, 2018 / 9:21 AM / Updated 16 minutes ago British shares join European sell-off; Dixons hammered Danilo Masoni , Kit Rees 3 Min Read MILAN (Reuters) - British stocks fell on Tuesday, joining a Europe-wide sell-off triggered by worries over a political crisis in Italy, while a profit warning at Dixons Carphone wiped one fifth off the retailer’s market value. Traders looks at financial information on computer screens on the IG Index trading floor in London, Britain February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson The UK's top share FTSE 100 index .FTSE ended the session with a 1.3 percent loss, hitting its lowest level in three weeks. The blue chip benchmark shrugged off a fall in the pound as it resumed trading after a long holiday weekend. The FTSE 250 midcap index .FTMC fell 1.7 percent. “Even a weaker GBP (typically a boon for FTSE global stocks) and EUR battered by Italian/Spanish geopolitical risks were not sufficient to prop up equities,” said Accendo Markets analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants in a note. Dixons Carphone ( DC.L ), which is struggling in a difficult market for selling phones and electrical goods in Britain, warned profits were likely to plunge by a fifth this year and said it would have to close shops to fix itself. Shares in the company, formed in 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse, plunged 20.7 percent and hit their lowest level since December 2017. “We look forward to a fuller update from the company at the full year results on the company’s plans on 21st June,” said Liberum analysts in a note. “The key question remains as to what, ultimately, the Carphone Warehouse will look like and how profitable this can be. Deeper clarity on management’s strategy could be the next catalyst,” they added. Top fallers on the FTSE included banks Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) and Barclays ( BARC.L ), both down more than 3 percent, as financials in Europe were under pressure on worries the next Italian election could turn into a referendum on the euro. Among the few gainers were precious metal miner Fresnillo ( FRES.L ), up 3.1 percent, tracking a rise in gold prices, while engineering firm Smiths ( SMIN.L ) surged to a record high before trimming gains after news it was in early talks over a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical. M&A talk also lifted serviced office provider IWG ( IWG.L ). U.S. real estate investment company Prime Opportunities said IWG had rejected its offer approach for the British serviced office provider, sending its shares up 2 percent. Reporting by Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees; Editing by Richard Balmforth | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 97 | 2018-05-29T12:24:00.000+03:00 | KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business, countering BASF | May 29, 2018 / 5:56 AM / Updated 28 minutes ago KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business, countering BASF Ludwig Burger , Patricia Weiss 3 Min Read FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat ( KWSG.DE ) has made a rival offer for Bayer’s ( BAYGn.DE ) vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF ( BASFn.DE ) as part of its planned merger with Monsanto ( MON.N ). FILE PHOTO: The logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the Bayer Healthcare subgroup production plant in Wuppertal, Germany February 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender//File Photo KWS on Tuesday said its non-binding proposal was first made to Bayer on Jan. 26, but not disclosed to investors at the time. Frustration over Bayer’s rejection despite a “highly attractive price” led KWS to break cover on the bid, in the hope that antitrust regulators will regard it more favourably, KWS Chief Executive Hagen Duenbostel told Reuters. Having turned down the KWS bid, Bayer continued to negotiate the sale of the vegetable assets - known under the Nunhems brand - with BASF, which was already due to buy other Bayer assets worth 5.9 billion euros (5.1 billion pounds). “Somebody has to move. We’ve waited so long, we decided to make a move now to get the ball rolling,” said Duenbostel. KWS let itself “be guided” by a multiple of close to 17 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the proposed price, which Duenbostel said was what Bayer agreed to pay for all of Monsanto. He declined to give more detailed terms. Sales of more than 400 million euros at the vegetable unit and an EBITDA margin of about 20 percent would translate to a bid value of roughly 1.4 billion euros. BASF last month agreed to pay up to 1.7 billion euros for a bundle of assets comprising Bayer’s vegetable seeds business, seed treatments and digital farming activities. That would come on top of 5.9 billion euros worth of Bayer assets including soy, cotton and canola seed and herbicide businesses that BASF agreed to buy in October. While BASF has already secured EU antitrust approval for the October transaction, the go-ahead for BASF to also snap up the vegetable business is still outstanding, a Bayer spokesman said. He declined to comment further. BASF said it had an agreed deal with Bayer and declined to comment on KWS’s move. Shares in KWS Saat fell 4.3 percent at 0844 GMT on concern the deal would be too big a financial burden for a buyer with a market value of about 2 billion euros. “Isn’t it a little too big for KWS?” a Frankfurt-based trader said. Bayer’s bid to buy seed and chemical company Monsanto is on track to win U.S. antitrust approval by the end of May, unless there is a last-minute complication, two people familiar with the matter said in late April. Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Edward Taylor and Alexandra Hudson | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 98 | 2018-05-29T12:24:00.000+03:00 | RPT-UPDATE 2-KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business, countering BASF | (Adds picture) * KWS wants to buy Bayer’s vegetable seed business * Bayer has already agreed vegetable seed sale to BASF * KWS offer is non-binding, financial terms not disclosed By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat has made a rival offer for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF as part of its planned merger with Monsanto. KWS on Tuesday said its non-binding proposal was first made to Bayer on Jan. 26, but not disclosed to investors at the time. Frustration over Bayer’s rejection despite a “highly attractive price” led KWS to break cover on the bid, in the hope that antitrust regulators will regard it more favourably, KWS Chief Executive Hagen Duenbostel told Reuters. Having turned down the KWS bid, Bayer continued to negotiate the sale of the vegetable assets - known under the Nunhems brand - with BASF, which was already due to buy other Bayer assets worth 5.9 billion euros ($6.8 billion). “Somebody has to move. We’ve waited so long, we decided to make a move now to get the ball rolling,” said Duenbostel. KWS let itself “be guided” by a multiple of close to 17 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the proposed price, which Duenbostel said was what Bayer agreed to pay for all of Monsanto. He declined to give more detailed terms. Sales of more than 400 million euros at the vegetable unit and an EBITDA margin of about 20 percent would translate to a bid value of roughly 1.4 billion euros. BASF last month agreed to pay up to 1.7 billion euros for a bundle of assets comprising Bayer’s vegetable seeds business, seed treatments and digital farming activities. That would come on top of 5.9 billion euros worth of Bayer assets including soy, cotton and canola seed and herbicide businesses that BASF agreed to buy in October. While BASF has already secured EU antitrust approval for the October transaction, the go-ahead for BASF to also snap up the vegetable business is still outstanding, a Bayer spokesman said. He declined to comment further. BASF said it had an agreed deal with Bayer and declined to comment on KWS’s move. Shares in KWS Saat fell 4.3 percent at 0844 GMT on concern the deal would be too big a financial burden for a buyer with a market value of about 2 billion euros. “Isn’t it a little too big for KWS?” a Frankfurt-based trader said. Bayer’s bid to buy seed and chemical company Monsanto is on track to win U.S. antitrust approval by the end of May, unless there is a last-minute complication, two people familiar with the matter said in late April. ($1 = 0.8672 euros) (Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Edward Taylor and Alexandra Hudson) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 99 | 2018-05-29T13:14:00.000+03:00 | Insight: In Portugal, trust in China is the art of the deal | LISBON (Reuters) - Utility company EDP ( EDP.LS ) may balk at the meagre 5 percent premium offered for its shares by China Three Gorges (CTG) but the battle for Portugal’s biggest business has largely played out already. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Portuguese utility company EDP - Energias de Portugal is seen at the company's offices in Oviedo, Spain, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso To some it looks like a lowball bid, but Portugal has welcomed the offer because it considers the Chinese firm’s pledge to keep EDP-Energias de Portugal intact more important than the price and it wants closer ties with a country that has ploughed billions into its economy. That openness to investment from China, including in strategic sectors like energy, stands out amid suspicions elsewhere in Europe about Chinese acquisitions. The Chinese state-owned hydropower giant became EDP’s biggest shareholder in 2011. So when reports of merger talks between EDP and Spanish rival Gas Natural ( GAS.MC ) emerged in July 2017, it beat a path to the Lisbon government’s door. A Gas Natural takeover would have threatened CTG’s ambition to use EDP to diversify beyond China, while Portugal’s Socialist government feared a European rival could break up the business, an industry source familiar with the talks and a political source with knowledge of the government’s position said. “Nearly a year ago, Gas Natural approached EDP and that was the time when CTG started to think about this move,” said one industry source with knowledge of CTG’s takeover bid. “If CTG has been a partner for more than six years, has invested in the company, in a strategic sector for Portugal, and has good relations with the government, it is natural that they talk,” the source said. EDP and Gas Natural denied being in talks last year. But just over a month after the reports, Portugal added a clause to its takeover laws allowing shareholders with the same ultimate owner to combine all their voting rights. Previously, the votes would have been capped at 25 percent, whatever the size of their combined holdings. That could be crucial as CTG’s bid for EDP progresses. While it owns 23.3 percent, another Chinese state-owned company, CNIC, holds 5 percent, most recently buying 2 percent at the end of 2017. CTG in China and a spokesman for the Portuguese government did not respond to requests for comment. ‘PURELY POLITICAL’ CTG first bought 21.4 percent of EDP in December 2011 for 2.7 billion euros (2.4 billion pounds), stepping in when Portugal privatised the company to raise funds after an international bailout to stabilise government finances. The Chinese company has since invested some 2 billion euros in power ventures with EDP, which has a portfolio of renewable energy assets such as wind, hydro and solar power in countries such as Brazil, the United States, France, Italy and Poland. In April this year, there were reports of interest in EDP from another European utility, this time Engie ( ENGIE.PA ). The French company declined to comment while EDP said at the time that no contacts had been established. A few weeks later, CTG launched its takeover bid. It offered 9.07 billion euros for the rest of EDP on May 11, a premium of just 5 percent above the utility company’s share price before the offer became public. EDP described the offer as too low, but left the door open to negotiations. Some analysts expect EDP to ask for a 20 to 30 percent premium but no other bidder has yet emerged and EDP shares are trading less than 5 percent above the offer price. “It was predictable and there have already been conversations with the government for a long time,” said an industry source close to EDP who has knowledge of the talks. “This is purely political,” the source said. “CTG knew that there were many European companies looking at EDP, which is medium-sized and has interesting assets.” In its bid announcement, CTG made clear it saw EDP’s long-term future as a Portuguese company strengthened by CTG’s assets, with a large free float of shares that could potentially be used as a springboard for European expansion. Slideshow (3 Images) That will please the government, which wants to protect EDP’s 6,000 jobs in Portugal and keep its headquarters in the country. “What matters to the government is the strategic importance of EDP to the country,” said Filipe Garcia, head of Informacao de Mercados Financeiros consultancy, adding that the takeover price was a secondary consideration for the government. OPEN DOOR POLICY Links between Portugal and China stretch back centuries to when the European nation controlled the port of Macau. In recent years, Lisbon has embraced Beijing’s belt and road initiative to invest in infrastructure linking Asia to Europe. Chinese firms now own 25 percent of Portugal’s national grid, 27 percent of its largest listed bank, and all of its largest insurer and biggest private hospitals operator. Prime Minister Antonio Costa also told parliament last week that the change to Portuguese takeover law last year was made with Chinese investors in mind. “It was my initiative and aimed to ensure that Portugal would offer the same conditions to foreigners, namely Chinese, as Europeans,” Costa said. The clause added on July 29, 2017, was designed to favour the “capture of foreign direct investment from, namely, foreign state entities...”, according to the text. The combined shareholding of CTG and CNIC, a Chinese state-owned investment company, now comes to 28.5 percent, close to the 33 percent needed to assure effective control of EDP. Under Portuguese law, company statutes can only be changed if two-thirds of shareholders vote in favour. Costa denied in parliament the change was made with CTG in mind: “This was approved a year ago, when there was no takeover, nor any prediction of a takeover bid.” ‘BONDS OF CONFIDENCE’ When CTG launched its offer, it was conditional on getting 50 percent plus one share, in line with Portuguese rules. However, market regulator CMVM said on May 23 it was waiving this requirement, effectively allowing CTG to raise its stake in EDP, even if it doesn’t reach a simple majority. “The Chinese have established bonds of confidence with Portugal,” a senior political source told Reuters. “There is mutual confidence and that changes everything.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a well-timed visit to Lisbon on May 18. He hailed Portugal’s “open attitude” to foreign investment and promised Beijing would continue to encourage investment by Chinese firms in Portugal. Chinese citizens have also poured 2 billion euros into Portuguese housing in the past few years, boosting a property market boom which has helped propel a strong economic recovery. As Lisbon’s ties with CTG have grown closer, its relationship with EDP has come under strain. The government was annoyed last year by what it saw as EDP Chief Executive Antonio Mexia’s openness to potential European suitors, political sources with knowledge of the government’s position said. In January this year, EDP upset the government again when it stopped paying an extraordinary tax contribution energy companies have had to pay since Portugal’s 2011-14 debt crisis. “I won’t comment,” the prime minister told reporters at the time. “I only regret the hostile attitude that EDP has maintained and which therefore represents a change in the stance it had towards the previous government.” If CTG’s bid does succeed, the timing could be auspicious, with Chinese President Xi Jinping planning to visit to Portugal later this year. “The visit may signal a new phase of strategic partnership between the two countries, with the signing of agreements,” Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said after meeting his Chinese counterpart this month. Shanghai newsroom; editing by Mark Bendeich and David Clarke | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 100 | 2018-05-29T13:22:00.000+03:00 | In Portugal, trust in China is the art of the deal | LISBON (Reuters) - Utility company EDP may balk at the meager 5 percent premium offered for its shares by China Three Gorges (CT) but the battle for Portugal’s biggest business has largely played out already. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Portuguese utility company EDP - Energias de Portugal is seen at the company's offices in Oviedo, Spain, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso To some it looks like a lowball bid, but Portugal has welcomed the offer because it considers the Chinese firm’s pledge to keep EDP-Energias de Portugal intact more important than the price and it wants closer ties with a country that has plowed billions into its economy. That openness to investment from China, including in strategic sectors like energy, stands out amid suspicions elsewhere in Europe about Chinese acquisitions. The Chinese state-owned hydropower giant became EDP’s biggest shareholder in 2011. So when reports of merger talks between EDP and Spanish rival Gas Natural emerged in July 2017, it beat a path to the Lisbon government’s door. A Gas Natural takeover would have threatened CTG’s ambition to use EDP to diversify beyond China, while Portugal’s Socialist government feared a European rival could break up the business, an industry source familiar with the talks and a political source with knowledge of the government’s position said. “Nearly a year ago, Gas Natural approached EDP and that was the time when CT started to think about this move,” said one industry source with knowledge of CTG’s takeover bid. “If CT has been a partner for more than six years, has invested in the company, in a strategic sector for Portugal, and has good relations with the government, it is natural that they talk,” the source said. EDP and Gas Natural denied being in talks last year. But just over a month after the reports, Portugal added a clause to its takeover laws allowing shareholders with the same ultimate owner to combine all their voting rights. Previously, the votes would have been capped at 25 percent, whatever the size of their combined holdings. That could be crucial as CTG’s bid for EDP progresses. While it owns 23.3 percent, another Chinese state-owned company, CNIC, holds 5 percent, most recently buying 2 percent at the end of 2017. CT [CYTGP.UL] in China and a spokesman for the Portuguese government did not respond to requests for comment. ‘PURELY POLITICAL’ CT first bought 21.4 percent of EDP in December 2011 for 2.7 billion euros ($3.2 billion), stepping in when Portugal privatized the company to raise funds after an international bailout to stabilize government finances. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is welcomed by Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal May 18, 2018. Picture taken May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante The Chinese company has since invested some 2 billion euros in power ventures with EDP, which has a portfolio of renewable energy assets such as wind, hydro and solar power in countries such as Brazil, the United States, France, Italy and Poland. In April this year, there were reports of interest in EDP from another European utility, this time Engie. The French company declined to comment while EDP said at the time that no contacts had been established. A few weeks later, CT launched its takeover bid. It offered 9.07 billion euros ($10.7 billion) for the rest of EDP on May 11, a premium of just 5 percent above the utility company’s share price before the offer became public. EDP described the offer as too low, but left the door open to negotiations. Some analysts expect EDP to ask for a 20 to 30 percent premium but no other bidder has yet emerged and EDP shares are trading less than 5 percent above the offer price. “It was predictable and there have already been conversations with the government for a long time,” said an industry source close to EDP who has knowledge of the talks. “This is purely political,” the source said. “CT knew that there were many European companies looking at EDP, which is medium-sized and has interesting assets.” In its bid announcement, CT made clear it saw EDP’s long-term future as a Portuguese company strengthened by CTG’s assets, with a large free float of shares that could potentially be used as a springboard for European expansion. That will please the government, which wants to protect EDP’s 6,000 jobs in Portugal and keep its headquarters in the country. “What matters to the government is the strategic importance of EDP to the country,” said Filipe Garcia, head of Informacao de Mercados Financeiros consultancy, adding that the takeover price was a secondary consideration for the government. OPEN DOOR POLICY Links between Portugal and China stretch back centuries to when the European nation controlled the port of Macau. In recent years, Lisbon has embraced Beijing’s belt and road initiative to invest in infrastructure linking Asia to Europe. Slideshow (2 Images) Chinese firms now own 25 percent of Portugal’s national grid, 27 percent of its largest listed bank, and all of its largest insurer and biggest private hospitals operator. Prime Minister Antonio Costa also told parliament last week that the change to Portuguese takeover law last year was made with Chinese investors in mind. “It was my initiative and aimed to ensure that Portugal would offer the same conditions to foreigners, namely Chinese, as Europeans,” Costa said. The clause added on July 29, 2017, was designed to favor the “capture of foreign direct investment from, namely, foreign state entities...”, according to the text. The combined shareholding of CT and CNIC, a Chinese state-owned investment company, now comes to 28.5 percent, close to the 33 percent needed to assure effective control of EDP. Under Portuguese law, company statutes can only be changed if two-thirds of shareholders vote in favor. Costa denied in parliament the change was made with CT in mind: “This was approved a year ago, when there was no takeover, nor any prediction of a takeover bid.” ‘BONDS OF CONFIDENCE’ When CT launched its offer, it was conditional on getting 50 percent plus one share, in line with Portuguese rules. However, market regulator CMVM said on May 23 it was waiving this requirement, effectively allowing CT to raise its stake in EDP, even if it doesn’t reach a simple majority. “The Chinese have established bonds of confidence with Portugal,” a senior political source told Reuters. “There is mutual confidence and that changes everything.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a well-timed visit to Lisbon on May 18. He hailed Portugal’s “open attitude” to foreign investment and promised Beijing would continue to encourage investment by Chinese firms in Portugal. Chinese citizens have also poured 2 billion euros into Portuguese housing in the past few years, boosting a property market boom which has helped propel a strong economic recovery. As Lisbon’s ties with CT have grown closer, its relationship with EDP has come under strain. The government was annoyed last year by what it saw as EDP Chief Executive Antonio Mexia’s openness to potential European suitors, political sources with knowledge of the government’s position said. In January this year, EDP upset the government again when it stopped paying an extraordinary tax contribution energy companies have had to pay since Portugal’s 2011-14 debt crisis. “I won’t comment,” the prime minister told reporters at the time. “I only regret the hostile attitude that EDP has maintained and which therefore represents a change in the stance it had towards the previous government.” If CTG’s bid does succeed, the timing could be auspicious, with Chinese President Xi Jinping planning to visit to Portugal later this year. “The visit may signal a new phase of strategic partnership between the two countries, with the signing of agreements,” Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said after meeting his Chinese counterpart this month. Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; editing by Mark Bendeich and David Clarke | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews | 0 |
| 101 | 2018-05-29T13:36:00.000+03:00 | Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions | (Updates Bayer, Ningbo; Adds BW LPG, Petroleo Brasileiro) May 29 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Britain’s competition regulator set out more detail about what it intends to examine in its investigation of the tie-up between the retail power units of energy companies SSE and Innogy’s Npower. ** The independent board of South African construction group Murray & Roberts rebuffed the latest takeover bid offer by German investment house ATON, potentially setting the stage for another round of protracted wrangling. ** Russia’s state railway monopoly Russian Railways (RZhD) has put up for sale its railcar leasing unit TransFin-M and its subsidiary Absolut Bank and is in discussions with potential buyers, according to three sources briefed on the sale talks. ** Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd faces demands from disgruntled shareholders to put to a vote its $62-billion acquisition of London-listed Shire and do more to assuage concerns over the record-breaking deal. ** Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. ** Investment firm KKR confirmed it would buy BMC Software from owners including Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, adding to a series of bets it has made on companies which provide software and IT systems for corporations. ** Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said it has led a consortium of investors to buy about 10 percent of Chinese courier ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc for $1.38 billion, as part of the e-commerce firm’s push into offline services. ** India’s cash-strapped Fortis Healthcare Ltd laid out plans for a fresh bidding process, after it became the subject of a bidding war by suitors seeking to cash in on an expected boom in India’s private healthcare market. ** Auto supplier Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts is aiming to buy German rival Grammer in an agreed deal at a time when Chinese takeovers face increased scrutiny from German and European authorities eager to protect domestic know-how. ** German seed seller KWS Saat has made a rival offer for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF as part of its planned merger with Monsanto. ** China’s Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co Ltd is offering to guarantee jobs for 7-1/2 years as part of its proposed takeover of German automotive supplier Grammer , two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. ** British sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger was sold for $2 billion to an investment fund of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, as part of a global acquisition spree aimed at challenging Nestle in the coffee sector. ** U.S. real estate investment company Prime Opportunities Investment Group said IWG Plc had rejected its offer approach for the British serviced office provider. ** Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will inject some of its online pharmacy business into a listed unit in a deal valued at HK$10.6 billion ($1.35 billion), the firm said in a statement. ** Australia’s South32 Ltd said it has agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in the Eagle Downs metallurgical coal project in Queensland state from state-owned China BaoWu Steel Group for an upfront payment of $106 million. ** Australian lithium miner Galaxy Resources Ltd agreed to sell a package of mining tenements in Argentina to South Korean steelmaker POSCO for $280 million. ** British broadcaster ITV Plc is considering entering into a joint venture valued at 1 billion pounds ($1.33 billion) with BBC to acquire half of broadcaster UKTV, the Telegraph newspaper reported. ** The world’s largest liquid petroleum gas (LPG) shipper, Norway’s BW LPG, is offering to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market, it said in a statement on Tuesday. ** Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Brazil’s government are “very close” to resolving a long-running dispute over an oil-rich offshore area, a deputy minister said, dismissing concerns a fuel pricing crisis had emerged as an obstacle in talks. (Compiled by Akshara P in Bengaluru) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 102 | 2018-05-29T13:39:00.000+03:00 | Shareholders demand Japan's Takeda assuage fears over Shire deal | May 29, 2018 / 10:35 AM / Updated 3 minutes ago Shareholders demand Japan's Takeda assuage fears over Shire deal Sam Nussey 2 Min Read TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd ( 4502.T ) faces demands from disgruntled shareholders to put to a vote its $62-billion (46.8 billion pounds) acquisition of London-listed Shire ( SHP.L ) and do more to assuage concerns over the record-breaking deal. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is displayed at the company's news conference venue in Tokyo, Japan May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon The deal “carries overly high risks to the company” given its size, 12 shareholders said in a proposal to be voted on at next month’s annual shareholders’ meeting, adding that new shares to be issued to fund the deal threaten “a danger of causing a great disadvantage to existing shareholders”. The Shire deal and any future deals worth more than 1 trillion yen (£7 billion) should be put to a shareholder vote, says the proposal - which will need two thirds of votes at the meeting to pass, according to a Takeda spokesman. Takeda’s board of directors opposes the proposal, according to the company’s notice of convocation that contained the proposal, saying the need for prior approval for such deals would damage competitiveness and the company’s ability to make decisions. However, the drugmaker already plans to put the Shire deal to a vote at an extraordinary general meeting, with two-thirds support needed. It will also need three-quarters backing from Shire investors. Many investors have been lukewarm on the deal, fearing it will overstretch Takeda’s finances, with shares at the drugmaker trading down more than 25 percent since it first said it was considering bidding for Shire. The proposal was received on April 27, a Takeda spokesman said, before the terms of the Shire deal were announced on May 8. Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Adrian Croft | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKTopNews | 0 |
| 103 | 2018-05-29T13:43:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins approval to buy U.S. seed and ag chem giant Monsanto | WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - Bayer won U.S. antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto on Tuesday on condition that it sell about $9 billion in assets, the Justice Department said, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal. Reporting by Diane Bartz Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 104 | 2018-05-29T13:49:00.000+03:00 | Indian banks ask exporters to close Iran deals due to sanctions | NEW DELHI, May 29 (Reuters) - Two Indian banks have asked exporters to complete their financial transactions with Iran by August in response to the threat of new U.S. sanctions, according to the country’s main exporters’ organisation and bank letters seen by Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. India and Iran have long-standing political and commercial ties, but New Delhi has been careful to not fall foul of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) said IndusInd and UCO, the two banks facilitating exports to Iran, had set August 6. as the deadline for winding up deals. “IndusInd and UCO bank are telling exporters that you complete all Iran business by August 6,” Ajay Sahai, director general of FIEO, told Reuters. Indian exporters mostly receive payments in rupees for exports to Iran, under a mechanism devised in 2012 when banking channels were restricted due to the U.S. sanctions. India, Iran’s top oil customer after China, had implemented a barter-like scheme that allowed it to make some oil payments to Tehran in rupees through UCO Bank. IndusInd Bank in a May 24 letter, seen by Reuters, asked Indian exporters to provide a declaration from customers that the entire export LC (letter of credit) transaction would be completed before August 6, 2018. An Indian exporter executing Iranian orders worth 90 million rupees said he was worried because he would get some payments in the second half of August. “How does an exporter feel safe? I don’t know whether I will get my money or not,” said the exporter, who did not wish to be identified. He said payment for an Iranian export order normally takes between one to one-and-a-half months. Indian companies receive payments for exports to Iran using the oil payments held in rupee balances at UCO. The mechanism helped India to narrow its trade deficit with Iran from about $11.3 billion in 2011/12 to about $3.5 billion in 2015/16, when the Iran sanctions were lifted. In the fiscal year to March 2017, India’s trade deficit with Iran widened to $8.24 billion, according to the government data. UCO Bank told the exporter mentioned above that payment would be made only if the Iran account had enough money. “Payments will also be subjected to any trade restrictions/currency restrictions being put in place by U.S.A. post 08-05-2018 and as per the Government of India guidelines on the date of claim,” UCO said in its letter to the exporter dated May 29, which was seen by Reuters. UCO Bank chairman R. K. Takkar told Reuters his bank was continuing with the rupee mechanism. He refused to elaborate on the letter issued by his bank, and said Iran had 18 billion rupees in its account with UCO. Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani. Editing by Jane Merriman | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets | 0 |
| 105 | 2018-05-29T14:13:00.000+03:00 | KKR to buy BMC Software | (Reuters) - KKR & Co LP ( KKR.N ) said on Tuesday it will acquire U.S. business software company BMC Software in a deal which sources valued at $8.5 billion, including debt, making it the buyout firm’s largest acquisition since the 2008 financial crisis. The size of the deal underscores how private equity firms are turning to bigger leveraged buyouts as they seek to put a record $1 trillion of unused investor money to work. Private equity firms are paid management and performance fees only on investor capital that is deployed on deals. KKR has also partnered with U.S. hospital operator HCA Healthcare Inc ( HCA.N ) to make an offer for U.S. physician services provider Envision Healthcare Corp ( EVHC.N ) which has a value including debt of close to $10 billion, Reuters reported earlier this month. KKR agreed to buy BMC from private equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, which acquired BMC in 2013 for $6.9 billion. Representatives for KKR, Bain and Golden Gate declined to comment on the purchase price, which was disclosed by sources on condition of anonymity. The acquisition of BMC, which provides software that helps companies organise their tech support functions, comes as software companies are reorienting themselves to focus on higher-margin businesses such as cloud computing, cyber security and data analytics to counter a slowdown in their legacy businesses. KKR has invested about $26 billion in the technology sector over the past decade, and BMC will join a portfolio that includes Mitchell, Epicor and Calabrio - all firms that make software used by businesses. KKR expects to use BMC as a platform to make further acquisitions, a person familiar with the strategy said. Making bolt-on purchases is an increasingly common strategy for private equity firms to increase scale and pricing power in their markets. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Macquarie and Mizuho Bank provided financing for the acquisition. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were BMC’s financial advisers, while Macquarie Capital advised KKR. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York and Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Phil Berlowitz | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 1 |
| 106 | 2018-05-29T14:14:00.000+03:00 | Vitol aims to sell stake worth about $2.3 bln in Viva Energy float -sources | MELBOURNE, May 29 (Reuters) - Global energy trader Vitol and its partners plan to float their Australian Viva Energy business, potentially worth around A$5 billion ($3.8 billion), in July, people familiar with the transaction said on Tuesday. The owners want to sell up to 60 percent of the refinery, fuel supply and petrol stations business, in what would be Australia’s biggest initial public offering since the government’s float of Medibank Private in 2014. Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Richard Pullin | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 107 | 2018-05-29T14:16:00.000+03:00 | Bayer could get U.S. approval for Monsanto deal on Tuesday-source | FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - Bayer could be granted conditional U.S. antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto as soon as Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters. Bayer had already come to an agreement in principle on the terms of approval with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), which prompted Bayer to adjust its planned divestment of assets to assuage antitrust concerns. A Bayer spokesman declined to comment. The DoJ did not immediately return a call seeking comment outside regular working hours. (Reporting by Patria Weiss Writing by Ludwig Burger Editing by Edward Taylor and Douglas Busvine) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 108 | 2018-05-29T14:21:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba leads consortium in $1.4 bln deal for stake in Chinese courier ZTO | SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ) on Tuesday said it has led a consortium of investors to buy about 10 percent of Chinese courier ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc ( ZTO.N ) for $1.38 billion, as part of the e-commerce firm’s push into offline services. FILE PHOTO: Workers listen to their line manager as he prepares them for the upcoming Singles Day shopping festival, at a sorting centre of ZTO Express, in Chaoyang district, Beijing, China November 8, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee The consortium includes Alibaba’s majority-owned logistics affiliate Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd, Alibaba and ZTO said in a joint statement without disclosing the identity of other investors. They said they expect the deal to close in June. The investment would be Alibaba’s third in a Chinese courier after buying a minority stakes in YTO Express Group Co Ltd ( 600233.SS ) and Best Inc BSTI.N. The e-commerce firm has been expanding its logistics network at home and abroad as it works to diversify its customer base. As part of that effort, it became majority shareholder in September of Cainiao, which provides logistics support to Alibaba’s main e-commerce platform, Taobao. FILE PHOTO: A worker unloads parcels from a vehicle of the ZTO Express delivery in Beijing, China, October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo ZTO owns 1 percent of Cainiao, which it co-founded with Alibaba and over a dozen other Chinese companies in 2013. ZTO’s chairman, Lai Meisong, told Reuters the latest deal would allow ZTO and Alibaba to better share resources and help ZTO cut costs through access to new technologies. He said the pair decided to enter a deal so as to work more closely on operations and build trust between affiliates. ZTO said Alibaba will have a seat on its board. “This trust will improve the efficiency of our cooperation,” Lai said in a telephone interview. Shanghai-based ZTO’s $1.4 billion New York listing was the United States’ largest listing in 2016 and was the biggest by a Chinese firm since Alibaba’s $25 billion initial public offering in 2014. ZTO shares closed at a lifetime high of $19.30 on Friday, their most recent day of trading, valuing the firm at $13.7 billion. Earlier this month, ZTO reported a 36 percent on-year rise in first quarter revenue. It said it handled 6.2 billion parcels in 2017, giving it a 15.5 percent market share, from 7.6 percent in 2011. Reporting by Brenda GohEditing by Christopher Cushing | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 109 | 2018-05-29T14:27:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-KKR to buy enterprise software firm BMC | May 29, 2018 / 11:27 AM / Updated 20 minutes ago UPDATE 1-KKR to buy enterprise software firm BMC Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Adds details) May 29 (Reuters) - Investment firm KKR & Co will buy enterprise software provider BMC Software from an investor group, the companies said on Tuesday. The group includes Bain Capital Private Equity, Golden Gate Capital, GIC, Insight Venture Partners and Elliott Management. Citing a single source familiar with the deal, the New York Post reported last week BMC could be worth around $10 billion, having been bought by Bain and Golden Gate for $6.9 billion in 2013. The statement on Monday gave no indication of the deal value. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Macquarie and Mizuho Bank provided financing for the acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were BMC’s financial advisers, while Macquarie Capital advised KKR. (Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBankingFinancial | 1 |
| 110 | 2018-05-29T14:34:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 2-KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business, countering BASF | * KWS wants to buy Bayer’s vegetable seed business * Bayer has already agreed vegetable seed sale to BASF * KWS offer is non-binding, financial terms not disclosed (Adds antitrust status, rationale of KWS’s timing,) By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat has made a rival offer for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF as part of its planned merger with Monsanto. KWS on Tuesday said its non-binding proposal was first made to Bayer on Jan. 26, but not disclosed to investors at the time. Frustration over Bayer’s rejection despite a “highly attractive price” led KWS to break cover on the bid, in the hope that antitrust regulators will regard it more favourably, KWS Chief Executive Hagen Duenbostel told Reuters. Having turned down the KWS bid, Bayer continued to negotiate the sale of the vegetable assets - known under the Nunhems brand - with BASF, which was already due to buy other Bayer assets worth 5.9 billion euros ($6.8 billion). “Somebody has to move. We’ve waited so long, we decided to make a move now to get the ball rolling,” said Duenbostel. KWS let itself “be guided” by a multiple of close to 17 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the proposed price, which Duenbostel said was what Bayer agreed to pay for all of Monsanto. He declined to give more detailed terms. Sales of more than 400 million euros at the vegetable unit and an EBITDA margin of about 20 percent would translate to a bid value of roughly 1.4 billion euros. BASF last month agreed to pay up to 1.7 billion euros for a bundle of assets comprising Bayer’s vegetable seeds business, seed treatments and digital farming activities. That would come on top of 5.9 billion euros worth of Bayer assets including soy, cotton and canola seed and herbicide businesses that BASF agreed to buy in October. While BASF has already secured EU antitrust approval for the October transaction, the go-ahead for BASF to also snap up the vegetable business is still outstanding, a Bayer spokesman said. He declined to comment further. BASF said it had an agreed deal with Bayer and declined to comment on KWS’s move. Shares in KWS Saat fell 4.3 percent at 0844 GMT on concern the deal would be too big a financial burden for a buyer with a market value of about 2 billion euros. “Isn’t it a little too big for KWS?” a Frankfurt-based trader said. Bayer’s bid to buy seed and chemical company Monsanto is on track to win U.S. antitrust approval by the end of May, unless there is a last-minute complication, two people familiar with the matter said in late April. ($1 = 0.8672 euros) (Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Edward Taylor and Alexandra Hudson) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 111 | 2018-05-29T14:51:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Bayer could get U.S. approval for Monsanto deal on Tuesday - source | FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto ( MON.N ) after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division, said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.” A Bayer spokesman said the planned sale of businesses with 2.2 billion euros ($2.54 billion) in sales to BASF already agreed to address antitrust concerns, mainly in Europe, were not materially different from the DoJ’s demands. “Receipt of the DOJ’s approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. Shares in Bayer jumped to the top of Germany's DAX .GDAXI index in early Wednesday trading and were trading up 2.8 percent at 101.6 euros by 0833 GMT. Related Coverage Bayer says EU approves BASF as buyer of antitrust divestments Bernstein analysts said the DoJ approval made it possible for Bayer to close the Monsanto deal by the end of June. After months of delays in a drawn-out review process the ruling brings Bayer close to creating an agricultural supplies giant with sales of about 20 billion euros, based on 2017 figures, when taking into account the divestments. At current foreign exchange rates, that compares to about 12.4 billion euros at DowDuPont’s ( DWDP.N ) Corteva Agriscience unit, 11 billion euros at ChemChina’s Syngenta and 7.9 billion at BASF, including businesses to be acquired. Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG SYNN.S, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals tie-ups. U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical DOW.N and DuPont merged in September 2017 and are now in the process of splitting into three units. In other consolidation in the sector, China’s state-owned ChemChina purchased Syngenta and two huge Canadian fertilizer producers merged to form a new company, now called Nutrien ( NTR.TO ). Bayer committed to selling its entire cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seeds businesses and digital farming business, as well its Liberty herbicide, which competes with Monsanto’s Roundup. Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer agreed to sell assets with revenues of 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), to rival BASF ( BASFn.DE ) for 7.6 billion euros. Bayer said in a statement it expected Bayer and Monsanto to begin the integration process as soon as the sales to BASF are complete, which it said are expected to take two months to complete. If Bayer does not close the deal by June 14, Monsanto could withdraw from the takeover agreement and seek a higher price. It has already secured the go-ahead from key jurisdictions, including the European Union, Brazil and Russia. Apart from the United States, it still needs clearance in Canada and Mexico. In a separate statement, Bayer said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF as a suitable buyer of the businesses to be divested. German seed seller KWS Saat ( KWSG.DE ), which had made an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, said on Wednesday it accepted the Commission’s decision. Bayer last week said synergies from folding Monsanto into its organization would be about $300 million below its previous target because it will have to sell more businesses than initially expected. Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss; Editing by Mark Potter, Dan Grebler and David Evans | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 112 | 2018-05-29T15:06:00.000+03:00 | JAB buys majority stake in British sandwich chain Pret A Manger | LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - JAB Holdings, the private investment company of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, has bought a majority stake in British sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger. JAB is buying Pret from private equity firm Bridgepoint and other minority investors for an undisclosed sum, the British company said on Tuesday. The Financial Times earlier reported that the price paid by JAB was 1.5 billion pounds ($1.99 billion), including debt. ($1 = 0.7530 pounds) (Reporting by Ben Martin Editing by David Goodman) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 113 | 2018-05-29T15:43:00.000+03:00 | S.Africa's Murray & Roberts rebuffs ATON takeover bid again | May 29, 2018 / 12:44 PM / Updated 15 hours ago S.Africa's Murray & Roberts rebuffs ATON takeover bid again Reuters Staff 1 Min Read JOHANNESBURG, May 29 (Reuters) - The independent board of South African construction group Murray & Roberts on Tuesday rebuffed the latest takeover bid offer by German investment house ATON, potentially setting the stage for another round of protracted wrangling. ATON’s latest offer of 17 rand a share “remains below the independent board’s guided fair value range of 20.00 rand to 22.00 rand,” Murray & Roberts said in a statement. Reporting by Ed Stoddard Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAsouthAfricaNews | 0 |
| 114 | 2018-05-29T16:08:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 2-Shipper BW LPG offers to buy Dorian LPG in $1.1 bln deal | (Adds Dorian’s comment. Updates shares) OSLO, May 29 (Reuters) - Norway’s BW LPG, the world’s largest liquid petroleum gas shipper, said on Tuesday it had offered to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market. Dorian shareholders will receive 2.05 BW LPG shares for each Dorian share, equal to $7.86 per share, a premium of 13 percent from Friday’s closing price, and based on BW LPG’s share price on May 28. Shares of Dorian closed 5.2 percent higher at $7.32, its best day since December 2017. In a separate statement, Dorian confirmed BW LPG’s “unsolicited proposal”, adding that its board was reviewing the offer. New York-listed Dorian LPG’s equity is valued at about $441 million and including debt the transaction is valued at $1.1 billion. The deal is backed by shipping conglomerate BW Group, owned by the Hong Kong-based Sohmen-Pao family, which owns 14.2 percent of Dorian and about 45 percent of BW LPG. Dorian LPG’s fleet consists of 22 very large gas carriers (VLGC) and the combined company would own 73 vessels, of which 68 would be very large gas carriers, 2 VLGCs currently under order and 3 large gas carriers if the deal goes through. BW LPG said it expected minimum annual savings of $15 million from the deal. (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Adrian Croft and Anil D’Silva) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/us | 0 |
| 115 | 2018-05-29T16:17:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Canada to buy Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline | OTTAWA/WINNIPEG (Reuters) - Canada will buy Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s ( KML.TO ) Trans Mountain pipeline for C$4.5 billion ($3.5 billion), the government said on Tuesday, hoping to save a project that faces formidable political and environmental opposition. Steel pipe to be used in the oil pipeline construction of Kinder Morgan Canada's Trans Mountain Expansion Project sit on rail cars at a stockpile site in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Dennis Owen Finance Minister Bill Morneau said purchasing the pipeline was the only way to ensure that a planned expansion could proceed. The pipeline, running from the oil sands of Alberta to a port in the Pacific province of British Columbia, would allow Canadian crude to gain greater access to foreign markets and higher prices. Kinder Morgan Canada gave Ottawa until May 31 to come up with reassurances it could press ahead with plans to more than double the capacity of the existing pipeline amid efforts by British Columbia to block construction. The company also faced opposition from environmentalists and aboriginal groups who worried about the pipeline spilling its tar-like heavy oil. “When we are faced with an exceptional situation that puts jobs at risk, that puts our international reputation on the line, our government is prepared to take action,” Morneau told reporters. He said the pipeline purchase provided the federal jurisdiction needed to overcome British Columbia’s opposition, but gave no details of how this would work. Related Coverage Canada pension funds may be long-term buyers of Kinder pipeline The federal government can in theory step in and disallow any provincial laws that British Columbia might use to block the pipeline, but this provision in the Canadian constitution has not been used since the 1940s. Ottawa could also deploy the police and troops to maintain a barrier between protesters and construction workers. Although Ottawa has taken stakes in struggling energy projects, Tuesday’s announcement marked the first time Ottawa has bought an entire pipeline. It does not intend to own the project for long. “There is a very strong business case for this pipeline,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Bloomberg Television, saying the government takeover meant “a lot of the legal barriers and a lot of the challenge points actually disappear”. Slideshow (3 Images) Kinder Morgan Canada shares initially jumped as much as 8.5 percent before ending down 3 percent, while the broader Canada share index fell 0.6 percent. The move drew immediate criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, and could hurt Trudeau’s popularity in the key British Columbia battleground in a 2019 federal election. The decision represents “a massive, unnecessary financial burden on Canadian taxpayers,” Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Aaron Wudrick said. The government will also offer federal loan guarantees to ensure construction of the expansion continues through the 2018 season as part of the deal with the company, a unit of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc ( KMI.N ). Morneau sidestepped questions about how Ottawa will deal with opposition from environmentalists and aboriginal groups, who cite the risk of a catastrophic spill. “It’s a mess out there,” said a Calgary industry source not authorized to speak publicly. “Given it will be stuck in court for a while, I don’t think we will see this pipe built anytime soon.” Morneau said more spending would be needed to complete the expansion, but gave no precise financial details, and stressed he felt the project should be returned to the private sector. Canada’s oil sector has been stung in the past year as foreign energy companies retreated amid concerns about the environmental toll, high production costs and a risky regulatory regime. “We have agreed to a fair price for our shareholders,” said Steve Kean, chief executive officer of Kinder Morgan Canada and Kinder Morgan Inc. ‘CAN’T MESS WITH ALBERTA’ Kean did not say why he decided to sell rather than absorb the risk of further delays. Kinder Morgan Canada will continue to own the remaining assets, including crude storage, rail terminals and a condensate pipeline, and look to expand. “I think the transaction is a win-win. It’s actually better for Kinder Morgan than it is for Canada. They are getting a very good value,” said Paul Bloom at Bloom Investment Counsel Inc, which owns about 300,000 shares in Kinder Morgan Canada. The fact the federal government needed to buy Trans Mountain to ensure the project goes ahead does not bode well for the industry, said Chris Bloomer, CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. Trans Mountain stirred an unusual public fight between neighboring provinces. Alberta threatened to halt crude and fuel shipments to British Columbia, where consumers already pay high gasoline prices, and briefly halted imports of the coastal province’s wines. Alberta will contribute up to C$2 billion toward unforeseen costs, payable once the project is complete, Premier Rachel Notley said. The contribution will convert into equity in the pipeline. British Columbia Premier John Horgan said the province would push ahead with a court case to establish its right to restrict increased shipments of crude oil to its coastal waters. Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Additional reporting Leah Schnurr in Toronto, Nicole Mordant in Vancouver and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Writing by Andrea Hopkins, David Ljunggren and Rod Nickel; Editing by Denny Thomas, Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Shumaker | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 116 | 2018-05-29T16:28:00.000+03:00 | Brazil, Petrobras near rights-transfer deal: deputy minister | RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Brazil’s government are “very close” to resolving a long-running dispute over an oil-rich offshore area, a deputy minister said, dismissing concerns a fuel pricing crisis had emerged as an obstacle in talks. FILE PHOTO: Tanks of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company are seen in Brasilia, Brazil, August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File photo On Sunday, Brazilian President Michel Temer offered new fuel subsidies to soften the blow from a run-up in diesel prices that has sparked a nationwide truckers’ protest, paralyzing the country’s economy. His government also promised to compensate Petrobras for losses it may incur by abandoning a market-focused pricing policy. The offers of the subsidies fanned fears among investors that the turmoil could delay Petrobras’ bid to conclude a longstanding compensation dispute with the government over the so-called transfer-of-rights area, dimming hopes for a windfall for the world’s most indebted oil company. Despite overlapping with the truckers’ strike, talks “were not suspended,” Deputy Mining and Energy Minister Marcio Felix told Reuters late on Monday. “There are just a few sticking points ... They are very close.” Earlier this month, a Brazilian paper reported that Petrobras was likely to get the rights to produce an additional 1 billion to 2 billion barrels of oil to settle the dispute. Resolving the dispute would let the cash-strapped government, which is expected to be ousted in elections in October, raise extra revenue to close a huge budget gap by auctioning off the rights to billions of barrels of oil. Following a resolution of the dispute, Felix said such an auction could still be possible in November, before the current government turns over power to a new president in January. He emphasized that the goal was shared by Petrobras CEO Pedro Parente, who has been rumored to be considering resigning from the company he is credited with turning around after a massive corruption scandal and years of mismanagement. “Transfer-of rights would be a crowning achievement for him after two years in management,” Felix said, adding that “it would not be good for him to leave now.” The dispute has its roots in a 2010 deal under which Brazil’s government granted Petrobras rights to extract 5 billion barrels of oil and gas from under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor for a price based on oil prices then. However, the contract stipulated that costs, among other things, would be reviewed after the area was declared commercially viable in 2014. That has led to years of sparring, as oil prices have fluctuated. Oil executives say a bid round for the remaining areas would draw enormous bids, thanks to top notch geology and lack of risk. Additional reporting by Maria Clara Pestre; Editing by Paul Simao | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 117 | 2018-05-29T16:29:00.000+03:00 | Alibaba leads consortium in $1.4 billion deal for stake in Chinese courier ZTO | SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Tuesday said it has led a consortium of investors to buy about 10 percent of Chinese courier ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc for $1.38 billion, as part of the e-commerce firm’s push into offline services. FILE PHOTO: A worker unloads parcels from a vehicle of the ZTO Express delivery in Beijing, China, October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo The consortium includes Alibaba’s majority-owned logistics affiliate Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd, Alibaba and ZTO said in a joint statement without disclosing the identity of other investors. They said they expect the deal to close in June. The investment would be Alibaba’s third in a Chinese courier after buying a minority stakes in YTO Express Group Co Ltd and Best Inc. The e-commerce firm has been expanding its logistics network at home and abroad as it works to diversify its customer base. As part of that effort, it became majority shareholder in September of Cainiao, which provides logistics support to Alibaba’s main e-commerce platform, Taobao. ZTO owns 1 percent of Cainiao, which it co-founded with Alibaba and over a dozen other Chinese companies in 2013. ZTO’s chairman, Lai Meisong, told Reuters the latest deal would allow ZTO and Alibaba to better share resources and help ZTO cut costs through access to new technologies. He said the pair decided to enter a deal so as to work more closely on operations and build trust between affiliates. A sign of Alibaba Group is seen during the fourth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, December 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo ZTO said Alibaba will have a seat on its board. “This trust will improve the efficiency of our cooperation,” Lai said in a telephone interview. Shanghai-based ZTO’s $1.4 billion New York listing was the United States’ largest listing in 2016 and was the biggest by a Chinese firm since Alibaba’s $25 billion initial public offering in 2014. ZTO shares closed at a lifetime high of $19.30 on Friday, their most recent day of trading, valuing the firm at $13.7 billion. FILE PHOTO: Workers listen to their line manager as he prepares them for the upcoming Singles Day shopping festival, at a sorting centre of ZTO Express, in Chaoyang district, Beijing, China November 8, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee Earlier this month, ZTO reported a 36 percent on-year rise in first quarter revenue. It said it handled 6.2 billion parcels in 2017, giving it a 15.5 percent market share, from 7.6 percent in 2011. Reporting by Brenda GohEditing by Christopher Cushing Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 118 | 2018-05-29T16:34:00.000+03:00 | British regulator lays out scope of SSE/Npower merger inquiry | May 29, 2018 / 1:34 PM / Updated 23 minutes ago British regulator lays out scope of SSE/Npower merger inquiry Reuters Staff 2 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s competition regulator on Tuesday set out more detail about what it intends to examine in its investigation of the tie-up between the retail power units of energy companies SSE ( SSE.L ) and Innogy’s ( IGY.DE ) Npower. FILE PHOTO: An SSE company logo is seen on signage outside the Pitlochry Dam hydro electric power station in Pitlochry, Scotland, Britain, November 8, 2017. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said earlier this month it had launched in-depth investigation into the tie-up between the companies, saying it may reduce competition and increase prices for some households. On Tuesday, the CMA said it would consider the impact of the merger on the supply of gas and electricity to customers in Britain. FILE PHOTO: A sign hangs outside the building of electricity provider npower in Solihull, Britain, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo The CMA will also consider any implications arising from plans for a larger asset swap between Innogy’s parent company RWE ( RWEG.DE ) and E.ON ( EONGn.DE ), which also has a British retail energy business. The CMA will also look at the potential impact on British independent energy supplier Utility Warehouse, which has around 600,000 customers and relies on Npower for is gas and electricity supplies. “This theory of harm considers whether the Merged Entity would have an incentive to raise SVT (standard variable tariff) prices to increase its wholesale prices to Utility Warehouse,” the CMA said. The SSE/Npower merger would create Britain’s second-largest retail power provider and reduce the “Big Six” dominating the market to five companies when they are already facing political scrutiny for high prices. The CMA is expected to issue a final report by Oct 22. Reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Mark Potter | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 119 | 2018-05-29T16:36:00.000+03:00 | Indian ministry says state steel firm expanded without approval: document | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s environment ministry has found that state-controlled Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) expanded a steel plant without its approval, according to a government letter seen by Reuters. The company in January sought the permission from the ministry to expand the plant’s capacity to 6.3 million tonnes a year from 4 million tonnes, but went ahead with the project before receiving clearance, the ministry said in a letter to the steel ministry, which controls RINL. “It is submitted that (RINL) has carried about 90 percent expansion without obtaining requisite prior environmental clearance,” Arun Kumar Mehta, a top bureaucrat in the environment ministry, wrote in the letter dated May 25. Mehta added that RINL flouted environmental rules and hence the company should “initiate necessary exemplary disciplinary action” against officials responsible for the violation. An RINL executive, who declined to be named citing government rules, said the company has been asked to appear before an environment ministry panel in connection with the issue. An RINL spokesman had no immediate comment. The company started out in 1992 with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. It plans to eventually raise the capacity to above 7.3 million tonnes. Editing by Krishna N. Das and Edmund Blair | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/environment | 0 |
| 120 | 2018-05-29T16:59:00.000+03:00 | Greece's Piraeus Bank to sell $1.7 billion bad loans to Bain Capital | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece’s largest lender Piraeus Bank ( BOPr.AT ) said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell a 1.45 billion euro ($1.7 billion)portfolio of secured, non-performing business loans to Bain Capital Credit as part of moves to reduce its bad debts. Greek banks have been under regulatory pressure to tackle their bad debt problem, which restricts their ability to expand credit and help the economy recover, with so-called non-performing exposures (NPEs) being their biggest challenge. Piraeus said the deal, subject to approval by regulators and Greece’s HFSF bank rescue fund, which owns 26.2 percent of the lender, would reduce its NPE ratio by 100 basis points and boost equity capital by 20 basis points. It did not provide further details on the pricing. Piraeus, which holds 32.2 billion euros in non-performing exposures, was advised by UBS on the deal. Greek central bank data shows non-performing exposures fell by 4.7 billion euros to 95.7 billion at the end of December, 43.1 percent of overall loan books. Bain Capital Credit is a credit specialist with about $37 billion in assets under management, investing across credit strategies, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, distressed debt and non-performing loans (NPLs). Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Alexander Smith | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 121 | 2018-05-29T17:05:00.000+03:00 | Britain shares join European sell-off; Dixons hammered | * FTSE falls to lowest level in nearly 3 weeks * Dixons Carphone down 20 pct on profit warning * M&A activity underpins Smiths, IWG By Danilo Masoni MILAN, May 29 (Reuters) - British stocks fell on Tuesday, joining a Europe-wide sell-off triggered by worries over a political crisis in Italy, while a profit warning at Dixons Carphone wiped one fifth off the retailer’s market value. The UK’s top share FTSE 100 index fell 1.1 percent to its lowest level in nearly three weeks, shrugging off a fall in the pound as it resumed trading after a long holiday weekend. The FTSE 250 midcap index fell 1.3 percent. “Even a weaker GBP (typically a boon for FTSE global stocks) and EUR battered by Italian/Spanish geopolitical risks were not sufficient to prop up equities,” said Accendo Markets analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants in a note. Dixons Carphone, which is struggling in a difficult market for selling phones and electrical goods in Britain, warned profits were likely to plunge by a fifth this year and said it would have to close shops to fix itself. The shares in the company, formed in 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse, fell 20 percent and it their lowest level since December 2017. “We look forward to a fuller update from the company at the full year results on the company’s plans on 21st June,” said Liberum analysts in a note. “The key question remains as to what, ultimately, the Carphone Warehouse will look like and how profitable this can be. Deeper clarity on management’s strategy could be the next catalyst,” they added. Top fallers on the FTSE were banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, both down more than 3 percent, as financials in Europe were under pressure on worries the next Italian election could turn into a referendum on the euro. Among the few gainers were precious metal miner Fresnillo , up 3.4 percent, tracking a rise in gold prices, while engineering firm Smiths surged to a record high after news it was in early talks over a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical. M&A talk also lifted serviced office provider IWG. U.S. real estate investment company Prime Opportunities said IWG had rejected its offer approach for the British serviced office provider, sending its shares up 2 percent. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 122 | 2018-05-29T17:16:00.000+03:00 | EU mergers and takeovers (May 29) | BRUSSELS, May 29 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — German power grid makers Stadtwerke Olching and Bayernwerk Net to set up two joint ventures (approved May 28) NEW LISTINGS — British bank HSBC and U.S. payment technology services provider Global Payments to set up a joint venture in Mexico (notified May 28/deadline July 2/simplified) — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and investment company Arjun Infrastructure Partners to acquire joint control of British services company South Staffordshire plc (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES None FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE MAY 30 — U.S. cable company Liberty Global to acquire Dutch peer Ziggo (notified April 4/deadline extended to May 30 from May 15 after Liberty Global offered concessions) JUNE 1 — Swiss engineering company ABB to acquire General Electric’s industrial solutions business (notified April 20/deadline June 1) JUNE 8 — Private equity firm One Equity Partners to acquire packaging company Walki Holding (notified April 27/deadline June 8/simplified) JUNE 11 — Investment firm HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK insurance broker Capita Specialist Insurance Soluions Ld (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) — U.S. insurer American International Group to acquire Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings Ltd (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified) JUNE 12 — South African chemicals company Tronox to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to June 12 from June 7) — Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2’s Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline June 12) JUNE 13 — Private equity firm Rhone Capital LLC and founders of swimming pool equipment maker Fluidra to acquire joint control of the merged Fluidra and its peer Zodiac Holdco (notified May 3/deadline June 13) JUNE 14 — Private equity funds Altor Funds to acquire Swedish packaging company Trioplast Idustrier (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm AEA Investors and investment firm British Columbia Investment Management Corp to acquire joint control of window coverings maker SIWF Holdings Inc (Springs) (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm Platinum Equity to acquire U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s blood glucose monitoring business LifeScan (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — U.S. real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson and French insurer Axa to set up a joint venture (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) JUNE 15 — U.S. tyre maker Goodyear and Japanese peer Bridgestone to acquire joint control of joint venture Tirehub, which will combine the U.S. tyre wholesale distribution businesses of both companies (notified May 7/deadline June 15/simplified) — Finnish utility Fortum to acquire a controlling stake in German peer Uniper from German energy company E.ON (notified May 7/deadline June 15) — U.S. cable operator Comcast’s to acquire British pay-TV company Sky (notified May 7/deadline June 15) JUNE 18 — Private equity firms HG Capital and TA Associates to acquire joint control of software company Access Group, which is now solely controlled by TA (notified May 8/deadline June 18/simplified) JUNE 19 — Canadian private equity firm Onex and U.S. investment fund Vista to acquire joint control of software company Severin Topco (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) — Oaktree Capital Group and Spanish real estate holding company Bitarte, which is a unit of Spanish bank Banco de Sabadell, to set up a joint venture (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) JUNE 20 — Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners to jointly acquire British fibre network operator Cityfibre Infrastructure Holdings (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) — UK infrastructure management company AMP Capital and Spanish airport infrastructure management company Aena Internacional to jointly acquire Luton Airport (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) JUNE 25 — Chinese car parts maker Beijing Automotive Group’s subsidiary BHAP and Spanish peer Gestamp Automocion to set up a joint venture (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — U.S. private equity firms HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK risk management services provider Professional Fee Protection Ltd (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — T-Mobile Austria, which is a unit of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, to acquire UPC Austria, which is a subsidiary of cable operator UPC (notified May 18/deadline June 25) JUNE 26 — U.S. asset manager Blackstone to acquire Spanish gaming company Cirsa (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay’s worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline June 26) — Austrian construction company Strabag and German peer Max Boegl International to set up a joint venture (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire tech software company Exclusive Group (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German companies Thyssen Alfa and Max Aicher Recycling to acquire joint control of Noris Metallrecycling (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) JUNE 27 — Private equity firm Permira to acquire Cisco System’s video software unit (notified Nat 23/deadline June 27/simplified) — U.S. chemicals company Lyondellbasell Industries to acquire U.S. peer A. Schulman (notified May 23/deadline June 27) — German travel group TUI to acquire Spain’s Hotelbeds Group’s destinations services business (notified May 23/deadline June 27/simplified) JUNE 28 — French bank BNP Paribas to acquire ABN Amro Bank Luxembourg from Dutch bank ABN Amro (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to acquire joint control of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) JUNE 29 — Israeli drugmaker Teva to acquire sole control of part of U.S. consumer products maker Procter & Gamble’s OTC business in which it currently has a minority stake (notified May 25/deadline June 29) AUG 9 — German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to Aug. 9) SEPT 4 — iPhone maker Apple to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline extended to Sept. 4 from April 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation) DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 123 | 2018-05-29T18:31:00.000+03:00 | CORRECTED-OFFICIAL-Shareholders demand Japan's Takeda assuage fears over Shire deal | (Takeda spokesman corrects comment on number of votes needed for proposal to pass to two thirds from half in 3rd paragraph) TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd faces demands from disgruntled shareholders to put to a vote its $62-billion acquisition of London-listed Shire and do more to assuage concerns over the record-breaking deal. The deal “carries overly high risks to the company”, 12 shareholders said in a proposal to be voted on at next month’s annual meeting of shareholders, adding that new shares to be issued to fund the deal threaten “a danger of causing a great disadvantage to existing shareholders”. The Shire deal and any future deals worth more than 1 trillion yen ($9.19 billion) should be put to a shareholder vote, says the proposal - which will need two thirds of the votes at the meeting to pass, according to a Takeda spokesman. Takeda’s board of directors opposes the proposal, according to the company’s notice of convocation that contained the proposal. The drugmaker already plans to put the Shire deal to a vote at an extraordinary general meeting. ($1=108.8300 yen) (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Clarence Fernandez/Adrian Croft) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 124 | 2018-05-29T18:31:00.000+03:00 | Nepal says to scrap hydropower deal with Chinese firm | KATHMANDU, May 29 (Reuters) - Nepal’s government said on Tuesday it will build a 750 megawatt hydroelectric plant that was earlier cleared to be developed by China’s state-owned Three Gorges International Corp, in a surprise announcement made while laying out the annual budget. “We will mobilize Nepal’s internal resources and build the West Seti hydroelectric project,” the country’s Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada said while unveiling a $12.18 billion annual budget in parliament on Tuesday. The announcement effectively scraps a $1.6 billion plan by the Chinese firm to build the plant on West Seti river in the west of the Himalayan nation, the second such plant to be withdrawn from Chinese builders in six months. Three Gorges, China’s biggest hydropower developer and the operator of the world’s largest hydropower plant at the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze river, could not be immediately contacted for comments on Nepal’s decision. In 2015, Nepal cleared the Chinese firm to build the long-delayed West Seti hydropower project that was scheduled for completion by 2021-22. Power from the facility was to be sold to Nepal which now imports nearly 500 megawatts of electricity from India to offset crippling shortages. According to Nepali officials, work had yet to begin as the Chinese company was haggling with the government for better terms on construction and tariffs. In November last year, Nepal scrapped a $2.5 billion deal with another Chinese company, Gezhouba Group, to build a 1,200 MW hydroelectric plant on the Budhi Gandaki river also in west Nepal. One of the world’s poorest countries, Nepal is opening up its vast hydropower potential to help ease chronic power shortages and develop an economy still emerging from a decade-long civil war and a devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 people in 2015. That has prompted a rush by China and India to invest billions exploiting their neighbour’s rivers. This month, India began the construction of a 900 MW hydro-power project to be built in east Nepal by state-run Indian firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited at a cost $1.04 billion during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nepal. Nepal is estimated to have the potential to generate some 42,000 MW of hydropower, but it currently produces 1,000 MW — less than the demand of about 1,500 MW. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma Editing by Alexandra Hudson) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 125 | 2018-05-29T18:33:00.000+03:00 | WellCare Health to buy Meridian for $2.5 billion | May 29, 2018 / 8:33 PM / Updated 2 hours ago WellCare Health to buy Meridian Health Plans for $2.5 billion Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Reuters) - WellCare Health Plans Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Meridian Health Plans of Michigan and Illinois for $2.5 billion in cash to become the top Medicaid provider in those states. The deal will help WellCare add about 1.07 million Medicaid members in Michigan and Illinois and includes the acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager MeridianRx, WellCare said in a statement. “This transaction strategically aligns with our focus on government-sponsored health plans...,” WellCare Chief Executive Officer Ken Burdick said in a statement. Meridian’s businesses are expected to generate more than $4.3 billion in total revenue in 2018, WellCare said. The deal comes as healthcare payers and pharmacies are responding to a shifting landscape, including changes in the Affordable Care Act, rising drug prices and the threat of competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. In December, U.S. drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp agreed to buy U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc for $69 billion, seeking to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc was reported to have been in early-stage talks in March with health insurer Humana Inc about developing closer ties. The WellCare-Meridian deal would add 40 to 50 cents per share to WellCare’s adjusted earnings in 2019, 70-80 cents per share in 2020, and more than $1.00 per share in 2021. WellCare said it expected to fund the transaction through cash on hand, as well as from issuing new equity of up to $1.2 billion and debt of up to $1 billion. The company also said it had secured $2.5 billion in committed bridge financing. Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 126 | 2018-05-29T18:35:00.000+03:00 | Portugal antitrust body rejects Altice remedies in Media Capital deal | LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s competition authority has rejected a package of market remedies proposed by Dutch-based Altice ( ATCA.AS ) to secure a takeover of Portugal’s Media Capital, owner of the TVI television channel. A spokeswoman at the authority told Reuters the decision “was not final as the company is free to present other remedies.” Altice agreed to buy Media Capital from Spain’s Prisa last year but the operation has faced complaints by rivals, such as NOS ( NOS.LS ) and the local unit of Vodafone ( VOD.L ), who argue it would distort competition in the Portuguese market. The authority has not yet detailed the remedies proposed by Altice to soothe the concerns. Reporting By Catarina Demony, writing by Axel Bugge | https://www.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 127 | 2018-05-29T18:42:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins approval to buy U.S. seed and ag chem giant Monsanto | WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - Bayer won U.S. antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto on Tuesday on condition that it sell about $9 billion in assets, the Justice Department said, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal. Reporting by Diane Bartz | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 128 | 2018-05-29T18:48:00.000+03:00 | Indian banks ask exporters to close Iran deals due to sanctions | NEW DELHI, May 29 (Reuters) - Two Indian banks have asked exporters to complete their financial transactions with Iran by August in response to the threat of new U.S. sanctions, according to the country’s main exporters’ organisation and bank letters seen by Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. India and Iran have long-standing political and commercial ties, but New Delhi has been careful to not fall foul of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) said IndusInd and UCO, the two banks facilitating exports to Iran, had set August 6. as the deadline for winding up deals. “IndusInd and UCO bank are telling exporters that you complete all Iran business by August 6,” Ajay Sahai, director general of FIEO, told Reuters. Indian exporters mostly receive payments in rupees for exports to Iran, under a mechanism devised in 2012 when banking channels were restricted due to the U.S. sanctions. India, Iran’s top oil customer after China, had implemented a barter-like scheme that allowed it to make some oil payments to Tehran in rupees through UCO Bank. IndusInd Bank in a May 24 letter, seen by Reuters, asked Indian exporters to provide a declaration from customers that the entire export LC (letter of credit) transaction would be completed before August 6, 2018. An Indian exporter executing Iranian orders worth 90 million rupees said he was worried because he would get some payments in the second half of August. “How does an exporter feel safe? I don’t know whether I will get my money or not,” said the exporter, who did not wish to be identified. He said payment for an Iranian export order normally takes between one to one-and-a-half months. Indian companies receive payments for exports to Iran using the oil payments held in rupee balances at UCO. The mechanism helped India to narrow its trade deficit with Iran from about $11.3 billion in 2011/12 to about $3.5 billion in 2015/16, when the Iran sanctions were lifted. In the fiscal year to March 2017, India’s trade deficit with Iran widened to $8.24 billion, according to the government data. UCO Bank told the exporter mentioned above that payment would be made only if the Iran account had enough money. “Payments will also be subjected to any trade restrictions/currency restrictions being put in place by U.S.A. post 08-05-2018 and as per the Government of India guidelines on the date of claim,” UCO said in its letter to the exporter dated May 29, which was seen by Reuters. UCO Bank chairman R. K. Takkar told Reuters his bank was continuing with the rupee mechanism. He refused to elaborate on the letter issued by his bank, and said Iran had 18 billion rupees in its account with UCO. Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani. Editing by Jane Merriman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 129 | 2018-05-29T18:49:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-British shares join European sell-off; Dixons hammered | * FTSE falls to lowest level in 3 weeks, down 1.3 pct at close * Dixons Carphone down 20 pct on profit warning * M&A activity underpins Smiths, IWG (Adds detail, updates prices at close) By Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees MILAN, May 29 (Reuters) - British stocks fell on Tuesday, joining a Europe-wide sell-off triggered by worries over a political crisis in Italy, while a profit warning at Dixons Carphone wiped one fifth off the retailer’s market value. The UK’s top share FTSE 100 index ended the session with a 1.3 percent loss, hitting its lowest level in three weeks. The blue chip benchmark shrugged off a fall in the pound as it resumed trading after a long holiday weekend. The FTSE 250 midcap index fell 1.7 percent. “Even a weaker GBP (typically a boon for FTSE global stocks) and EUR battered by Italian/Spanish geopolitical risks were not sufficient to prop up equities,” said Accendo Markets analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants in a note. Dixons Carphone, which is struggling in a difficult market for selling phones and electrical goods in Britain, warned profits were likely to plunge by a fifth this year and said it would have to close shops to fix itself. Shares in the company, formed in 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse, plunged 20.7 percent and hit their lowest level since December 2017. “We look forward to a fuller update from the company at the full year results on the company’s plans on 21st June,” said Liberum analysts in a note. “The key question remains as to what, ultimately, the Carphone Warehouse will look like and how profitable this can be. Deeper clarity on management’s strategy could be the next catalyst,” they added. Top fallers on the FTSE included banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, both down more than 3 percent, as financials in Europe were under pressure on worries the next Italian election could turn into a referendum on the euro. Among the few gainers were precious metal miner Fresnillo , up 3.1 percent, tracking a rise in gold prices, while engineering firm Smiths surged to a record high before trimming gains after news it was in early talks over a potential combination of its medical division with U.S.-based ICU Medical. M&A talk also lifted serviced office provider IWG. U.S. real estate investment company Prime Opportunities said IWG had rejected its offer approach for the British serviced office provider, sending its shares up 2 percent. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees Editing by Richard Balmforth) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 130 | 2018-05-29T18:51:00.000+03:00 | South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill | May 29, 2018 / 3:55 PM / Updated 11 hours ago South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill Reuters Staff 1 Min Read CAPE TOWN, May 29 (Reuters) - South Africa’s parliament on Tuesday passed a national minimum wage bill by an overwhelming majority, a policy championed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as an important step to tackle labor instability and wage inequality. The measure, opposed by the official Democratic Alliance opposition party, will see millions of workers earn 3,500 rand ($277) a month, and had been initially meant to be introduced earlier in May as part of efforts to boost the economy. The bill will be sent to parliament’s upper house for ratification and becomes law once it is signed by Ramaphosa. ($1 = 12.6327 rand) (Reporting by Wendell Roelf Editing by James Macharia) 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAsouthAfricaNews | 0 |
| 131 | 2018-05-29T19:15:00.000+03:00 | KKR to buy BMC Software | May 29 (Reuters) - Investment firm KKR & Co will buy enterprise software provider BMC Software from an investor group, the companies said on Tuesday. The investor group includes Bain Capital Private Equity, Golden Gate Capital, GIC, Insight Venture Partners and Elliott Management. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal. The New York Post reported here last week the deal was worth about $10 billion. (Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 1 |
| 132 | 2018-05-29T19:20:00.000+03:00 | Indian banks ask exporters to close Iran deals due to sanctions | May 29, 2018 / 4:23 PM / Updated 10 hours ago Indian banks ask exporters to close Iran deals due to sanctions Reuters Staff 3 Min Read NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Two Indian banks have asked exporters to complete their financial transactions with Iran by August in response to the threat of new U.S. sanctions, according to the country’s main exporters’ organisation and bank letters seen by Reuters. Commuters walk past a bank sign along a road in New Delhi, India, November 25, 2015. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. India and Iran have long-standing political and commercial ties, but New Delhi has been careful to not fall foul of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) said IndusInd and UCO, the two banks facilitating exports to Iran, had set August 6. as the deadline for winding up deals. “IndusInd and UCO bank are telling exporters that you complete all Iran business by August 6,” Ajay Sahai, director general of FIEO, told Reuters. Indian exporters mostly receive payments in rupees for exports to Iran, under a mechanism devised in 2012 when banking channels were restricted due to the U.S. sanctions. India, Iran’s top oil customer after China, had implemented a barter-like scheme that allowed it to make some oil payments to Tehran in rupees through UCO Bank. IndusInd Bank in a May 24 letter, seen by Reuters, asked Indian exporters to provide a declaration from customers that the entire export LC (letter of credit) transaction would be completed before August 6, 2018. An Indian exporter executing Iranian orders worth 90 million rupees said he was worried because he would get some payments in the second half of August. “How does an exporter feel safe? I don’t know whether I will get my money or not,” said the exporter, who did not wish to be identified. He said payment for an Iranian export order normally takes between one to one-and-a-half months. Indian companies receive payments for exports to Iran using the oil payments held in rupee balances at UCO. The mechanism helped India to narrow its trade deficit with Iran from about $11.3 billion in 2011/12 to about $3.5 billion in 2015/16, when the Iran sanctions were lifted. In the fiscal year to March 2017, India’s trade deficit with Iran widened to $8.24 billion, according to the government data. UCO Bank told the exporter mentioned above that payment would be made only if the Iran account had enough money. “Payments will also be subjected to any trade restrictions/currency restrictions being put in place by U.S.A. post 08-05-2018 and as per the Government of India guidelines on the date of claim,” UCO said in its letter to the exporter dated May 29, which was seen by Reuters. UCO Bank chairman R. K. Takkar told Reuters his bank was continuing with the rupee mechanism. He refused to elaborate on the letter issued by his bank, and said Iran had 18 billion rupees in its account with UCO. Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani. Editing by Jane Merriman | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 133 | 2018-05-29T19:33:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill | May 29, 2018 / 4:35 PM / Updated 3 hours ago UPDATE 1-South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill Reuters Staff 3 Min Read (Adds labour minister, details) CAPE TOWN, May 29 (Reuters) - South Africa’s parliament passed a national minimum wage bill on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority, part of an effort by President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle strikes and wage inequality. The measure, opposed by the official Democratic Alliance (DA) opposition party, will see millions of workers earn 3,500 rand ($277) a month. It was initially meant to be introduced earlier in May in a bid to boost the economy. The bill will be sent to parliament’s upper house for ratification and becomes law once it is signed by Ramaphosa. Supporters of the minimum wage say it will reduce inequality and stimulate economic growth as workers spend more. Critics say it could lead to increased unemployment, already at record highs, because some employers won’t be able to afford higher wage bills. Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said the bill could address the perennial wage inequality and poverty in South Africa. “I am very pleased that the journey towards addressing the plight of the lowest paid workers in the labour market has reached this milestone,” Oliphant told parliament. The minimum wage bill was one of a raft of labour-related bills passed by parliament and which has drawn criticism from some trade unions worried that policies aimed at preventing prolonged and violent strikes contained in the bills would dilute worker rights. Thousands of union members protested against the proposed minimum wage in April, saying it was inadequate. However, labour federation Cosatu, the country’s biggest union which is also part of the ruling alliance with the African National Congress, welcomed parliament’s decision. “The minimum wage of 20 rand per hour will see the wages of 6.4 million South Africans rise. This is equal to 47 percent of workers and will directly benefit half the nation,” Matthew Parks, Cosatu’s parliamentary coordinator, said in a statement. Others disagreed. “Clearly this proposed wage will destroy jobs for the marginal workers and most certainly prevent their entrance into the economy,” said Michael Bagraim, the DA’s shadow labour minister during the debate. More than two decades after the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa’s economy is still characterised by deep wealth inequality between whites and blacks and high levels of unemployment. $1 = 12.6327 rand Reporting by Wendell Roelf Editing by James Macharia and Edmund Blair 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAsouthAfricaNews | 0 |
| 134 | 2018-05-29T19:56:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Shareholders demand Japan's Takeda assuage fears over Shire deal | * Proposal says Shire deal could damage existing shareholders * Demands deals over 1 tln yen receive shareholder approval * Takeda board opposes proposal, says would damage competitiveness (Adds details of board’s opposition to proposal) By Sam Nussey TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd faces demands from disgruntled shareholders to put to a vote its $62-billion acquisition of London-listed Shire and do more to assuage concerns over the record-breaking deal. The deal “carries overly high risks to the company” given its size, 12 shareholders said in a proposal to be voted on at next month’s annual shareholders’ meeting, adding that new shares to be issued to fund the deal threaten “a danger of causing a great disadvantage to existing shareholders”. The Shire deal and any future deals worth more than 1 trillion yen ($9.19 billion) should be put to a shareholder vote, says the proposal - which will need two thirds of votes at the meeting to pass, according to a Takeda spokesman. Takeda’s board of directors opposes the proposal, according to the company’s notice of convocation that contained the proposal, saying the need for prior approval for such deals would damage competitiveness and the company’s ability to make decisions. However, the drugmaker already plans to put the Shire deal to a vote at an extraordinary general meeting, with two-thirds support needed. It will also need three-quarters backing from Shire investors. Many investors have been lukewarm on the deal, fearing it will overstretch Takeda’s finances, with shares at the drugmaker trading down more than 25 percent since it first said it was considering bidding for Shire. The proposal was received on April 27, a Takeda spokesman said, before the terms of the Shire deal were announced on May 8. ($1=108.8300 yen) (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Adrian Croft) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 135 | 2018-05-29T20:00:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins U.S. approval for Monsanto deal | FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto ( MON.N ) after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division, said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.” A Bayer spokesman said the planned sale of businesses with 2.2 billion euros ($2.54 billion) in sales to BASF already agreed to address antitrust concerns, mainly in Europe, were not materially different from the DoJ’s demands. “Receipt of the DOJ’s approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. Shares in Bayer jumped to the top of Germany's DAX .GDAXI index in early Wednesday trading and were trading up 2.8 percent at 101.6 euros by 0833 GMT. Bernstein analysts said the DoJ approval made it possible for Bayer to close the Monsanto deal by the end of June. After months of delays in a drawn-out review process the ruling brings Bayer close to creating an agricultural supplies giant with sales of about 20 billion euros, based on 2017 figures, when taking into account the divestments. At current foreign exchange rates, that compares to about 12.4 billion euros at DowDuPont’s ( DWDP.N ) Corteva Agriscience unit, 11 billion euros at ChemChina’s Syngenta and 7.9 billion at BASF, including businesses to be acquired. Related Coverage Bayer says EU approves BASF as buyer of antitrust divestments Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG SYNN.S, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals tie-ups. U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical DOW.N and DuPont merged in September 2017 and are now in the process of splitting into three units. In other consolidation in the sector, China’s state-owned ChemChina purchased Syngenta and two huge Canadian fertilizer producers merged to form a new company, now called Nutrien ( NTR.TO ). Bayer committed to selling its entire cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seeds businesses and digital farming business, as well its Liberty herbicide, which competes with Monsanto’s Roundup. Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer agreed to sell assets with revenues of 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), to rival BASF ( BASFn.DE ) for 7.6 billion euros. Bayer said in a statement it expected Bayer and Monsanto to begin the integration process as soon as the sales to BASF are complete, which it said are expected to take two months to complete. If Bayer does not close the deal by June 14, Monsanto could withdraw from the takeover agreement and seek a higher price. It has already secured the go-ahead from key jurisdictions, including the European Union, Brazil and Russia. Apart from the United States, it still needs clearance in Canada and Mexico. In a separate statement, Bayer said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF as a suitable buyer of the businesses to be divested. German seed seller KWS Saat ( KWSG.DE ), which had made an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s vegetable seed business, said on Wednesday it accepted the Commission’s decision. Bayer last week said synergies from folding Monsanto into its organization would be about $300 million below its previous target because it will have to sell more businesses than initially expected. Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss; Editing by Mark Potter, Dan Grebler and David Evans | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 1 |
| 136 | 2018-05-29T20:08:00.000+03:00 | Nepal says to scrap hydropower deal with Chinese firm | May 29, 2018 / 5:13 PM / Updated 9 hours ago Nepal says to scrap hydropower deal with Chinese firm Gopal Sharma 3 Min Read KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal’s government said on Tuesday it will build a 750 megawatt hydroelectric plant that was earlier cleared to be developed by China’s state-owned Three Gorges International Corp, in a surprise announcement made while laying out the annual budget. FILE PHOTO: A worker installs new cables on an electric pole in Kathmandu September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo “We will mobilize Nepal’s internal resources and build the West Seti hydroelectric project,” the country’s Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada said while unveiling a $12.18 billion annual budget in parliament on Tuesday. The announcement effectively scraps a $1.6 billion plan by the Chinese firm to build the plant on West Seti river in the west of the Himalayan nation, the second such plant to be withdrawn from Chinese builders in six months. Three Gorges, China’s biggest hydropower developer and the operator of the world’s largest hydropower plant at the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze river, could not be immediately contacted for comments on Nepal’s decision. In 2015, Nepal cleared the Chinese firm to build the long-delayed West Seti hydropower project that was scheduled for completion by 2021-22. Power from the facility was to be sold to Nepal which now imports nearly 500 megawatts of electricity from India to offset crippling shortages. According to Nepali officials, work had yet to begin as the Chinese company was haggling with the government for better terms on construction and tariffs. In November last year, Nepal scrapped a $2.5 billion deal with another Chinese company, Gezhouba Group, to build a 1,200 MW hydroelectric plant on the Budhi Gandaki river also in west Nepal. One of the world’s poorest countries, Nepal is opening up its vast hydropower potential to help ease chronic power shortages and develop an economy still emerging from a decade-long civil war and a devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 people in 2015. That has prompted a rush by China and India to invest billions exploiting their neighbour’s rivers. This month, India began the construction of a 900 MW hydro-power project to be built in east Nepal by state-run Indian firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited at a cost $1.04 billion during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nepal. Nepal is estimated to have the potential to generate some 42,000 MW of hydropower, but it currently produces 1,000 MW — less than the demand of about 1,500 MW. Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Alexandra Hudson | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INsouthAsiaNews | 0 |
| 137 | 2018-05-29T20:20:00.000+03:00 | Shipper BW LPG offers to buy Dorian LPG in $1.1 bln deal | OSLO (Reuters) - Norway’s BW LPG, the world’s largest liquid petroleum gas shipper, said on Tuesday it had offered to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market. Dorian shareholders will receive 2.05 BW LPG shares for each Dorian share, equal to $7.86 per share, a premium of 13 percent from Friday’s closing price, and based on BW LPG’s share price on May 28. Shares of Dorian closed 5.2 percent higher at $7.32, its best day since December 2017. In a separate statement, Dorian confirmed BW LPG’s “unsolicited proposal”, adding that its board was reviewing the offer. New York-listed Dorian LPG’s equity is valued at about $441 million and including debt the transaction is valued at $1.1 billion. The deal is backed by shipping conglomerate BW Group, owned by the Hong Kong-based Sohmen-Pao family, which owns 14.2 percent of Dorian and about 45 percent of BW LPG. Dorian LPG’s fleet consists of 22 very large gas carriers (VLGC) and the combined company would own 73 vessels, of which 68 would be very large gas carriers, 2 VLGCs currently under order and 3 large gas carriers if the deal goes through. BW LPG said it expected minimum annual savings of $15 million from the deal. Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Adrian Croft and Anil D'Silva | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 138 | 2018-05-29T20:20:00.000+03:00 | Bayer says EU approves BASF as buyer of antitrust divestments | FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - Bayer said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF as a suitable buyer of the businesses Bayer will divest to win regulatory approval for the planned acquisition of Monsanto. The EU commission, which is Europe’s antitrust regulator, ruled in March that the assets Bayer agreed to shed are sufficient to approve the Monsanto deal, but it had yet to give a final nod on whether BASF would sufficiently stoke competition as new owner. Bayer is close to wrapping up the Monsanto deal following months of delays. Earlier on Tuesday it won conditional U.S. antitrust approval for the $62.5 billion transaction. Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Mark Heinrich | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 139 | 2018-05-29T20:24:00.000+03:00 | Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalising sexual harassment | DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a measure criminalising sexual harassment, the state news agency SPA reported, weeks before a decades-old ban on women driving is set to expire. Saudi Arabia women arrive to a rally to celebrate the 87th annual National Day of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 23, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser The legislation, which awaits an expected royal decree to become law, is the latest in a series of reforms that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has initiated in a bid to modernise the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. Prince Mohammed is also trying to diversify the Arab world’s largest economy away from oil exports and open up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles by easing strict social rules and promoting entertainment. The anti-harassment measure, which was approved on Monday by the Shura Council advisory body, introduces a jail sentence of up to five years and a 300,000 riyals ($80,000) fine. “(The legislation) aims at combating the crime of harassment, preventing it, applying punishment against perpetrators and protecting the victims in order to safeguard the individual’s privacy, dignity and personal freedom which are guaranteed by Islamic law and regulations,” a statement from the Shura Council said. Last year’s decision to end the ban on women driving cars, set to take effect on June 24, has been hailed as proof of a progressive trend in the kingdom. But earlier this month, authorities arrested nearly a dozen women’s rights campaigners who had previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system. The United Nations called on the Saudi government on Tuesday to provide information about the detained activists, disclose their locations and ensure their rights. ($1 = 3.7503 riyals) Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Stephen Kalin; Editing by Peter Cooney | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 140 | 2018-05-29T20:26:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins U.S. approval for Monsanto deal | May 29, 2018 / 11:40 AM / Updated 26 minutes ago Bayer wins U.S. approval for Monsanto deal Patricia Weiss , Diane Bartz 3 Min Read FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) won U.S. antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto ( MON.N ) on condition that it sells about $9 billion (6.8 billion pounds) in assets, the Justice Department said on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo The divestiture required by U.S. antitrust enforcers “aligns closely” with divestitures the European Union required, according to a source knowledgeable about the agreement between Bayer and the U.S. government. Makan Delrahim, who heads the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.” Related Coverage Bayer says EU approves BASF as buyer of antitrust divestments In agreements with global antitrust enforcers, Bayer committed to sell its entire cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seeds businesses and digital farming business, as well its Liberty herbicide, which competes with Monsanto’s Roundup. Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer has agreed to sell assets that include its seed and some crop chemicals activities, with revenues of 2.2 billion euros (£1.9 billion), to rival BASF ( BASFn.DE ) for 7.6 billion euros. Bayer said in a statement that it expected Bayer and Monsanto to begin the integration process as soon as the sales to BASF are complete, which it said are expected to take two months to complete. The German pharmaceuticals and life sciences company had said it was on track to wrap up the deal soon. If it is not closed by June 14, Monsanto could withdraw from the takeover agreement and seek a higher price. Bayer has already secured the go-ahead from key jurisdictions, including the European Union, Brazil and Russia. Apart from the United States, it still needs clearance in Canada and Mexico. Bayer last week said synergies from folding Monsanto into its organisation would be about $300 million below its previous target because it will have to sell more businesses than initially expected. “Receipt of the DOJ’s (Justice Department’s) approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. Ludwig Burger; Editing by Mark Potter and Dan Grebler | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 1 |
| 141 | 2018-05-29T21:06:00.000+03:00 | British regulator lays out scope of SSE/Npower merger inquiry | LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - Britain’s competition regulator on Tuesday set out more detail about what it intends to examine in its investigation of the tie-up between the retail power units of energy companies SSE and Innogy’s Npower. * The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said earlier this month it had launched in-depth investigation into the tie-up between the companies, saying it may reduce competition and increase prices for some households. [nL8N1SF1LQ} * On Tuesday, the CMA said it would consider the impact of the merger on the supply of gas and electricity to customers in Britain. * The CMA will also consider any implications arising from plans for a larger asset swap between Innogy’s parent company RWE and E.ON, which also has a British retail energy business. * The CMA will also look at the potential impact on British independent energy supplier Utility Warehouse, which has around 600,000 customers and relies on Npower for is gas and electricity supplies. * “This theory of harm considers whether the Merged Entity would have an incentive to raise SVT (standard variable tariff) prices to increase its wholesale prices to Utility Warehouse,” the CMA said. * The SSE/Npower merger would create Britain’s second-largest retail power provider and reduce the “Big Six” dominating the market to five companies when they are already facing political scrutiny for high prices. * The CMA is expected to issue a final report by Oct 22. (Reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Mark Potter) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 142 | 2018-05-29T21:09:00.000+03:00 | Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create agriculture giant | May 29, 2018 / 11:57 AM / Updated an hour ago Bayer wins U.S. nod for Monsanto deal to create agriculture giant Diane Bartz , Ludwig Burger 4 Min Read FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto ( MON.N ) after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Bayer is seen at the headquarters building in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo Makan Delrahim, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division, said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.” A Bayer spokesman said the planned sale of businesses with 2.2 billion euros ($2.54 billion) in sales to BASF already agreed to address antitrust concerns, mainly in Europe, were not materially different from the DoJ’s demands. “Receipt of the DOJ’s approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. After months of delays in a drawn-out review process the ruling brings Bayer close to creating an agricultural supplies giant with sales of about 20 billion euros, based on 2017 figures, when taking into account the divestments. At current foreign exchange rates, that compares to about 12.4 billion euros at DowDuPont’s ( DWDP.N ) Corteva Agriscience unit, 11 billion euros at ChemChina’s Syngenta and 7.9 billion at BASF, including businesses to be acquired. Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG SYNN.S, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals tie-ups. U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical DOW.N and DuPont merged in September 2017 and are now in the process of splitting into three units. In other consolidation in the sector, China’s state-owned ChemChina purchased Syngenta and two huge Canadian fertilizer producers merged to form a new company, now called Nutrien ( NTR.TO ). Bayer committed to selling its entire cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seeds businesses and digital farming business, as well its Liberty herbicide, which competes with Monsanto’s Roundup. Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer agreed to sell assets with revenues of 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), to rival BASF ( BASFn.DE ) for 7.6 billion euros. Bayer said in a statement it expected Bayer and Monsanto to begin the integration process as soon as the sales to BASF are complete, which it said are expected to take two months to complete. If Bayer does not close the deal by June 14, Monsanto could withdraw from the takeover agreement and seek a higher price. It has already secured the go-ahead from key jurisdictions, including the European Union, Brazil and Russia. Apart from the United States, it still needs clearance in Canada and Mexico. In a separate statement, Bayer said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF as a suitable buyer of the businesses to be divested. Bayer last week said synergies from folding Monsanto into its organization would be about $300 million below its previous target because it will have to sell more businesses than initially expected. ($1 = 0.8668 euros) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 1 |
| 143 | 2018-05-29T21:54:00.000+03:00 | ANZ Bank New Zealand sells life insurance business to Cigna Corp | (Reuters) - ANZ Bank New Zealand agreed to sell its New Zealand life insurance business to U.S-listed Cigna Corp ( CI.N ) for NZ$700 million ($482.4 million), as its parent boosts its capital base by hiving off non-core businesses. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) is pictured on a local branch in Sydney in this April 30, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo ANZ Bank New Zealand said the deal to sell OnePath Life NZ would add about 5 basis points to the level 1 CET ratio of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ( ANZ.AX ). The deal would generate a gain on sale of around NZ$50 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The transaction marks ANZ’s second disposal this month, after it sold a majority stake in a Cambodian joint venture to Japan’s J Trust ( 8508.T ). This follows a trend among major Australian banks to offload non-core businesses to trim their capital requirements and simplify business structure. National Australia Bank ( NAB.AX ) said earlier this month it was looking to exit part of its wealth management arm by 2019. ANZ New Zealand said the deal included a 20-year strategic alliance for Cigna to provide insurance to ANZ Bank customers. It added that current policy holders would continue with existing coverage. Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 144 | 2018-05-29T23:29:00.000+03:00 | WellCare Health to buy Meridian for $2.5 bln | (Reuters) - WellCare Health Plans Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Meridian Health Plans of Michigan and Illinois for $2.5 billion in cash to become the top Medicaid provider in those states. The deal will help WellCare add about 1.07 million Medicaid members in Michigan and Illinois and includes the acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager MeridianRx, WellCare said in a statement. “This transaction strategically aligns with our focus on government-sponsored health plans...,” WellCare Chief Executive Officer Ken Burdick said in a statement. Meridian’s businesses are expected to generate more than $4.3 billion in total revenue in 2018, WellCare said. The deal comes as healthcare payers and pharmacies are responding to a shifting landscape, including changes in the Affordable Care Act, rising drug prices and the threat of competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. In December, U.S. drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp agreed to buy U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc for $69 billion, seeking to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc was reported to have been in early-stage talks in March with health insurer Humana Inc about developing closer ties. The WellCare-Meridian deal would add 40 to 50 cents per share to WellCare’s adjusted earnings in 2019, 70-80 cents per share in 2020, and more than $1.00 per share in 2021. WellCare said it expected to fund the transaction through cash on hand, as well as from issuing new equity of up to $1.2 billion and debt of up to $1 billion. The company also said it had secured $2.5 billion in committed bridge financing. Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 145 | 2018-05-29T23:59:00.000+03:00 | PRECIOUS-Gold gains as Italy crisis drives safe-haven buying | BENGALURU, May 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as political turmoil in Italy and concerns over Sino-U.S. trade conflict spurred safe-haven demand. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had risen 0.3 percent to $1,301.98 per ounce by 0125 GMT. * U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up 0.2 percent at $1,301.50 per ounce. * Italy may hold repeat elections as early as July after the man asked to be prime minister failed to secure support from major political parties for even a stop-gap government, sources said on Tuesday, as markets tumbled on the growing political turmoil. * The United States said on Tuesday that it still holds the threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China and will use it unless Beijing addresses the issue of theft of American intellectual property. * Asian shares looked set for a sharp fall on Wednesday as Italy's political crisis provoked a sell-off on Wall Street, sent the euro to a 10-month low and spiked borrowing costs for the government in Rome. * U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields posted their largest one-day drop on Tuesday since Britain voted to exit the European Union nearly two years ago. * The U.S. Federal Reserve will have difficulty raising interest rates significantly beyond the settings of its Japanese and European counterparts, which are still pursuing accommodative policy, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Tuesday. * U.S. interest rates futures rallied on Tuesday as traders slashed their expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise key overnight borrowing costs three more times in 2018 as Italy's political situation threatens European economic growth. * A top North Korean official was headed to New York on Tuesday for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.35 percent to 851.45 tonnes on Tuesday. * Shandong Gold Group Co Ltd , China's largest gold producer, is hunting for gold around the world and is "looking forward to investing in Peru", the chairman of the company said during a presentation Tuesday. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0600 Germany Import prices April 0600 Germany Retail sales April 0645 France Detailed GDP Q1 0645 France Consumer spending April 0800 Germany Unemployment rate May 0900 Euro zone Business climate May 1200 Germany Consumer prices May 1215 U.S. ADP national employment May 1230 U.S. GDP 2nd estimate Q1 1230 U.S. Goods trade balance April 1230 U.S. Wholesale inventories April 1800 Federal Reserve issues Beige Book on economic condition (Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru Editing by Joseph Radford) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets | 0 |
| 146 | 2018-05-30T00:04:00.000+03:00 | South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill | CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s parliament passed a national minimum wage bill on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority, part of an effort by President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle strikes and wage inequality. The measure, opposed by the official Democratic Alliance (DA) opposition party, will see millions of workers earn 3,500 rand ($277) a month. It was initially meant to be introduced earlier in May in a bid to boost the economy. The bill will be sent to parliament’s upper house for ratification and becomes law once it is signed by Ramaphosa. Supporters of the minimum wage say it will reduce inequality and stimulate economic growth as workers spend more. Critics say it could lead to increased unemployment, already at record highs, because some employers won’t be able to afford higher wage bills. Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said the bill could address the perennial wage inequality and poverty in South Africa. “I am very pleased that the journey towards addressing the plight of the lowest paid workers in the labor market has reached this milestone,” Oliphant told parliament. The minimum wage bill was one of a raft of labor-related bills passed by parliament and which has drawn criticism from some trade unions worried that policies aimed at preventing prolonged and violent strikes contained in the bills would dilute worker rights. Thousands of union members protested against the proposed minimum wage in April, saying it was inadequate. However, labor federation Cosatu, the country’s biggest union which is also part of the ruling alliance with the African National Congress, welcomed parliament’s decision. “The minimum wage of 20 rand per hour will see the wages of 6.4 million South Africans rise. This is equal to 47 percent of workers and will directly benefit half the nation,” Matthew Parks, Cosatu’s parliamentary coordinator, said in a statement. Others disagreed. “Clearly this proposed wage will destroy jobs for the marginal workers and most certainly prevent their entrance into the economy,” said Michael Bagraim, the DA’s shadow labor minister during the debate. More than two decades after the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa’s economy is still characterised by deep wealth inequality between whites and blacks and high levels of unemployment. Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia and Edmund Blair | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 147 | 2018-05-30T00:07:00.000+03:00 | WellCare Health to buy Meridian for $2.5 billion | May 29, 2018 / 8:32 PM / Updated 13 hours ago WellCare Health to buy Meridian Health Plans for $2.5 billion Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Reuters) - WellCare Health Plans Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Meridian Health Plans of Michigan and Illinois for $2.5 billion in cash to become the top Medicaid provider in those states. The deal will help WellCare add about 1.07 million Medicaid members in Michigan and Illinois and includes the acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager MeridianRx, WellCare said in a statement. “This transaction strategically aligns with our focus on government-sponsored health plans...,” WellCare Chief Executive Officer Ken Burdick said in a statement. Meridian’s businesses are expected to generate more than $4.3 billion in total revenue in 2018, WellCare said. The deal comes as healthcare payers and pharmacies are responding to a shifting landscape, including changes in the Affordable Care Act, rising drug prices and the threat of competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. In December, U.S. drugstore chain operator CVS Health Corp agreed to buy U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc for $69 billion, seeking to tackle soaring healthcare spending through lower-cost medical services in pharmacies. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc was reported to have been in early-stage talks in March with health insurer Humana Inc about developing closer ties. The WellCare-Meridian deal would add 40 to 50 cents per share to WellCare’s adjusted earnings in 2019, 70-80 cents per share in 2020, and more than $1.00 per share in 2021. WellCare said it expected to fund the transaction through cash on hand, as well as from issuing new equity of up to $1.2 billion and debt of up to $1 billion. The company also said it had secured $2.5 billion in committed bridge financing. Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKhealth/ | 1 |
| 148 | 2018-05-30T00:35:00.000+03:00 | Altice refuses to propose new remedies in Media Capital deal | LISBON, May 29 (Reuters) - Dutch-based Altice will not propose any new market remedies to secure a takeover of Media Capital after its earlier proposals were rejected by Portugal’s antitrust authority, but will still pursue the deal, Altice said on Tuesday. The authority told Reuters earlier its decision “was not final as the company is free to present other remedies.” In a statement, Altice Portugal said it disagreed with the regulator’s decision and was ready to provide all explanations to the authorities in order to still be able to proceed with the deal agreed with Spain’s Prisa last year for Media Capital, which owns the TVI television channel. (Reporting By Catarina Demony, writing by Andrei Khalip) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 149 | 2018-05-30T00:49:00.000+03:00 | BHP-Mitsubishi JV to sell Australia coal mine to Japan's Sojitz | (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) said on Wednesday that its joint venture with a unit of Mitsubishi Corp ( 8058.T ) would sell a coal mine in Queensland in Australia to Japan’s Sojitz Corp ( 2768.T ) for A$100 million ($74.89 million). FILE PHOTO: A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File photo/File Photo The Gregory Crinum hard coking coal mine had ceased production by the end of 2015. BHP said its annual capacity was 6 million tonnes prior to that. “(The BHP-Mitsubishi alliance) made the decision to sell the mine after a detailed review that concluded there is potential for another party to realize greater value (there),” BHP said in a statement. BHP’s Australia-listed shares were 0.8 percent lower on Wednesday, in line with the broader market. Reporting by Rushil Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 150 | 2018-05-30T01:01:00.000+03:00 | Nikkei tumbles to 6-week low on Italian crisis; BOJ's ETF buying expected | TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average tumbled to six-week lows on Wednesday morning after political turmoil in Italy sparked concerns about the stability of the euro zone, hurting most sectors on the board. Traders said they expected the Bank of Japan to buy exchange-traded funds to support the market amid the morning weakness. The BOJ had bought ETFs for five straight sessions up until Tuesday as part of its wider policy of supporting asset prices in the economy. The Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to 22,043.53 in midmorning trade, after falling to a six-week low of 21,931.65. The Nikkei managed to stay above its 75-day moving average of 21,920.77, which has become the index’s immediate support level. Sources close to some of Italy’s main parties said Italy may hold repeat elections as early as July after the man asked to be prime minister failed to secure support from major political parties for even a stop-gap government. The political crisis in Rome, and the threat to the euro project it represents, triggered a rush to safe havens like U.S. debt and the Japanese yen. “The Italian political problems triggered global investors’ risk-off stances. Exporters and financials are hard hit and they will likely remain vulnerable,” said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Insurers and banks, which have invested in higher-yielding foreign bonds due to low yield environment in Japan, underperformed and stumbled 3.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Sompo Holdings shed 2.6 percent, Dai-ichi Life Holdings declined 4.2 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 3.4 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 2.6 percent. U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields on Tuesday posted their largest one-day drop in nearly two years. Exporters were under pressure as the dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 108.38 yen, edging towards a five-week low of 108.115 yen hit the previous day. Toyota Motor Corp dropped 2.1 percent, Mazda Motor Corp stumbled 3.0 percent and Hitachi Ltd shed 3.0 percent. The broader Topix dropped 1.6 percent to 1,734.08. Editing by Sam Holmes | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/us | 0 |
| 151 | 2018-05-30T01:21:00.000+03:00 | Shipper BW LPG offers to buy Dorian LPG in $1.1 bln deal | OSLO, May 29 (Reuters) - The world’s largest liquid petroleum gas (LPG) shipper, Norway’s BW LPG, is offering to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Dorian shareholders will receive 2.05 BW LPG shares for each Dorian share, equal to $7.86 per share, a premium of 13 percent from Friday’s closing price, and based on BW LPG’s share price on May 28. New York-listed Dorian LPG’s equity is valued at about $441 million and including debt the transaction is valued at $1.1 billion. The deal is backed by shipping conglomerate BW Group, owned by the Hong Kong-based Sohmen-Pao family, which owns 14.2 percent of Dorian and about 45 percent of BW LPG. Dorian LPG’s fleet consists of 22 very large gas carriers (VLGC) and the combined company would own 73 vessels, of which 68 would be very large gas carriers, 2 VLGCs currently under order and 3 large gas carriers if the deal goes through. There was no immediate response from Dorian, whose shares rose 6.2 percent on the news to $7.39. (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Adrian Croft) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 152 | 2018-05-30T01:21:00.000+03:00 | Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalizing sexual harassment | May 29, 2018 / 10:23 PM / Updated an hour ago Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalizing sexual harassment Reuters Staff 2 Min Read DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a measure criminalizing sexual harassment, the state news agency SPA reported, weeks before a decades-old ban on women driving is set to expire. FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman leaves the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo The legislation, which awaits an expected royal decree to become law, is the latest in a series of reforms that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has initiated in a bid to modernise the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. Prince Mohammed is also trying to diversify the Arab world’s largest economy away from oil exports and open up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles by easing strict social rules and promoting entertainment. The anti-harassment measure, which was approved on Monday by the Shura Council advisory body, introduces a jail sentence of up to five years and a 300,000 riyals (£60,345) fine. “(The legislation) aims at combating the crime of harassment, preventing it, applying punishment against perpetrators and protecting the victims in order to safeguard the individual’s privacy, dignity and personal freedom which are guaranteed by Islamic law and regulations,” a statement from the Shura Council said. Last year’s decision to end the ban on women driving cars, set to take effect on June 24, has been hailed as proof of a progressive trend in the kingdom. But earlier this month, authorities arrested nearly a dozen women’s rights campaigners who had previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system. The United Nations called on the Saudi government on Tuesday to provide information about the detained activists, disclose their locations and ensure their rights. Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Stephen Kalin; Editing by Peter Cooney | http://feeds.feedburner.com/Reuters/UKWorldNews | 0 |
| 153 | 2018-05-30T01:21:00.000+03:00 | Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalizing sexual harassment | May 29, 2018 / 10:25 PM / Updated 2 hours ago Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalizing sexual harassment Reuters Staff 2 Min Read DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a measure criminalizing sexual harassment, the state news agency SPA reported, weeks before a decades-old ban on women driving is set to expire. FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman leaves the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo The legislation, which awaits an expected royal decree to become law, is the latest in a series of reforms that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has initiated in a bid to modernise the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. Prince Mohammed is also trying to diversify the Arab world’s largest economy away from oil exports and open up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles by easing strict social rules and promoting entertainment. The anti-harassment measure, which was approved on Monday by the Shura Council advisory body, introduces a jail sentence of up to five years and a 300,000 riyals (£60,345) fine. “(The legislation) aims at combating the crime of harassment, preventing it, applying punishment against perpetrators and protecting the victims in order to safeguard the individual’s privacy, dignity and personal freedom which are guaranteed by Islamic law and regulations,” a statement from the Shura Council said. Last year’s decision to end the ban on women driving cars, set to take effect on June 24, has been hailed as proof of a progressive trend in the kingdom. But earlier this month, authorities arrested nearly a dozen women’s rights campaigners who had previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system. The United Nations called on the Saudi government on Tuesday to provide information about the detained activists, disclose their locations and ensure their rights. Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Stephen Kalin; Editing by Peter Cooney 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAWorldNews | 0 |
| 154 | 2018-05-30T01:23:00.000+03:00 | Bayer says EU approves BASF as buyer of antitrust divestments | FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) said on Tuesday said the European Commission had approved BASF ( BASFn.DE ) as a suitable buyer of the businesses Bayer will divest to win regulatory approval for the planned acquisition of Monsanto. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the Bayer Healthcare subgroup production plant in Wuppertal, Germany February 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender//File Photo The EU commission, which is Europe’s antitrust regulator, ruled in March that the assets Bayer agreed to shed are sufficient to approve the Monsanto deal, but it had yet to give a final nod on whether BASF would sufficiently stoke competition as new owner. Bayer is close to wrapping up the Monsanto deal following months of delays. Earlier on Tuesday it won conditional U.S. antitrust approval for the $62.5 billion transaction. Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Mark Heinrich | https://www.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 155 | 2018-05-30T01:23:00.000+03:00 | Saudi Cabinet approves measure criminalizing sexual harassment | DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a measure criminalizing sexual harassment, the state news agency SPA reported, weeks before a decades-old ban on women driving is set to expire. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron (not pictured) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 10, 2018. Yoan Valat/Pool via Reuters The legislation, which awaits an expected royal decree to become law, is the latest in a series of reforms that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has initiated in a bid to modernize the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. Prince Mohammed is also trying to diversify the Arab world’s largest economy away from oil exports and open up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles by easing strict social rules and promoting entertainment. The anti-harassment measure, which was approved on Monday by the Shura Council advisory body, introduces a jail sentence of up to five years and a 300,000 riyals ($80,000) fine. “(The legislation) aims at combating the crime of harassment, preventing it, applying punishment against perpetrators and protecting the victims in order to safeguard the individual’s privacy, dignity and personal freedom which are guaranteed by Islamic law and regulations,” a statement from the Shura Council said. Last year’s decision to end the ban on women driving cars, set to take effect on June 24, has been hailed as proof of a progressive trend in the kingdom. But earlier this month, authorities arrested nearly a dozen women’s rights campaigners who had previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system. The United Nations called on the Saudi government on Tuesday to provide information about the detained activists, disclose their locations and ensure their rights. Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Stephen Kalin; Editing by Peter Cooney | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/worldNews | 0 |
| 156 | 2018-05-30T01:59:00.000+03:00 | Facebook's size no barrier to deals in new areas: executive | May 30, 2018 / 3:59 AM / Updated 15 hours ago Facebook's size no barrier to deals in new areas: executive David Ingram 2 Min Read RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (Reuters) - Facebook Inc believes it could acquire other large companies without running afoul of antitrust enforcers if the world’s largest social media network chose to enter a new market, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Tuesday. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, addresses the Facebook Gather conference in Brussels, Belgium January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Files Sandberg was asked on stage by a journalist at the Code Conference whether Facebook, because of its size, would be allowed in the future to buy companies as it has such as virtual reality firm Oculus and messaging service WhatsApp. “It really depends what it is. If it was in something that wasn’t core to what we were doing and a new area, like Oculus was, I think it would probably be allowed,” Sandberg said. She gave no indication that a deal was forthcoming. Facebook, one of the largest corporations by market capitalization, has grown in part through acquisitions. In 2014 it bought WhatsApp for $22 billion and Oculus for $3 billion, but has not made a similar purchase since. It bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. EU regulators have expressed concern about a plan by Facebook and WhatsApp to begin sharing users’ phone numbers and other data. Sandberg said sharing data between the two services had benefits, such as catching people who exploit children, and that Facebook should not be broken up. “If you are doing child-exploitative content, WhatsApp’s encrypted, but we know who you are from Facebook. We can take your account down on WhatsApp, too,” she said. The logo of Facebook is pictured during the Viva Tech start-up and technology summit in Paris, France, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/Files Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Stephen Coates | https://in.reuters.com/ | 1 |
| 157 | 2018-05-30T02:26:00.000+03:00 | Brazil, Petrobras near rights-transfer deal: deputy minister | RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Brazil’s government are “very close” to resolving a long-running dispute over an oil-rich offshore area, a deputy minister said, dismissing concerns a fuel pricing crisis had emerged as an obstacle in talks. FILE PHOTO: Tanks of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company are seen in Brasilia, Brazil, August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File photo On Sunday, Brazilian President Michel Temer offered new fuel subsidies to soften the blow from a run-up in diesel prices that has sparked a nationwide truckers’ protest, paralyzing the country’s economy. His government also promised to compensate Petrobras for losses it may incur by abandoning a market-focused pricing policy. The offers of the subsidies fanned fears among investors that the turmoil could delay Petrobras’ bid to conclude a longstanding compensation dispute with the government over the so-called transfer-of-rights area, dimming hopes for a windfall for the world’s most indebted oil company. Despite overlapping with the truckers’ strike, talks “were not suspended,” Deputy Mining and Energy Minister Marcio Felix told Reuters late on Monday. “There are just a few sticking points ... They are very close.” Earlier this month, a Brazilian paper reported that Petrobras was likely to get the rights to produce an additional 1 billion to 2 billion barrels of oil to settle the dispute. Resolving the dispute would let the cash-strapped government, which is expected to be ousted in elections in October, raise extra revenue to close a huge budget gap by auctioning off the rights to billions of barrels of oil. Following a resolution of the dispute, Felix said such an auction could still be possible in November, before the current government turns over power to a new president in January. He emphasized that the goal was shared by Petrobras CEO Pedro Parente, who has been rumored to be considering resigning from the company he is credited with turning around after a massive corruption scandal and years of mismanagement. “Transfer-of rights would be a crowning achievement for him after two years in management,” Felix said, adding that “it would not be good for him to leave now.” The dispute has its roots in a 2010 deal under which Brazil’s government granted Petrobras rights to extract 5 billion barrels of oil and gas from under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor for a price based on oil prices then. However, the contract stipulated that costs, among other things, would be reviewed after the area was declared commercially viable in 2014. That has led to years of sparring, as oil prices have fluctuated. Oil executives say a bid round for the remaining areas would draw enormous bids, thanks to top notch geology and lack of risk. Additional reporting by Maria Clara Pestre; Editing by Paul Simao | https://www.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 158 | 2018-05-30T02:42:00.000+03:00 | ANZ Bank New Zealand sells life insurance business to Cigna Corp | May 30 (Reuters) - ANZ Bank New Zealand on Wednesday agreed to sell its New Zealand life insurance business to U.S-listed Cigna Corp for NZ$700 million ($482.4 million). Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s New Zealand unit said the deal to sell OnePath Life NZ would add about 5 basis points to the parent’s level 1 CET ratio. It added the deal would generate a gain on sale of around NZ$50 million. ($1 = 1.4512 New Zealand dollars) (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 159 | 2018-05-30T03:00:00.000+03:00 | Prosecutor to announce details of deal reached with Missouri governor - techinfopk | Prosecutor to announce details of deal reached with Missouri governor By 0 (Reuters) – A St. Louis prosecutor is about to make public particulars of a deal she reached on a felony cost towards Missouri Governor Eric Greitens on Wednesday, a day after he introduced his resignation after his quick tenure as governor grew to become embroiled in scandal. FILE PHOTO: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens seen at an industrial web site on this undated picture from his social media web site made out there Could 30, 2017. Workplace of the Missouri Governor/Handout through REUTERS The 44-year-old first-term governor, who was seen as a rising star within the Republican Occasion, abruptly resigned on Tuesday amid accusations stemming from an extramarital affair and his political fundraising. Greitens was charged a month in the past with felony laptop tampering. He’s accused of illegally acquiring a donor checklist to assist his 2016 election marketing campaign from a veterans’ charity he based in 2007. St. Louis Circuit Legal professional Kim Gardner stated in a press release to native media on Tuesday that she has been involved with the governor’s protection group and that she has “reached a good and simply decision of the pending costs.” Greitens, a former Navy SEAL commando, confronted the potential of changing into the primary Missouri governor to be impeached because the Republican-controlled Missouri Common Meeting started a particular session on Could 18 to think about what disciplinary steps to take towards him. FILE PHOTO: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens seems in a police reserving picture in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., February 22, 2018. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept./Handout through REUTERS/File Image Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson, additionally a Republican, will change into governor when Greitens formally leaves workplace on Friday. Greitens was beforehand charged with felony invasion of privateness in reference to an admitted extramarital affair in 2015 with a hairdresser earlier than he was elected. He has stated he’s harmless and referred to as the connection consensual. St. Louis prosecutors dismissed the legal invasion of privateness cost towards Greitens on Could 14 earlier than his trial received beneath method. A particular prosecutor assigned to the case stated on Tuesday that her investigation will proceed, in accordance with native media. Greitens had beforehand referred to as the costs towards him a part of a political witch hunt and on Tuesday he complained of “authorized harassment” with “no finish in sight.” Republican leaders within the state Home of Representatives stated Greitens’ exit was greatest for the state. State Senate Democratic chief Gina Walsh stated Greitens nonetheless wanted to reply for the scandals. Enhancing by Richard Balmforth | | 0 |
| 160 | 2018-05-30T03:00:00.000+03:00 | Samsung Life sells $ 1 billion worth of shares in Samsung Electronics | SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd said on Thursday it sold 1.12 trillion won ($1 billion) worth of its shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Share this: | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 161 | 2018-05-30T04:30:00.000+03:00 | WellCare Health to buy Meridian for $2.5 bln | May 29 (Reuters) - Health insurer WellCare Health Plans Inc said on Tuesday it agreed to buy for-profit managed care company Meridian for $2.5 billion in cash. Meridian is expected to generate more than $4.3 billion in total revenue in 2018, WellCare said in a statement. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 1 |
| 162 | 2018-05-30T04:59:00.000+03:00 | Deutsche Boerse beefs up forex business with $100 million buy | BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse AG ( DB1Gn.DE ) is beefing up its foreign exchange business with a $100 million deal to buy GTX’s Electronic Communication Network (ECN) business from GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. The company said in a statement on Wednesday that GTX’s ECN business, which had gross revenues of around $23 million in 2017, would help it add access to deep FX spot liquidity. Deutsche Boerse expects the deal to be cash accretive in the first year after closing. The acquisition should meet its return on investment target of more than 10 per cent at the latest in the third year after closing, it said. Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Victoria Bryan | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 163 | 2018-05-30T05:14:00.000+03:00 | Ousted WPP boss Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies | May 30, 2018 / 7:14 AM / Updated 9 minutes ago Sorrell plots comeback with new listed company after WPP exit Kate Holton 4 Min Read (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell is staging a comeback just six weeks after he was ousted from WPP, using the same formula as in the 1980s when he transformed a little-known shell company into the world’s biggest advertising group. Sir Martin Sorrell speaks during an interview with CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files One of Britain’s best known businessmen, Sorrell said he would invest 40 million pounds ($53 million) of his own money into Derriston Capital while institutional investors have pledged 150 million pounds to buy marketing companies. The London-listed group will be renamed S4 Capital, in reference to four generations of Sorrell’s family, while he will become executive chairman. Its next moves are likely to be closely watched in an industry facing questions over whether the ad guru’s model is still the best way to deliver adverts, marketing, research data and media buying in a digital world. WPP and its peers have struggled in recent years as major consumer goods groups such as Unilever trimmed spending on marketing and took some services in house, while consultancies such as Accenture have stepped up competition and Facebook and Google dominate the online ad market. “S4 Capital is a company that aims to build a multi-national communication services business focused on growth,” the 73-year-old said. “There are significant opportunities for development in technology, data and content.” The new company, which has raised 51 million pounds through Sorrell and institutional investors including Lombard Odier, Miton, a Rothschild investment unit, Schroders and Toscafund, is in early talks over a number of potential acquisitions. The group is looking to buy assets in the faster growing part of the industry such as technology and data which can be used to maximise the effectiveness of advertising, while markets such as India could also be of interest. TRIED AND TESTED Taking charge of a listed shell company repeats the tactic Sorrell used in the 1980s when he took a stake in Wire and Plastics Products, a maker of shopping baskets, and used it as a vehicle to buy some of the most famous advertising agencies such as JWT and Ogilvy & Mather. Derriston Capital is a little-known two-year-old listed shell company set up to invest in medical technology. Over 30 years Sorrell built WPP into a company with 200,000 staff in 112 countries by adding market research groups, media buyers, and public relations firms such as Finsbury. Worth 16 billion pounds, WPP returned millions to shareholders, including its CEO, and dominated the industry for decades. According to Thomson Reuters data, Sorrell is still the eighth biggest investor in WPP, with a 1.4 percent stake. Sorrell had vowed to break down the barriers at WPP to make it easier for clients to get all the services they needed from a small team, rather than from a range of people among the more than 400 agencies it owned. Starting again should make it easier to mould a business more aligned to the needs of today. WPP competes with U.S. groups Omnicom and IPG, France’s Publicis and Japan’s Dentsu, while thousands of small independent companies provide everything from ads for mobile phones to creative work and data analytics. Sorrell quit WPP after the board opened an investigation into an allegation of personal misconduct. The company has not given any details and Sorrell has denied any wrongdoing. He told staff he had stepped down because the disruption was putting too much pressure on the business. ($1 = 0.7543 pounds) | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 164 | 2018-05-30T05:45:00.000+03:00 | LIVESTOCK-Hogs touch five-week high on technical buying, pork gains | By Michael Hirtzer CHICAGO, May 29 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures climbed to a five-week high on Tuesday, bolstered by technical buying and gains in prices for cash hogs and pork, traders said. Live cattle futures were lower, easing on chart-based selling. Feeder cattle were higher, supported in part by lower corn prices as trading resumed following Monday's U.S. Memorial Day holiday. The holiday weekend is the unofficial beginning of the summer grilling season and traders were looking for clues on meat demand, including whether retailers were actively buying pork and beef to restock stores. Lean hogs opened sharply higher but came off their early peaks, still extending the rally to the fourth straight session. Most-active CME July hogs were up 1.300 cents to 78.850 cents. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday morning said wholesale pork prices were up $2.52 at $78.12 per cwt, but the agency after the close of trading said values were up on 74 cents at $76.34. Hogs in the Iowa and Minnesota cash market were up 79 cents at $66.09 per cwt. Some of the earlier buying was linked to the morning reports, said independent livestock trader Dan Norcini, who added that warm weekend weather in the United States was conducive to outdoor cooking and meat demand. "The weather was pretty good all over the country ... and the morning cutout price was really good," Norcini said. By contrast, wholesale beef prices late on Tuesday were up only 13 cents at $227.56 per cwt for choice-grade and down 97 cents at $203.65 per cwt for select grade, USDA data showed, suggesting relatively tepid retailer demand to begin the week. CME June live cattle were 1.525 cents lower at 103.125 cents per pound and most-active August cattle was down 0.850 cent at 101.450 cents per pound. CME August feeder cattle were up 0.050 cent at 144.975 cents, firming as corn prices fell about 1.5 percent. Lower prices for corn, the most widely consumed cattle feed, can lower costs and boost demand for cattle to bring into feedlots for fattening. A USDA report on Friday showed a steep drop of cattle placed on feed in April, which also supported feeder prices. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data on Friday showed speculative investors reducing net long positions in live cattle - activity that may have continued on Tuesday. "There may have been some residual longs in the June (cattle) contract and they are dumping them," Norcini said. (Reporting by Michael Hirtzer in Chicago Editing by Matthew Lewis) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 165 | 2018-05-30T05:45:00.000+03:00 | BHP-Mitsubishi JV to sell Australia coal mine to Japan's Sojitz | May 30, 2018 / 2:48 AM / a few seconds ago BHP-Mitsubishi JV to sell Australia coal mine to Japan's Sojitz Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) said on Wednesday that its joint venture with Mitsubishi Development would sell the Gregory Crinum coal mine in Australia’s Queensland to Japan’s Sojitz Corp ( 2768.T ) for A$100 million ($74.89 million). “(The BHP-Mitsubishi alliance) made the decision to sell the mine after a detailed review that concluded there is potential for another party to realize greater value (there),” BHP said in a statement. Reporting by Rushil Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 1 |
| 166 | 2018-05-30T05:56:00.000+03:00 | Nikkei tumbles to 6-week low on Italian crisis; BOJ's ETF buying expected | TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average tumbled to six-week lows on Wednesday morning after political turmoil in Italy sparked concerns about the stability of the euro zone, hurting most sectors on the board. Traders said they expected the Bank of Japan to buy exchange-traded funds to support the market amid the morning weakness. The BOJ had bought ETFs for five straight sessions up until Tuesday as part of its wider policy of supporting asset prices in the economy. The Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to 22,043.53 in midmorning trade, after falling to a six-week low of 21,931.65. The Nikkei managed to stay above its 75-day moving average of 21,920.77, which has become the index’s immediate support level. Sources close to some of Italy’s main parties said Italy may hold repeat elections as early as July after the man asked to be prime minister failed to secure support from major political parties for even a stop-gap government. The political crisis in Rome, and the threat to the euro project it represents, triggered a rush to safe havens like U.S. debt and the Japanese yen. “The Italian political problems triggered global investors’ risk-off stances. Exporters and financials are hard hit and they will likely remain vulnerable,” said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Insurers and banks, which have invested in higher-yielding foreign bonds due to low yield environment in Japan, underperformed and stumbled 3.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Sompo Holdings shed 2.6 percent, Dai-ichi Life Holdings declined 4.2 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 3.4 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 2.6 percent. U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields on Tuesday posted their largest one-day drop in nearly two years. Exporters were under pressure as the dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 108.38 yen, edging towards a five-week low of 108.115 yen hit the previous day. Toyota Motor Corp dropped 2.1 percent, Mazda Motor Corp stumbled 3.0 percent and Hitachi Ltd shed 3.0 percent. The broader Topix dropped 1.6 percent to 1,734.08. Editing by Sam Holmes | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 167 | 2018-05-30T06:49:00.000+03:00 | Turkey, U.S. reach deal on plan for withdrawal of YPG militia from Syria's Manbij | ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday denied media reports that a deal had been reached between the United States and Turkey on a three-step plan for withdrawing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from Syria’s Manbij. U.S. forces set up a new base in Manbij, Syria May 8, 2018. Picture Taken May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Rodi Said “We don’t have any agreements yet with the government of Turkey,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement in Washington. “We’re continuing to have ongoing conversations regarding Syria and other issues of mutual concern,” she said, adding that American and Turkish officials had met in Ankara last week for talks on the issue. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday Ankara and Washington had reached a technical agreement on the withdrawal plan, a move Turkey has long sought from the United States. The report comes as differences over Syria policy and Washington’s decision in December to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem have strained ties between the NATO allies. Turkey is outraged by U.S. support for the YPG militia, considering them a terrorist organisation. Ankara has threatened to push its offensive in northern Syria’s Afrin region further east to Manbij. Manbij is a potential flashpoint. The Syrian government, Kurdish militants, Syrian rebel groups, Turkey, and the United States all have a military presence in northern Syria. Under the terms of the plan to be finalised during a visit by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington on June 4, the YPG will withdraw from Manbij 30 days after the deal is signed, Anadolu said, quoting sources who attended meetings at which the decisions were made. Turkish and U.S. military forces will start joint supervision in Manbij 45 days after the agreement is signed and a local administration will be formed 60 days after June 4, Anadolu said. Earlier on Wednesday, Cavusoglu told broadcaster AHaber that a timetable for the Manbij plans could be set during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, and that it could be implemented before the end of the summer. Cavusoglu was also Quote: d by media on his return flight from Germany saying that, if finalised, the plan for Manbij could be applied throughout northern Syria. However, a local Manbij official later told Reuters that Cavusoglu’s assertions that U.S. and Turkish forces would temporarily control the region were “premature” and lacked credibility. Relations between Ankara and Washington have hit a low-point due to factors such as the sentencing this month in New York of a former Turkish state bank executive to 32 months in prison for taking part in an Iran sanctions-busting scheme, a case Turkey has called a political attack. DEFENCE PROCUREMENT Turkey has also caused unease in Washington with its decision to buy S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia and drew criticism over its detention of a U.S. Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, on terrorism charges. Brunson faces up to 35 years in prison on charges of links to the network Ankara blames for a 2016 coup attempt. The pastor denied the charges in a Turkish court this month. A U.S. Senate committee last week passed its version of a $716 billion defence policy bill, including a measure to prevent Turkey from buying Lockheed Martin F-35 jets, citing Brunson and the Russian missile deal. Cavusoglu, however, said that if the United States blocked Turkey from buying the jets, Ankara would go elsewhere to meet its needs, adding that it was unlikely Washington would be able to back out of the deal. Turkey has plans to buy more than 100 of the F-35 jets and the Pentagon last year awarded Lockheed $3.7 billion in an interim payment for the production of 50 of the aircraft earmarked for non-U.S. customers, including Ankara. Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Tom Brown | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 168 | 2018-05-30T06:52:00.000+03:00 | Facebook's size no barrier to deals in new areas -executive | RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (Reuters) - Facebook Inc believes it could acquire other large companies without running afoul of antitrust enforcers if the world’s largest social media network chose to enter a new market, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg arrives to watch CEO Mark Zuckerberg speak at Facebook Inc's annual F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S. May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Lam Sandberg was asked on stage by a journalist at the Code Conference whether Facebook, because of its size, would be allowed in the future to buy companies as it has such as virtual reality firm Oculus and messaging service WhatsApp. “It really depends what it is. If it was in something that wasn’t core to what we were doing and a new area, like Oculus was, I think it would probably be allowed,” Sandberg said. She gave no indication that a deal was forthcoming. Facebook, one of the largest corporations by market capitalization, has grown in part through acquisitions. In 2014 it bought WhatsApp for $22 billion and Oculus for $3 billion, but has not made a similar purchase since. It bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. EU regulators have expressed concern about a plan by Facebook and WhatsApp to begin sharing users’ phone numbers and other data. Sandberg said sharing data between the two services had benefits, such as catching people who exploit children, and that Facebook should not be broken up. “If you are doing child-exploitative content, WhatsApp’s encrypted, but we know who you are from Facebook. We can take your account down on WhatsApp, too,” she said. Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Stephen Coates | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 169 | 2018-05-30T06:53:00.000+03:00 | Facebook's size no barrier to deals in new areas - executive | May 30, 2018 / 3:58 Facebook's size no barrier to deals in new areas: executive David Ingram 2 Min Read RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (Reuters) - Facebook Inc believes it could acquire other large companies without running afoul of antitrust enforcers if the world’s largest social media network chose to enter a new market, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg arrives to watch CEO Mark Zuckerberg speak at Facebook Inc's annual F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S. May 1, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Lam Sandberg was asked on stage by a journalist at the Code Conference whether Facebook, because of its size, would be allowed in the future to buy companies as it has such as virtual reality firm Oculus and messaging service WhatsApp. “It really depends what it is. If it was in something that wasn’t core to what we were doing and a new area, like Oculus was, I think it would probably be allowed,” Sandberg said. She gave no indication that a deal was forthcoming. Facebook, one of the largest corporations by market capitalization, has grown in part through acquisitions. In 2014 it bought WhatsApp for $22 billion and Oculus for $3 billion, but has not made a similar purchase since. It bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. EU regulators have expressed concern about a plan by Facebook and WhatsApp to begin sharing users’ phone numbers and other data. Sandberg said sharing data between the two services had benefits, such as catching people who exploit children, and that Facebook should not be broken up. “If you are doing child-exploitative content, WhatsApp’s encrypted, but we know who you are from Facebook. We can take your account down on WhatsApp, too,” she said. Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Stephen Coates | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 1 |
| 170 | 2018-05-30T07:25:00.000+03:00 | Aviva Investors merges businesses into new real assets unit | LONDON (Reuters) - Aviva Investors, the fund arm of insurer Aviva ( AV.L ), said on Wednesday it would combine its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses into a new unit called Aviva Investors Real Assets. Aviva said the business, which would manage 37 billion pounds ($49.08 billion) in assets, would focus on investments where it was a direct operator, with full control over fund management, asset management, origination and distribution. As a result, it said it had agreed to sell its indirect real estate multi-manager business and an interest in Encore+, a pan-European commercial property fund, with a combined 6 billion pounds in assets, to Lasalle Investment Management. Further financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Aviva Investors said Mark Versey would be chief investment officer of the new unit, overseeing 300 staff. Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Emma Rumney Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 171 | 2018-05-30T07:35:00.000+03:00 | Greece sells stake in telecoms operator OTE to Deutsche Telekom | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece concluded on Wednesday the sale of a 5 percent stake in its biggest telecoms operator OTE ( OTEr.AT ) to Germany’s Deutsche Telekom ( DTEGn.DE ) for 284 million euros, ($329.50 million) the privatizations agency said. The sale was agreed under Greece’s third international bailout. Deutsche previously held a 40 percent stake in OTE, a former national monopoly. Following the deal its holding in the firm will stand at 45 percent. Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou | https://in.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 172 | 2018-05-30T07:39:00.000+03:00 | Gold inches up as Italy crisis drives safe-haven buying | LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices were steady on Wednesday as concerns about political turmoil in Italy and over a trade conflict between China and the United States outweighed strength in the dollar. Sets of gold bangles are displayed in a showcase of a showroom selling bridal jewellery in Peshawar, Pakistan May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz/Files Italy kept the dollar at 10-month highs versus the euro amid concerns that repeat elections may become a de-facto referendum on Italian membership of the currency bloc. The turbulence underpinned gold due to its appeal as a store of value during political and financial uncertainty. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, hovered near its 6-1/2 month peak from the previous session. A stronger dollar makes assets such as gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, curbing demand. “There has been a little bit of support from what has been happening in Italy and the potential implications for the Eurozone from the Italian crisis,” Capital Economics commodities economist Simona Gambarini said. “But it doesn’t seem like the worries are big enough to warrant an increase in prices,” she said, adding that price support was slightly eroded by the potential for an interest rate increase in June by the U.S. Federal Reserve. U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields on Tuesday registered their largest one-day drop since Brexit nearly two years ago. Higher rates could dent demand for non-interest-paying gold. Spot gold barely changed at $1,298.98 per ounce by 0932 GMT while U.S. gold futures for June delivery edged slightly lower to $1,298.70 per ounce. China on Wednesday lashed out at Washington’s unexpected statement that it still holds the threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods, saying Beijing was ready to fight back in any trade war. But Capital Economics’ Gambarini said the potential trade war between China and the United States was mostly priced into gold, which would need an escalation or resolution to become a catalyst to prices again. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.35 percent to 851.45 tonnes on Tuesday. In other precious metals, spot silver was stead at $16.40 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.5 percent to $899.35 an ounce, while palladium was 0.6-percent lower at $973.90. Additional reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 173 | 2018-05-30T07:50:00.000+03:00 | ANZ Bank New Zealand sells life insurance business to Cigna Corp | (Reuters) - ANZ Bank New Zealand agreed to sell its New Zealand life insurance business to U.S-listed Cigna Corp ( CI.N ) for NZ$700 million ($482.4 million), as its parent boosts its capital base by hiving off non-core businesses. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) is pictured on a local branch in Sydney in this April 30, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo ANZ Bank New Zealand said the deal to sell OnePath Life NZ would add about 5 basis points to the level 1 CET ratio of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ( ANZ.AX ). The deal would generate a gain on sale of around NZ$50 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The transaction marks ANZ’s second disposal this month, after it sold a majority stake in a Cambodian joint venture to Japan’s J Trust ( 8508.T ). This follows a trend among major Australian banks to offload non-core businesses to trim their capital requirements and simplify business structure. National Australia Bank ( NAB.AX ) said earlier this month it was looking to exit part of its wealth management arm by 2019. ANZ New Zealand said the deal included a 20-year strategic alliance for Cigna to provide insurance to ANZ Bank customers. It added that current policy holders would continue with existing coverage. Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates | https://www.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 174 | 2018-05-30T08:14:00.000+03:00 | Deutsche Bank looking to sell stake in Dubai-based Abraaj -sources | DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank is looking to sell its small stake in Dubai-based Abraaj, the embattled private equity firm involved in a row over alleged misuse of investor money, two sources familiar with the matter said. The potential sale, which the German bank has been considering for some time, has become more urgent since Abraaj, the Middle East and Africa’s biggest private equity fund, has been locked in a dispute with investors, said the sources. Deutsche, which is undergoing a restructuring and said last week it plans to cut at least 7,000 jobs worldwide, has an 8.8 percent stake in Abraaj Holdings, according to the bank’s latest annual report. Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the planned stake sale. An Abraaj spokeswoman said Abraaj Holdings could not comment on a matter related to its shareholders. Deutsche considers its share in Abraaj as a non-core asset. One of the sources said the bank asked for a valuation of its shareholding about two years ago, but the valuation was not as strong as hoped. As part of a global scaling back of its equities business, Germany’s largest lender has cut eight positions within its equities research team in Dubai as it moves to close the unit, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters this week. The restructuring process added more urgency to the plan to get rid of its stake in Abraaj, the sources said. “There was never an active pitching process before, maybe they are regretting it now. Any sale now will be at a big discount,” said one of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. According to Abraaj’s 2014-15 annual review - the latest available on its website - Deutsche Bank had a representative on Abraaj’s board. A source close to the matter said that was no longer the case. A valuation of Deutsche’s stake is difficult because Abraaj has not disclosed the quantum of its debt, bankers say. One way to look at it, amid no visibility of future fund raising, is that Abraaj Holdings’ investment management unit is valued at as much as $500 million, one of the bankers said. Abraaj is facing an investigation by four investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank’s lending arm - the International Finance Corporation - over the alleged misuse of some of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund. Following the row the firm, which has denied any wrongdoing, has been considering selling some or all of its investment business unit. The cash from the sale of the investment business unit, and from a sale of Abraaj’s stake in Pakistani utility K-Electric, would ease cashflow pressures that have seen the company violating certain conditions related to a portion of its debt, sources told Reuters earlier this month. Since the investor dispute erupted earlier this year, Abraaj, which at one point was managing $13.6 billion, has undertaken a review of its corporate structure. That has included cutting around 15 percent of jobs, shaking up its management, suspending new investments, and freeing up large investors from millions of dollars in capital commitments. In the latest sign of changes, Bisher Barazi, the chief financial officer of Abraaj’s private equity unit, and Matthew McGuire, the chief operating officer, have resigned from the firm, a source close to the matter said. Neither could immediately be reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar Editing by Susan Fenton) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 175 | 2018-05-30T08:59:00.000+03:00 | Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions | May 30 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by Wednesday 1430 GMT on Wednesday: ** Twenty-First Century Fox Inc will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co, the company said. ** Shares of NXP Semiconductors NV fell 5 percent after China’s latest warning against U.S. trade threats dulled hopes of an early approval by Beijing for Qualcomm’s $44 billion acquisition of the chipmaker. ** Drugmaker Allergan Plc plans to sell off its women’s health and infectious disease businesses as Chief Executive Brent Saunders works to end the steep slide in its share price over the last year. ** Zynga Inc has bought mobile gaming startup Gram Games for $250 million to boost its portfolio of franchise-based titles, it said. ** The European Commission said it had cleared the purchase of Dutch cable operator Ziggo by Liberty Global subject to conditions. ** Standard Life Aberdeen said it expected to save an extra 100 million pounds ($132.64 million) a year in ‘efficiency savings’ by 2020 after it completes the sale of its insurance business to Phoenix Group. ** Italian utility Enel and its Spanish peer Iberdrola have until the end of Wednesday to present improved bids for Eletropaulo, the Brazilian power grid operator said, citing the country’s market regulator. ** Deutsche Bank is looking to sell its small stake in Dubai-based Abraaj, the embattled private equity firm involved in a row over alleged misuse of investor money, two sources familiar with the matter said. ** Samsung Group’s two insurance firms said they will sell $1.3 billion worth of stock in the conglomerate’s biggest earner, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, to maintain regulatory compliance. ** Aviva Investors, the fund arm of insurer Aviva, said it would combine its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses into a new unit called Aviva Investors Real Assets. ** Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. ** German seed seller KWS Saat has bowed out of an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s vegetable seed business saying it accepts a decision by the European Commission that BASF is the most suitable buyer. ** Deutsche Boerse AG is beefing up its foreign exchange business with a $100 million deal to buy GTX’s Electronic Communication Network (ECN) business from GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. ** The supervisory board of Uniper has recommended that shareholders reject calls to appoint a special auditor to probe possible breaches of duty by the group’s management in relation to Fortum’s proposed acquisition. ** WellCare Health Plans Inc said it would buy Meridian Health Plans of Michigan and Illinois for $2.5 billion in cash to become the top Medicaid provider in those states. ** Marketing company Didit has made an offer of $1.1 million for defunct news gossip website Gawker, an initial proposal that will set the floor for higher bids in a bankruptcy auction, according to a filing. ** Norway’s BW LPG, the world’s largest liquid petroleum gas shipper, said it had offered to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market. (Compiled by Akshara P in Bengaluru) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 1 |
| 176 | 2018-05-30T09:08:00.000+03:00 | China's slow approvals of biotech crops cost U.S. $7 billion, says industry group | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delays in Chinese approvals of imported genetically modified crops have cut U.S. gross domestic product by about $7 billion over the past five years by reducing sales of crops and other goods, an industry group that represents global seed companies said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Genetically modified corn are seen cultivated at a greenhouse in Syngenta Biotech Center in Beijing, China, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo The report by CropLife International indicates what is at stake for the administration of President Donald Trump as it seeks better access for U.S. GMO crops into China as part of a trade deal under discussion. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to visit Beijing this week for talks, after months of escalating tensions that had threatened a trade war. The United States said on Tuesday it still held its threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China and would use it unless Beijing addressed its concerns over the theft of American intellectual property. Global seeds and chemical companies have long wanted wider access for GMO crops in China because it is the world’s top buyer of soybeans and a major buyer of other grains. China does not permit planting of GMO food crops but allows imports of GMO soybeans and corn for use in its massive animal feed industry. But the approval process for new GMO strains is slow, unpredictable and not based on science, according to the U.S. biotech industry. The sector says delays in Chinese approvals hurt the value of U.S. corn harvests by preventing farmers from using new seeds that can protect crops from pests and weeds. As a result, farmers spend less on products ranging from fertilizer to equipment, with ripple effects on economic growth, said Scott Richman, senior vice president at Informa Agribusiness Consulting Group, which CropLife commissioned to do the study. China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which regulates GMO crop approvals, did not respond to a fax seeking comment on how its reviews affect the U.S. economy. “We need a system in China that facilitates trade,” said Matt O’Mara, a vice president for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a CropLife affiliate. Companies such as Bayer AG, Monsanto Co, DowDuPont and ChemChina’s [CNNCC.UL] Syngenta have been waiting as long as seven years for China to approve strains of soybeans, canola and alfalfa. Reporting by Tom Polanesk, Additional reporting by Dominique Patton in Beijing, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien | https://in.reuters.com/finance/commodities | 0 |
| 177 | 2018-05-30T09:12:00.000+03:00 | Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies | LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell, the recently ousted boss of WPP, has taken control of a listed shell company to use it as a vehicle to buy marketing firms, replicating the approach he took in the 1980s to build the world’s biggest advertising group. In a statement Sorrell said he would invest 40 million pounds ($53 million) of his own money into Derriston Capital , a little-known two-year-old listed shell company, which would be renamed S4 Capital, an entity controlled by Sorrell. Sorrell will become executive chairman while institutional investors have provided 11 million pounds and indicated they will be willing to provide 150 million pounds of further equity to make acquisitions. $1 = 0.7543 pounds Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Sarah Young | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 178 | 2018-05-30T09:13:00.000+03:00 | South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill | May 30, 2018 / 6:16 AM / Updated 5 hours ago South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill Reuters Staff 1 Min Read CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa’s parliament on Tuesday passed a national minimum wage bill by an overwhelming majority, a policy championed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as an important step to tackle labor instability and wage inequality. Workers are seen at a South African retailer in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 19,2018. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo The measure, opposed by the official Democratic Alliance opposition party, will see millions of workers earn 3,500 rand ($277) a month, and had been initially meant to be introduced earlier in May as part of efforts to boost the economy. The bill will be sent to parliament’s upper house for ratification and becomes law once it is signed by Ramaphosa. ($1 = 12.6327 rand) Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAbusinessNews | 0 |
| 179 | 2018-05-30T09:22:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies | May 30, 2018 / 6:23 AM / Updated 35 minutes ago UPDATE 1-Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Adds comment, details) LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell, the recently ousted boss of WPP, has taken control of a listed shell company to use it as a vehicle to buy marketing firms, replicating the approach he took in the 1980s to build the world’s biggest advertising group. In a statement Sorrell said he would invest 40 million pounds ($53 million) of his own money into Derriston Capital , a little-known two-year-old listed shell company, while investors had pledged 150 million pounds to do deals. The company will be renamed S4 Capital, an entity controlled by Sorrell who will become executive chairman. “S4 Capital is a company that aims to build a multi-national communication services business focused on growth,” he said. “There are significant opportunities for development in technology, data and content. I look forward to making this happen.” One of the most high profile businessmen in Britain, Sorrell is repeating the tactic he used in the 1980s when he took a listed company, Wire and Plastics Products, and used it to buy some of the world’s most famous advertising agencies. The news comes just over six weeks after he quit WPP, a company that employed 200,000 staff in 112 countries after he built it up through years of deal making. The board had opened an investigation into an allegation of personal misconduct, leading Sorrell to step down. The company has not given any details about the allegation, and Sorrell has denied any wrongdoing. $1 = 0.7543 pounds Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Sarah Young | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 180 | 2018-05-30T09:23:00.000+03:00 | Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies | May 30, 2018 / 6:14 AM / Updated an hour ago Sorrell takes control of shell vehicle to buy marketing companies Reuters Staff 2 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - Martin Sorrell, the recently ousted boss of WPP ( WPP.L ), has taken control of a listed shell company to use it as a vehicle to buy marketing firms, replicating the approach he took in the 1980s to build the world’s biggest advertising group. FILE PHOTO: Sir Martin Sorrell, then chairman and CEO of advertising company WPP, attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo In a statement Sorrell said he would invest 40 million pounds of his own money into Derriston Capital ( DERR.L ), a little-known two-year-old listed shell company, while investors had pledged 150 million pounds to do deals. The company will be renamed S4 Capital, an entity controlled by Sorrell who will become executive chairman. “S4 Capital is a company that aims to build a multi-national communication services business focused on growth,” he said. “There are significant opportunities for development in technology, data and content. I look forward to making this happen.” One of the most high profile businessmen in Britain, Sorrell is repeating the tactic he used in the 1980s when he took a listed company, Wire and Plastics Products, and used it to buy some of the world’s most famous advertising agencies. The news comes just over six weeks after he quit WPP, a company that employed 200,000 staff in 112 countries after he built it up through years of deal making. The board had opened an investigation into an allegation of personal misconduct, leading Sorrell to step down. The company has not given any details about the allegation, and Sorrell has denied any wrongdoing. Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Sarah Young | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 181 | 2018-05-30T09:41:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-Samsung Life to sell $925 mln Samsung Electronics stake -report | May 30, 2018 / 6:43 AM / Updated an hour ago UPDATE 1-Samsung Life to sell $925 mln Samsung Electronics stake -report Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Adds regulatory call for ownership restructuring, shares) SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) - Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd plans to sell part of its shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd worth 1 trillion won ($925.75 million), local media reported on Wednesday. ChosunBiz cited an unidentified finance industry source as saying Samsung Life’s board had passed the sale plan. An official at Samsung Life said he was checking the report. The block deal, if confirmed, would come after South Korea’s antitrust chief called on Samsung Group, the country’s biggest conglomerate, to streamline its cross-shareholding structure which he said was “not sustainable”. However, the group will need to find a way to simplify its complex ownership without weakening the founding family’s grip on 62 affiliates that have $375 billion in assets. The biggest issue in any restructuring relates to Samsung Life’s 8.63 percent stake, worth around $26 billion, in Samsung Electronics. In April, Samsung SDI Co Ltd sold $526 million worth shares in affiliate Samsung C&T Corp to reduce cross-shareholding ties and secure funds for investment. Shares in Samsung Electronics fell 3.5 percent while those of Samsung Life gained 0.9 percent. $1 = 1,080.2000 won Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Christopher Cushing | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 182 | 2018-05-30T09:56:00.000+03:00 | PRECIOUS-Gold gains as Italy crisis drives safe-haven buying | BENGALURU, May 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as political turmoil in Italy and concerns over Sino-U.S. trade conflict spurred safe-haven demand. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had risen 0.3 percent to $1,301.98 per ounce by 0125 GMT. * U.S. gold futures for June delivery were up 0.2 percent at $1,301.50 per ounce. * Italy may hold repeat elections as early as July after the man asked to be prime minister failed to secure support from major political parties for even a stop-gap government, sources said on Tuesday, as markets tumbled on the growing political turmoil. * The United States said on Tuesday that it still holds the threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China and will use it unless Beijing addresses the issue of theft of American intellectual property. * Asian shares looked set for a sharp fall on Wednesday as Italy's political crisis provoked a sell-off on Wall Street, sent the euro to a 10-month low and spiked borrowing costs for the government in Rome. * U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields posted their largest one-day drop on Tuesday since Britain voted to exit the European Union nearly two years ago. * The U.S. Federal Reserve will have difficulty raising interest rates significantly beyond the settings of its Japanese and European counterparts, which are still pursuing accommodative policy, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Tuesday. * U.S. interest rates futures rallied on Tuesday as traders slashed their expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise key overnight borrowing costs three more times in 2018 as Italy's political situation threatens European economic growth. * A top North Korean official was headed to New York on Tuesday for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.35 percent to 851.45 tonnes on Tuesday. * Shandong Gold Group Co Ltd , China's largest gold producer, is hunting for gold around the world and is "looking forward to investing in Peru", the chairman of the company said during a presentation Tuesday. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0600 Germany Import prices April 0600 Germany Retail sales April 0645 France Detailed GDP Q1 0645 France Consumer spending April 0800 Germany Unemployment rate May 0900 Euro zone Business climate May 1200 Germany Consumer prices May 1215 U.S. ADP national employment May 1230 U.S. GDP 2nd estimate Q1 1230 U.S. Goods trade balance April 1230 U.S. Wholesale inventories April 1800 Federal Reserve issues Beige Book on economic condition (Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru Editing by Joseph Radford) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180529.html | 0 |
| 183 | 2018-05-30T10:35:00.000+03:00 | Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 | (Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc ( FOXA.O ) will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ), the company said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Tennis - US Open - Mens Final - New York, U.S. - September 10, 2017 - Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of Fox News Channel stands before Rafael Nadal of Spain plays against Kevin Anderson of South Africa. REUTERS/Mike Segar The Fox board also recommended backing the deal but said that it was aware of Comcast Corp’s ( CMCSA.O ) moves to make an offer for certain assets of the company. Comcast said last week it was preparing a higher, all-cash offer for most of the media assets of Fox, but sources say it will only proceed if a federal judge next month allows AT&T Inc’s ( T.N ) planned $85-billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc ( TWX.N ). Slideshow (2 Images) The announcement of the special meeting date comes after the largest U.S. cable operator Comcast put pressure on Fox and its shareholders to not rush into approving the Disney deal by going public with its plans of a “superior” offer. Disney in December offered stock then worth $52.4 billion to buy Fox’s film, television and international businesses to beef up its offering against streaming rivals Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) and Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ). A regulatory filing in April showed Comcast offered to buy most of Fox’s assets in an all-stock deal valued at $34.41 per share, or $64 billion last November, just before Disney’s offer was agreed upon. Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Shounak Dasgupta | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 184 | 2018-05-30T10:40:00.000+03:00 | Iran's oil exports fall in May, when U.S. quit nuclear deal - Petro-Logistics | Iran’s crude oil exports have declined slightly in May, according to estimates from a leading tanker-tracking company, in the first sign that the threat of U.S. sanctions may be deterring buyers. The estimates from Geneva-based Petro-Logistics also suggest Iranian oil buyers are not rushing to cut volumes from OPEC’s third-largest producer. The U.S. sanctions have a 180-day period during which buyers should “wind down” purchases. U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8 said the United States was exiting a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and would impose new sanctions that seek to reduce the country’s oil shipments. “Exports are down by more than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the very high levels seen in April, but there is no sign of a mass exodus at this time,” Daniel Gerber, chief executive of Petro-Logistics, told Reuters. Supply and demand in large parts of the oil market is opaque and Petro-Logistics is among a number of consultancies that estimate supply from OPEC countries by tracking tanker shipments and other methods. Petro-Logistics did not specify the absolute volume of Iran’s exports in May or April. Iran said it exported 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, a record since the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran in January 2016. Reuters shipping data also suggests Iranian crude exports have dropped since Trump’s sanctions announcement, falling to around 2.5 million bpd in May, a drop of about 100,000 bpd from April. The bulk of Iran’s crude exports, at least 1.8 million bpd, goes to Asia. Most of the rest goes to Europe and these volumes are seen by analysts and traders as the more vulnerable to being curbed by U.S. sanctions. Petro-Logistics said the overall rate of Iran’s exports remained strong in May compared with recent months and companies in Europe were still buying. “In fact, May exports remain significantly higher than the previous 12-month average, with European refiners continuing to load cargoes throughout the month,” Gerber said. Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said on May 19 Tehran’s oil exports would not change if the EU could salvage the nuclear pact, as it is trying to do. But trading sources expect financing issues to hinder Iranian oil trade as banks grow wary. (Editing by Mark Potter) | https://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/us | 0 |
| 185 | 2018-05-30T10:46:00.000+03:00 | BHP-Mitsubishi JV to sell Australia coal mine to Japan's Sojitz | (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) said on Wednesday that its joint venture with a unit of Mitsubishi Corp ( 8058.T ) would sell a coal mine in Queensland in Australia to Japan’s Sojitz Corp ( 2768.T ) for A$100 million ($74.89 million). FILE PHOTO: A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File photo/File Photo The Gregory Crinum hard coking coal mine had ceased production by the end of 2015. BHP said its annual capacity was 6 million tonnes prior to that. “(The BHP-Mitsubishi alliance) made the decision to sell the mine after a detailed review that concluded there is potential for another party to realize greater value (there),” BHP said in a statement. BHP’s Australia-listed shares were 0.8 percent lower on Wednesday, in line with the broader market. Reporting by Rushil Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford | https://www.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 186 | 2018-05-30T10:48:00.000+03:00 | Iran's oil exports fall in May, when U.S. quit nuclear deal: Petro-Logistics | LONDON (Reuters) - Iran’s crude oil exports have declined slightly in May, according to estimates from a leading tanker-tracking company, in the first sign that the threat of U.S. sanctions may be deterring buyers. FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo The estimates from Geneva-based Petro-Logistics also suggest Iranian oil buyers are not rushing to cut volumes from OPEC’s third-largest producer. The U.S. sanctions have a 180-day period during which buyers should “wind down” purchases. U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8 said the United States was exiting a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and would impose new sanctions that seek to reduce the country’s oil shipments. “Exports are down by more than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the very high levels seen in April, but there is no sign of a mass exodus at this time,” Daniel Gerber, chief executive of Petro-Logistics, told Reuters. Supply and demand in large parts of the oil market is opaque and Petro-Logistics is among a number of consultancies that estimate supply from OPEC countries by tracking tanker shipments and other methods. Petro-Logistics did not specify the absolute volume of Iran’s exports in May or April. Iran said it exported 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, a record since the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran in January 2016. Reuters shipping data also suggests Iranian crude exports have dropped since Trump’s sanctions announcement, falling to around 2.5 million bpd in May, a drop of about 100,000 bpd from April. The bulk of Iran’s crude exports, at least 1.8 million bpd, goes to Asia. Most of the rest goes to Europe and these volumes are seen by analysts and traders as the more vulnerable to being curbed by U.S. sanctions. Petro-Logistics said the overall rate of Iran’s exports remained strong in May compared with recent months and companies in Europe were still buying. “In fact, May exports remain significantly higher than the previous 12-month average, with European refiners continuing to load cargoes throughout the month,” Gerber said. Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said on May 19 Tehran’s oil exports would not change if the EU could salvage the nuclear pact, as it is trying to do. But trading sources expect financing issues to hinder Iranian oil trade as banks grow wary. Editing by Mark Potter | https://in.reuters.com/finance/commodities | 0 |
| 187 | 2018-05-30T11:11:00.000+03:00 | KWS bows out of bid to buy Bayer's vegetable business | FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat ( KWSG.DE ) has bowed out of an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s ( BAYGn.DE ) vegetable seed business saying it accepts a decision by the European Commission that BASF ( BASFn.DE ) is the most suitable buyer. “We have accepted the decision that the business will go to BASF,” a KWS spokesman said on Wednesday. “Possible new steps are now up to BASF.” Bayer said on Tuesday it had won approval from the EU commission for BASF to take over the businesses it will divest to win regulatory clearance for its planned acquisition of Monsanto. Reporting by Patricia Weiss; Writing by Caroline Copley | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 188 | 2018-05-30T11:13:00.000+03:00 | KWS bows out of bid to buy Bayer's vegetable business | May 30, 2018 / 8:14 AM / Updated 5 minutes ago KWS bows out of bid to buy Bayer's vegetable business Reuters Staff 1 Min Read FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German seed seller KWS Saat ( KWSG.DE ) has bowed out of an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s ( BAYGn.DE ) vegetable seed business saying it accepts a decision by the European Commission that BASF ( BASFn.DE ) is the most suitable buyer. “We have accepted the decision that the business will go to BASF,” a KWS spokesman said on Wednesday. “Possible new steps are now up to BASF.” Bayer said on Tuesday it had won approval from the EU commission for BASF to take over the businesses it will divest to win regulatory clearance for its planned acquisition of Monsanto. Reporting by Patricia Weiss; Writing by Caroline Copley | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 189 | 2018-05-30T11:30:00.000+03:00 | NXP shares fall as China's warning revives concerns over Qualcomm deal | (Reuters) - Shares of NXP Semiconductors NV ( NXPI.O ) fell 5 percent on Wednesday after China’s latest warning against U.S. trade threats dulled hopes of an early approval by Beijing for Qualcomm’s ( QCOM.O ) $44 billion acquisition of the chipmaker. FILE PHOTO: A booth of U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm is pictured at an expo in Beijing, China, September 27, 2017. Picture taken September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo The company’s shares gained about 9 percent since May 18 on media reports that the chances of the deal winning approval were looking “optimistic” as a U.S.-China trade spat cooled. Also helping was a deal the U.S. government reached to put Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp ( 000063.SZ ), ( 0763.HK ) back in business. Qualcomm lawyers were expected to meet this week in Beijing with China’s antitrust regulators in a final push to secure clearance, three sources told Reuters on Sunday. The meeting was expected before U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in China on Saturday, the sources briefed on Qualcomm’s discussions had said. FILE PHOTO: A man works on a tent for NXP Semiconductors in preparation for the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo However, the team of lawyers remained at the company’s San Diego headquarters, as of late Tuesday, a source familiar with the matter said. “On hold now,” another person familiar with Qualcomm’s talks with the Chinese government said on Wednesday, declining to be identified as the negotiations are confidential. The deal, announced in October 2016, has been approved by eight of the nine required global regulators, with China the only one pending. Shares of NXP were down 1.2 percent while Qualcomm stock was marginally up premarket. Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 190 | 2018-05-30T11:36:00.000+03:00 | Oil majors steady Britain's FTSE after global sell-off | (For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon news window) * FTSE 100 index flat * BP up 1 pct, Shell gains 0.8 pct * Financials suffer By Julien Ponthus LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - A rebound by oil majors helped to steady Britain’s blue-chip index after a global sell-off prompted by the political crisis in Italy, concerns about euro zone stability and fresh fears of a trade war between the United States and China. The UK’s FTSE 100 was up 0.07 percent at 0814 GMT but spent most of the first trading hour in negative territory. Heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell added 1 percent and 0.8 percent respectively as oil prices steadied after falling steeply in recent days on concerns that Saudi Arabia and Russia would pump more crude in response to falling global oil inventories and rising consumer prices. With little corporate news or fresh economic indicators to help investors assess the health of the British economy, the fate of the session is likely to be linked to developments on the Italian political front or on the U.S. trade policy of the Trump administration. “With little else on its agenda, the FTSE will be hoping that things don’t take another downturn in the euro zone,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell. British banks weighed most heavily on the FTSE 100, with Lloyds, Standard Chartered, RBS and HSBC down by between 0.5 percent and 1 percent. European banks are still under pressure after the sector suffered heavy losses in the previous session on fears about the sustainability of Italian government debt and the euro zone. On Wall Street the threat prompted a rush to traditional safe havens such as U.S. debt, pulling down U.S. 10-year Treasury yields and triggering losses for U.S. banks, which registered their biggest one-day decline in more than two months. Among smaller UK companies, engineering firm Bodycote rose nearly 7 percent after predicting it would top market expectations for full-year profit and said it would pay a special dividend. British discount retailer B&M European Value reported a 25 percent jump in full-year profit on Wednesday and rose 0.2 percent. Among small-caps, Photo-Me International tumbled 22 percent after the photobooth operator’s market update disappointed investors. (Reporting by Julien Ponthus Editing by David Goodman) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKbankingFinancial/ | 0 |
| 191 | 2018-05-30T11:38:00.000+03:00 | Oil majors steady FTSE after global sell-off | May 30, 2018 / 8:38 AM / Updated an hour ago Oil majors help FTSE recover after global sell-off Julien Ponthus 2 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - A rebound by oil stocks helped Britain’s blue-chip index recover from a global sell-off prompted by a political crisis in Italy and fresh fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China. Traders looks at financial information on computer screens on the IG Index trading floor in London, Britain February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson The UK’s FTSE 100 ended up 0.75 percent on Wednesday after ending the previous session at its lowest level in nearly three weeks. “The FTSE 100 is in recovery mode, clawing back some of yesterday’s losses on the combined support of a slightly stronger (dollar) ... and oil prices retreating from week’s lows,” said Accendo Markets analyst Artjom Hatsaturjants. Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell both rose more than 2 percent as oil prices climbed to $76 a barrel, supported by tight supplies despite expectations OPEC and its allies will pump more in the second half of 2018. Among smaller companies, engineering firm Bodycote rose nearly 7 percent after predicting it would top market expectations for full-year profit and said it would pay a special dividend. Discount retailer B&M European Value reported a 25 percent jump in full-year profit, sending its shares up 4.5 percent. Photo-Me International tumbled 26 percent after the photo booth operator’s market update disappointed investors. Reporting by Julien Ponthus; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 192 | 2018-05-30T12:24:00.000+03:00 | Aviva Investors merges businesses into new real assets unit | May 30, 2018 / 9:25 AM / Updated a day ago Aviva Investors merges businesses into new real assets unit Reuters Staff 1 Min Read LONDON (Reuters) - Aviva Investors, the fund arm of insurer Aviva ( AV.L ), said on Wednesday it would combine its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses into a new unit called Aviva Investors Real Assets. Aviva said the business, which would manage 37 billion pounds in assets, would focus on investments where it was a direct operator, with full control over fund management, asset management, origination and distribution. As a result, it said it had agreed to sell its indirect real estate multi-manager business and an interest in Encore+, a pan-European commercial property fund, with a combined 6 billion pounds in assets, to Lasalle Investment Management. Further financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Aviva Investors said Mark Versey would be chief investment officer of the new unit, overseeing 300 staff. Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Emma Rumney | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 1 |
| 193 | 2018-05-30T12:32:00.000+03:00 | Prosecutor to announce details of deal reached with Missouri governor | (Reuters) - Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, who resigned on Tuesday, had offered to leave office in exchange for dismissal of a felony computer tampering charge against him in a wider scandal, a prosecutor’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens seen at an industrial site in this undated photo from his social media site made available May 30, 2017. Office of the Missouri Governor/Handout via REUTERS St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner spoke to reporters about the deal but declined to comment on an ongoing investigation against Greitens involving possible felony invasion of privacy in connection with an admitted extramarital affair in 2015 with a hairdresser before he was elected. Greitens has said he is innocent and called the relationship consensual. In the computer tampering case stemming from questionable fundraising activities, Greitens offered to leave office if Gardner would dismiss the charge, prosecutor’s spokeswoman Susan Ryan said. Saying most of the deal was sealed and could not be discussed, Ryan said the most impactful part of it was Greitens saying he would furnish his resignation in exchange for the charge being dropped. “They offered to do that for the dismissal,” Ryan said. Neither Greitens lawyer nor his representatives immediately responded to a request for comment. The 44-year-old first-term governor, who was seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, abruptly resigned amid accusations stemming from an extramarital affair and his political fundraising. Greitens was charged a month ago with felony computer tampering. He is accused of illegally obtaining a donor list to aid his 2016 election campaign from a veterans’ charity he founded in 2007. “Sometimes, pursuing charges is not the right or just thing to do for our city and state,” Gardner told reporters. FILE PHOTO: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens appears in a police booking photo in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., February 22, 2018. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept./Handout via REUTERS/File Picture Greitens, a former Navy SEAL commando, faced the possibility of becoming the first Missouri governor to be impeached as the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly began a special session on May 18 to consider what disciplinary steps to take against him. Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson, also a Republican, will become governor when Greitens officially leaves office on Friday. St. Louis prosecutors dismissed the criminal invasion of privacy charge against Greitens on May 14 before his trial got under way but said it would be refiled. A special prosecutor assigned to the case said Tuesday her investigation will continue, according to local news media. Like Gardner, the special prosecutor is a Democrat. Greitens has called the charges against him part of a political witch hunt and on Tuesday he complained of “legal harassment” with “no end in sight.” But Gardner on Wednesday said Greitens has only himself to blame. “The consequences Mr. Greitens has suffered, he brought upon himself. By his decisions, his ambition, his pursuit for power,” Gardner said. Scott Simpson, the attorney for the woman with whom Greitens had an affair and for whom he faces the possible invasion of privacy charge, said his client hopes to move past the scandal. “Now that the governor has resigned, I hope my client can go back to being a private citizen and put this matter behind her,” he said in an email. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Barbara Goldberg in New York and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; editing by Richard Balmforth and Jonathan Oatis Our | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/PoliticsNews | 0 |
| 194 | 2018-05-30T12:35:00.000+03:00 | 'Words with Friends' maker Zynga buys Gram Games for $250 million | (Reuters) - Zynga Inc has bought mobile gaming startup Gram Games for $250 million to boost its portfolio of franchise-based titles, it said on Wednesday. The Zynga logo is pictured at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California April 23, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo With Istanbul-based Gram, the company behind “Words with Friends” and “Farmville” will gain access to easy-to-play and addictive titles such as “1010!” and “Merge Dragons!”. “Merge Dragons!” in particular had the potential to become a long-running franchise for Zynga, its Chief Executive Officer Frank Gibeau said in a statement. The acquisition is Zynga’s latest attempt to bolster its mobile gaming business — which generates revenue through ads and in-game purchases of additional features — as it shifts focus away from once-popular titles such as “Farmville”. Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar | https://in.reuters.com/ | 1 |
| 195 | 2018-05-30T13:07:00.000+03:00 | FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's hormone therapy | (Reuters) - Women’s healthcare company TherapeuticsMD Inc won its first-ever U.S. approval on Wednesday with the drug regulator clearing its hormone therapy for a painful condition triggered by menopause after rejecting it a year earlier. A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo The company’s shares were volatile, oscillating between gains and losses. They had risen more than 50 percent since the U.S. FDA declined to approve the treatment and then agreed to let the company reapply without a new study. “Given the drug’s review history and apparent market skepticism as to its approvability, the FDA’s decision should be viewed as a major event,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst William Tanner said. The treatment, Imvexxy, has been approved for use in two doses to treat moderate-to-severe dyspareunia, or vaginal pain associated with sex, but comes with a black box warning, the regulator’s strictest, flagging risks of cardiovascular disorders, probable dementia and endometrial and breast cancers. On a call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Robert Finizio said the drug’s label was better than expected, despite the warning. Dyspareunia is a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, a condition triggered by the loss of female hormone estrogen after menopause that the company estimates affect about 32 million women in the United States. The company said its 4 mcg dose is set to be the lowest available on the market, at a time when the FDA is pushing for lower doses of hormone therapies. “When you have the lowest effective dose, that’s a huge advantage,” Finizio said. Imvexxy is expected to bring in peak U.S. sales of $650 million by 2032, according to an estimate by Jefferies analyst Matthew Andrews. The company, which plans to conduct a post-approval observational study, plans to price Imvexxy on a par with currently available treatments. Imvexxy is delivered through a softgel capsule inserted into the vagina, distinguishing it from competing products including Allergan Plc’s Estrace cream and NovoNordisk’s Vagifem insert. The approval also turns the spotlight on TherapeuticsMD’s second hormone therapy, TX-001, which analysts expect to be approved by October. TX-001, which will treat menopause symptoms, particularly hot flashes, is already being seen as a potential blockbuster by analysts. Imvexxy and TX-001 are expected to rake in revenue of $112 million in 2019, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Tanner. Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 196 | 2018-05-30T13:10:00.000+03:00 | Chinese e-commerce firm Suning.Com sells $1.5 billion of Alibaba shares | BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company Suning.Com Co Ltd ( 002024.SZ ) has sold $1.5 billion worth of shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ), cutting its stake in the tech giant to 0.51 percent. Suning.Com is expected to make a net profit of about 5.6 billion yuan ($872.3 million) from the sale, it said in a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Suning.Com did not specify how many Alibaba shares it had sold or what price it achieved. In May, the Nanjing-based company said it planned to sell up to 7.66 million shares in Alibaba Group, equivalent to a 0.3 percent stake. The plan was then approved at Suning.Com’s 2017 annual shareholders’ meeting. Gains from the share sale will be used in areas such as product development and business expansion, Suning.Com said. Alibaba Group also has a 19.99 percent stake in Suning.Com, according to the filing. Reporting by Min Zhang in Beijing and Lee Chyen Yee in Singapore; Editing by Adrian Croft | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
| 197 | 2018-05-30T13:12:00.000+03:00 | Deutsche Bank looking to sell stake in Dubai-based Abraaj -sources | DUBAI (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) is looking to sell its small stake in Dubai-based Abraaj, the embattled private equity firm involved in a row over alleged misuse of investor money, two sources familiar with the matter said. FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the Deutsche Bank is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo The potential sale, which the German bank has been considering for some time, has become more urgent since Abraaj, the Middle East and Africa’s biggest private equity fund, has been locked in a dispute with investors, said the sources. Deutsche, which is undergoing a restructuring and said last week it plans to cut at least 7,000 jobs worldwide, has an 8.8 percent stake in Abraaj Holdings, according to the bank’s latest annual report. Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the planned stake sale. An Abraaj spokeswoman said Abraaj Holdings could not comment on a matter related to its shareholders. Deutsche considers its share in Abraaj as a non-core asset. One of the sources said the bank asked for a valuation of its shareholding about two years ago, but the valuation was not as strong as hoped. As part of a global scaling back of its equities business, Germany’s largest lender has cut eight positions within its equities research team in Dubai as it moves to close the unit, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters this week. The restructuring process added more urgency to the plan to get rid of its stake in Abraaj, the sources said. “There was never an active pitching process before, maybe they are regretting it now. Any sale now will be at a big discount,” said one of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. According to Abraaj’s 2014-15 annual review - the latest available on its website - Deutsche Bank had a representative on Abraaj’s board. A source close to the matter said that was no longer the case. A valuation of Deutsche’s stake is difficult because Abraaj has not disclosed the quantum of its debt, bankers say. One way to look at it, amid no visibility of future fund raising, is that Abraaj Holdings’ investment management unit is valued at as much as $500 million, one of the bankers said. Abraaj is facing an investigation by four investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank’s lending arm - the International Finance Corporation - over the alleged misuse of some of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund. Following the row the firm, which has denied any wrongdoing, has been considering selling some or all of its investment business unit. The cash from the sale of the investment business unit, and from a sale of Abraaj’s stake in Pakistani utility K-Electric, would ease cashflow pressures that have seen the company violating certain conditions related to a portion of its debt, sources told Reuters earlier this month. Since the investor dispute erupted earlier this year, Abraaj, which at one point was managing $13.6 billion, has undertaken a review of its corporate structure. That has included cutting around 15 percent of jobs, shaking up its management, suspending new investments, and freeing up large investors from millions of dollars in capital commitments. In the latest sign of changes, Bisher Barazi, the chief financial officer of Abraaj’s private equity unit, and Matthew McGuire, the chief operating officer, have resigned from the firm, a source close to the matter said. Neither could immediately be reached for comment. Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Susan Fenton | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBankingFinancial | 0 |
| 198 | 2018-05-30T13:12:00.000+03:00 | FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's hormone therapy | (Reuters) - Women’s healthcare company TherapeuticsMD Inc won its first-ever U.S. approval on Wednesday with the drug regulator clearing its hormone therapy for a painful condition triggered by menopause after rejecting it a year earlier. A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo The company’s shares were volatile, oscillating between gains and losses. They had risen more than 50 percent since the U.S. FDA declined to approve the treatment and then agreed to let the company reapply without a new study. “Given the drug’s review history and apparent market skepticism as to its approvability, the FDA’s decision should be viewed as a major event,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst William Tanner said. The treatment, Imvexxy, has been approved for use in two doses to treat moderate-to-severe dyspareunia, or vaginal pain associated with sex, but comes with a black box warning, the regulator’s strictest, flagging risks of cardiovascular disorders, probable dementia and endometrial and breast cancers. On a call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Robert Finizio said the drug’s label was better than expected, despite the warning. Dyspareunia is a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, a condition triggered by the loss of female hormone estrogen after menopause that the company estimates affect about 32 million women in the United States. The company said its 4 mcg dose is set to be the lowest available on the market, at a time when the FDA is pushing for lower doses of hormone therapies. “When you have the lowest effective dose, that’s a huge advantage,” Finizio said. Imvexxy is expected to bring in peak U.S. sales of $650 million by 2032, according to an estimate by Jefferies analyst Matthew Andrews. The company, which plans to conduct a post-approval observational study, plans to price Imvexxy on a par with currently available treatments. Imvexxy is delivered through a softgel capsule inserted into the vagina, distinguishing it from competing products including Allergan Plc’s Estrace cream and NovoNordisk’s Vagifem insert. The approval also turns the spotlight on TherapeuticsMD’s second hormone therapy, TX-001, which analysts expect to be approved by October. TX-001, which will treat menopause symptoms, particularly hot flashes, is already being seen as a potential blockbuster by analysts. Imvexxy and TX-001 are expected to rake in revenue of $112 million in 2019, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Tanner. Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INhealth | 0 |
| 199 | 2018-05-30T13:12:00.000+03:00 | FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's hormone therapy | May 30, 2018 / 10:13 AM / Updated 2 hours ago TherapeuticsMD's therapy for menopause-related condition gets approval Tamara Mathias 3 Min Read (Reuters) - Women’s healthcare company TherapeuticsMD Inc won its first-ever U.S. approval on Wednesday with the drug regulator clearing its hormone therapy for a painful condition triggered by menopause after rejecting it a year earlier. A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo The company’s shares were volatile, oscillating between gains and losses. They had risen more than 50 percent since the U.S. FDA declined to approve the treatment and then agreed to let the company reapply without a new study. “Given the drug’s review history and apparent market skepticism as to its approvability, the FDA’s decision should be viewed as a major event,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst William Tanner said. The treatment, Imvexxy, has been approved for use in two doses to treat moderate-to-severe dyspareunia, or vaginal pain associated with sex, but comes with a black box warning, the regulator’s strictest, flagging risks of cardiovascular disorders, probable dementia and endometrial and breast cancers. On a call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Robert Finizio said the drug’s label was better than expected, despite the warning. Dyspareunia is a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, a condition triggered by the loss of female hormone estrogen after menopause that the company estimates affect about 32 million women in the United States. The company said its 4 mcg dose is set to be the lowest available on the market, at a time when the FDA is pushing for lower doses of hormone therapies. “When you have the lowest effective dose, that’s a huge advantage,” Finizio said. Imvexxy is expected to bring in peak U.S. sales of $650 million by 2032, according to an estimate by Jefferies analyst Matthew Andrews. The company, which plans to conduct a post-approval observational study, plans to price Imvexxy on a par with currently available treatments. Imvexxy is delivered through a softgel capsule inserted into the vagina, distinguishing it from competing products including Allergan Plc’s Estrace cream and NovoNordisk’s Vagifem insert. The approval also turns the spotlight on TherapeuticsMD’s second hormone therapy, TX-001, which analysts expect to be approved by October. TX-001, which will treat menopause symptoms, particularly hot flashes, is already being seen as a potential blockbuster by analysts. Imvexxy and TX-001 are expected to rake in revenue of $112 million in 2019, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Tanner. Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKhealth/ | 0 |
| 200 | 2018-05-30T13:19:00.000+03:00 | Samsung firms sell $1.3 billion Samsung Electronics stock to maintain compliance | May 30, 2018 / 10:24 AM / Updated 11 minutes ago Samsung firms sell $1.3 billion Samsung Electronics stock to maintain compliance Ju-min Park , Joyce Lee 3 Min Read SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Group’s two insurance firms said on Wednesday they will sell $1.3 billion worth of stock in the conglomerate’s biggest earner, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, to maintain regulatory compliance. A man leaves Samsung Life's main office building in Seoul March 31, 2010. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won/Files Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co Ltd separately said their electronics affiliate’s current policy of cancelling its own shares to raise the value of investors’ holdings risks pushing their own holdings beyond regulatory limits. Samsung Electronics stock fell 3.5 percent after local media first reported the sales plans, as investors feared the sudden increased supply would push down its price, analysts said. The announcements come at a time when regulators are questioning conglomerates’ cross-shareholding arrangements, saying the web-like ownership structures undermine corporate governance by allowing founding families to control business empires with only direct minority stakes in key units. In South Korea, conglomerates’ financial arms are required to limit their combined stake in a non-financial affiliate to 10 percent. Samsung Life owns 8.63 percent of Samsung Electronics stock with a market value of $26 billion. It said it will sell 1.2 trillion won ($1.11 billion) worth in a single transaction before the stock market opens on Thursday, reducing its stake to 7.92 percent. Samsung Fire & Marine said it will also conduct a block sale of 206 billion won worth of stock, reducing its stake to 1.38 percent from 1.45 percent. Samsung Life may need to further reduce its holding should parliament push through a 2016 proposal to limit an insurer’s investment in any affiliate to 3 percent or less of the insurer’s total assets, to promote stable asset management. The ownership of South Korea’s powerful conglomerates has come under increased scrutiny this year following a series of scandals involving members of conglomerates’ founding families. The chairman of the Financial Services Commission recently said Samsung - a group of 62 affiliates - must consider ways to reduce the risk of having too much of its $375 billion assets concentrated in one place, including selling some or all of Samsung Life’s stake in Samsung Electronics. The chief of the Korea Fair Trade Commission also called the group’s ownership structure “unsustainable”. In April, Samsung SDI Co Ltd sold $526 million worth of shares in affiliate Samsung C&T Corp to reduce cross-shareholding and secure funds for investment. ($1 = 1,079.0100 won) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews | 0 |
| 201 | 2018-05-30T13:21:00.000+03:00 | BRIEF-Telepizza Approves Share Buyback Program Of Up To 3.4 Pct Of Share Capital | May 30 (Reuters) - Telepizza Group SA: * SAID ON TUESDAY IT HAD APPROVED SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM OF UP TO 3.4 MILLION SHARES, REPRESENTING 3.41 PERCENT OF SHARE CAPITAL, FOR UP TO 15.5 MILLION EUROS * THE PROGRAM WILL RUN FROM MAY 30, 2018 TILL MAY 29, 2019 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180530.html | 0 |
| 202 | 2018-05-30T13:24:00.000+03:00 | Deutsche Bank looking to sell stake in Dubai-based Abraaj - sources | May 30, 2018 / 10:24 AM / Updated 13 minutes ago Deutsche Bank looking to sell stake in Dubai-based Abraaj - sources Davide Barbuscia , Tom Arnold 4 Min Read DUBAI (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) is looking to sell its small stake in Dubai-based Abraaj, the embattled private equity firm involved in a row over alleged misuse of investor money, two sources familiar with the matter said. FILE PHOTO: People are silhouetted next to the Deutsche Bank's logo prior to the bank's annual meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach The potential sale, which the German bank has been considering for some time, has become more urgent since Abraaj, the Middle East and Africa’s biggest private equity fund, has been locked in a dispute with investors, said the sources. Deutsche, which is undergoing a restructuring and said last week it plans to cut at least 7,000 jobs worldwide, has an 8.8 percent stake in Abraaj Holdings, according to the bank’s latest annual report. Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the planned stake sale. An Abraaj spokeswoman said Abraaj Holdings could not comment on a matter related to its shareholders. Deutsche considers its share in Abraaj as a non-core asset. One of the sources said the bank asked for a valuation of its shareholding about two years ago, but the valuation was not as strong as hoped. As part of a global scaling back of its equities business, Germany’s largest lender has cut eight positions within its equities research team in Dubai as it moves to close the unit, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters this week. The restructuring process added more urgency to the plan to get rid of its stake in Abraaj, the sources said. “There was never an active pitching process before, maybe they are regretting it now. Any sale now will be at a big discount,” said one of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. According to Abraaj’s 2014-15 annual review - the latest available on its website - Deutsche Bank had a representative on Abraaj’s board. A source close to the matter said that was no longer the case. A valuation of Deutsche’s stake is difficult because Abraaj has not disclosed the quantum of its debt, bankers say. One way to look at it, amid no visibility of future fund raising, is that Abraaj Holdings’ investment management unit is valued at as much as $500 million (377 million pounds), one of the bankers said. Abraaj is facing an investigation by four investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank’s lending arm - the International Finance Corporation - over the alleged misuse of some of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund. Following the row the firm, which has denied any wrongdoing, has been considering selling some or all of its investment business unit. The cash from the sale of the investment business unit, and from a sale of Abraaj’s stake in Pakistani utility K-Electric, would ease cash flow pressures that have seen the company violating certain conditions related to a portion of its debt, sources told Reuters earlier this month. Since the investor dispute erupted earlier this year, Abraaj, which at one point was managing $13.6 billion, has undertaken a review of its corporate structure. That has included cutting around 15 percent of jobs, shaking up its management, suspending new investments, and freeing up large investors from millions of dollars in capital commitments. In the latest sign of changes, Bisher Barazi, the chief financial officer of Abraaj’s private equity unit, and Matthew McGuire, the chief operating officer, have resigned from the firm, a source close to the matter said. Neither could immediately be reached for comment. Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Susan Fenton | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 203 | 2018-05-30T13:24:00.000+03:00 | Brazil's Taesa seeks shareholder approval to take part in transmission auction | SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian power transmission company Transmissora Aliança de Energia Eletrica SA will seek approval at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on June 14 to participate in an upcoming government transmission auction, either alone or in a consortium, it said in a filing on Wednesday morning. According to the website of Brazilian power regulator Aneel, the auction in question will occur on June 28 at Sao Paulo’s B3 SA stock exchange. Taesa is controlled by Colombia’s ISA and Brazil’s Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais SA. (Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Mark Potter) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 204 | 2018-05-30T13:26:00.000+03:00 | UPDATE 1-FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's hormone therapy | May 30, 2018 / 10:26 AM / Updated 10 minutes ago UPDATE 1-FDA approves TherapeuticsMD's hormone therapy Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Adds details on approval, background) May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TherapeuticsMD Inc’s hormone therapy for a painful condition triggered by menopause, giving the women’s health company its first approved drug. The treatment, Imvexxy, treats a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, a condition caused by the loss of female hormone estrogen after menopause. The drug is delivered via a softgel capsule inserted into the vagina, distinguishing it from competing products including Allergan Plc’s Estrace cream and NovoNordisk’s Vagifem insert. Safety warnings on Imvexxy’s label flag risks of endometrial cancer, cardiovascular disorders, breast cancer, and probable dementia. Last year, the FDA declined to approve the drug, citing a requirement for long-term safety data, but allowed the company to apply for approval again without conducting a new study. (Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 205 | 2018-05-30T14:10:00.000+03:00 | China's slow approvals of biotech crops cost U.S. $7 billion, says industry group | May 30, 2018 / 11:10 AM / Updated 25 minutes ago China's slow approvals of biotech crops cost U.S. $7 billion, says industry group Tom Polansek 3 Min Read CHICAGO (Reuters) - Delays in Chinese approvals of imported genetically modified crops have cut U.S. gross domestic product by about $7 billion (5.3 billion pounds) over the past five years by reducing sales of crops and other goods, an industry group that represents global seed companies said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Genetically modified corn are seen cultivated at a greenhouse in Syngenta Biotech Center in Beijing, China, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo The report by CropLife International indicates what is at stake for the administration of President Donald Trump as it seeks better access for U.S. GMO crops into China as part of a trade deal under discussion. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to visit Beijing this week for talks, after months of escalating tensions that had threatened a trade war. The United States said on Tuesday it still held its threat of imposing tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China and would use it unless Beijing addressed its concerns over the theft of American intellectual property. Global seeds and chemical companies have long wanted wider access for GMO crops in China because it is the world’s top buyer of soybeans and a major buyer of other grains. China does not permit planting of GMO food crops but allows imports of GMO soybeans and corn for use in its massive animal feed industry. But the approval process for new GMO strains is slow, unpredictable and not based on science, according to the U.S. biotech industry. The sector says delays in Chinese approvals hurt the value of U.S. corn harvests by preventing farmers from using new seeds that can protect crops from pests and weeds. As a result, farmers spend less on products ranging from fertilizer to equipment, with ripple effects on economic growth, said Scott Richman, senior vice president at Informa Agribusiness Consulting Group, which CropLife commissioned to do the study. China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which regulates GMO crop approvals, did not respond to a fax seeking comment on how its reviews affect the U.S. economy. “We need a system in China that facilitates trade,” said Matt O’Mara, a vice president for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a CropLife affiliate. Companies such as Bayer AG ( BAYGn.DE ), Monsanto Co ( MON.N ), DowDuPont ( DWDP.N ) and ChemChina’s Syngenta have been waiting as long as seven years for China to approve strains of soybeans, canola and alfalfa. Reporting by Tom Polanesk, Additional reporting by Dominique Patton in Beijing, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 206 | 2018-05-30T14:21:00.000+03:00 | Samsung Life to sell $925 mln Samsung Elec stake via block deal -report | SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) - Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd plans to sell part of its shares in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd worth 1 trillion won ($925.75 million), local media reported on Wednesday. ChosunBiz cited an unidentified finance industry source as saying Samsung Life’s board had passed the sale plan. An official at Samsung Life said he was checking the report. $1 = 1,080.2000 won Reporting by Ju-min Park | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180530.html | 0 |
| 207 | 2018-05-30T14:32:00.000+03:00 | Gold Fields to set aside acquisitions, sees industry costs rising-CEO | May 30, 2018 / 11:36 AM / Updated 32 minutes ago Gold Fields to set aside acquisitions, sees industry costs rising-CEO Reuters Staff * Company expects to see fruits of past investments in 2019 * Industry-wide costs will likely start rising * Might seek junior partner to help finance Chile project * South Deep mine in South Africa ‘improving slowly’ * World gold output likely to plateau at 100 mln ounces By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes LIMA, Africa’s Gold Fields is setting aside pursuit of new acquisitions for a year as it focuses on its existing operations and nearby prospects instead, the bullion producer’s chief executive told Reuters late on Tuesday. Gold Fields’ finances might be “a little bit negative” this year before likely improving in 2019, when the company should begin to reap the rewards from two years of heavy investing, Nick Holland said. In March, Gold Fields announced it was spending $202.6 million on a partnership with Canadian miner Asanko Gold Inc , part of a strategy of buying cash generative, operative mines. But Gold Fields plans to hold off on additional acquisitions through at least early next year. “We don’t want to really stretch ourselves,” Holland said in an interview at the International Gold & Silver Symposium in Lima, Peru. “The strategy of the company now is more focused on organic brownfields, near-mine growth, in and around where we are,” Holland said. Gold Fields operates producing mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. It recently submitted an environmental impact assessment for its proposed Salares Norte mine in Chile, though construction would not likely begin until 2020, Holland said. The company might seek out a junior partner to help finance Salares Norte, which is estimated to cost $850 million. “That’s a big check to pay,” Holland said. “We want to build it, for sure...we’re just trying to figure out if we should do it on our own.” AUTONOMOUS MINING Holland warned that costs for the global gold mining industry will likely start rising on higher fuel prices, wages and inflation more broadly, while ore grades continue to fall and remaining reserves become harder to reach. Holland said he expects annual global gold production going forward to plateau at current levels of around 100 million ounces. “The way we’ve mined over the past 50 years is not the way we’re going to mine in the future,” Holland said. “We are going to have to look at autonomous mining, we are going to have to look at different ways of extracting the ore.” Gold Fields has already deployed remotely operated or semi-autonomous equipment in Australia, Ghana and South Africa, and plans to use more going forward, Holland said, noting deep cost savings for the iron ore industry thanks to automation. Technological advances are also helping Gold Fields extend the life of its Cerro Corona mine in northern Peru, through 2030 or maybe longer, Holland said. “We’re looking at all of our mines in terms of life extension,” Holland said. “Most have potential that we haven’t fully unlocked. And that’s the more cost-effective way for us to grow.” Holland added that the company’s South Deep mine in South Africa appears to be stabilizing. “I think things are improving slowly,” Holland said. South Deep, the company’s last South African asset, has faced numerous operational obstacles in a tough geological setting 3 km (2 miles) below the surface and made a loss of 337.6 million rand ($27 million) in 2017. Reporting By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes Editing by Chizu Nomiyama 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAsouthAfricaNews | 0 |
| 208 | 2018-05-30T14:32:00.000+03:00 | Gold Fields to set aside acquisitions, sees industry costs rising-CEO | * Company expects to see fruits of past investments in 2019 * Industry-wide costs will likely start rising * Might seek junior partner to help finance Chile project * South Deep mine in South Africa ‘improving slowly’ * World gold output likely to plateau at 100 mln ounces By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes LIMA, May 30 (Reuters) - South Africa’s Gold Fields is setting aside pursuit of new acquisitions for a year as it focuses on its existing operations and nearby prospects instead, the bullion producer’s chief executive told Reuters late on Tuesday. Gold Fields’ finances might be “a little bit negative” this year before likely improving in 2019, when the company should begin to reap the rewards from two years of heavy investing, Nick Holland said. In March, Gold Fields announced it was spending $202.6 million on a partnership with Canadian miner Asanko Gold Inc , part of a strategy of buying cash generative, operative mines. But Gold Fields plans to hold off on additional acquisitions through at least early next year. “We don’t want to really stretch ourselves,” Holland said in an interview at the International Gold & Silver Symposium in Lima, Peru. “The strategy of the company now is more focused on organic brownfields, near-mine growth, in and around where we are,” Holland said. Gold Fields operates producing mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. It recently submitted an environmental impact assessment for its proposed Salares Norte mine in Chile, though construction would not likely begin until 2020, Holland said. The company might seek out a junior partner to help finance Salares Norte, which is estimated to cost $850 million. “That’s a big check to pay,” Holland said. “We want to build it, for sure...we’re just trying to figure out if we should do it on our own.” AUTONOMOUS MINING Holland warned that costs for the global gold mining industry will likely start rising on higher fuel prices, wages and inflation more broadly, while ore grades continue to fall and remaining reserves become harder to reach. Holland said he expects annual global gold production going forward to plateau at current levels of around 100 million ounces. “The way we’ve mined over the past 50 years is not the way we’re going to mine in the future,” Holland said. “We are going to have to look at autonomous mining, we are going to have to look at different ways of extracting the ore.” Gold Fields has already deployed remotely operated or semi-autonomous equipment in Australia, Ghana and South Africa, and plans to use more going forward, Holland said, noting deep cost savings for the iron ore industry thanks to automation. Technological advances are also helping Gold Fields extend the life of its Cerro Corona mine in northern Peru, through 2030 or maybe longer, Holland said. “We’re looking at all of our mines in terms of life extension,” Holland said. “Most have potential that we haven’t fully unlocked. And that’s the more cost-effective way for us to grow.” Holland added that the company’s South Deep mine in South Africa appears to be stabilizing. “I think things are improving slowly,” Holland said. South Deep, the company’s last South African asset, has faced numerous operational obstacles in a tough geological setting 3 km (2 miles) below the surface and made a loss of 337.6 million rand ($27 million) in 2017. Reporting By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes Editing by Chizu Nomiyama | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 209 | 2018-05-30T14:36:00.000+03:00 | EU mergers and takeovers (May 30) | BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — Investment firm HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK insurance broker Capita Specialist Insurance Soluions Ld (approved May 29) — U.S. insurer American International Group to acquire Bermuda-based reinsurer Validus Holdings Ltd (approved May 29) NEW LISTINGS None EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES None FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE MAY 30 — U.S. cable company Liberty Global to acquire Dutch peer Ziggo (notified April 4/deadline extended to May 30 from May 15 after Liberty Global offered concessions) JUNE 1 — Swiss engineering company ABB to acquire General Electric’s industrial solutions business (notified April 20/deadline June 1) JUNE 8 — Private equity firm One Equity Partners to acquire packaging company Walki Holding (notified April 27/deadline June 8/simplified) JUNE 12 — Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2’s Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline June 12) JUNE 13 — Private equity firm Rhone Capital LLC and founders of swimming pool equipment maker Fluidra to acquire joint control of the merged Fluidra and its peer Zodiac Holdco (notified May 3/deadline June 13) JUNE 14 — Private equity funds Altor Funds to acquire Swedish packaging company Trioplast Idustrier (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm AEA Investors and investment firm British Columbia Investment Management Corp to acquire joint control of window coverings maker SIWF Holdings Inc (Springs) (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — Private equity firm Platinum Equity to acquire U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s blood glucose monitoring business LifeScan (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) — U.S. real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson and French insurer Axa to set up a joint venture (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified) JUNE 15 — U.S. tyre maker Goodyear and Japanese peer Bridgestone to acquire joint control of joint venture Tirehub, which will combine the U.S. tyre wholesale distribution businesses of both companies (notified May 7/deadline June 15/simplified) — Finnish utility Fortum to acquire a controlling stake in German peer Uniper from German energy company E.ON (notified May 7/deadline June 15) — U.S. cable operator Comcast’s to acquire British pay-TV company Sky (notified May 7/deadline June 15) JUNE 18 — Private equity firms HG Capital and TA Associates to acquire joint control of software company Access Group, which is now solely controlled by TA (notified May 8/deadline June 18/simplified) JUNE 19 — Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and investment company Arjun Infrastructure Partners to acquire joint control of British services company South Staffordshire plc (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) — Canadian private equity firm Onex and U.S. investment fund Vista to acquire joint control of software company Severin Topco (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) — Oaktree Capital Group and Spanish real estate holding company Bitarte, which is a unit of Spanish bank Banco de Sabadell, to set up a joint venture (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified) JUNE 20 — Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners to jointly acquire British fibre network operator Cityfibre Infrastructure Holdings (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) — UK infrastructure management company AMP Capital and Spanish airport infrastructure management company Aena Internacional to jointly acquire Luton Airport (notified May 15/deadline June 20/simplified) JUNE 25 — Chinese car parts maker Beijing Automotive Group’s subsidiary BHAP and Spanish peer Gestamp Automocion to set up a joint venture (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — U.S. private equity firms HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire joint control of UK risk management services provider Professional Fee Protection Ltd (notified May 18/deadline June 25/simplified) — T-Mobile Austria, which is a unit of German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom, to acquire UPC Austria, which is a subsidiary of cable operator UPC (notified May 18/deadline June 25) JUNE 26 — U.S. asset manager Blackstone to acquire Spanish gaming company Cirsa (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay’s worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline June 26) — Austrian construction company Strabag and German peer Max Boegl International to set up a joint venture (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — Private equity firm Permira to acquire tech software company Exclusive Group (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) — German companies Thyssen Alfa and Max Aicher Recycling to acquire joint control of Noris Metallrecycling (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified) JUNE 27 — Private equity firm Permira to acquire Cisco System’s video software unit (notified Nat 23/deadline June 27/simplified) — U.S. chemicals company Lyondellbasell Industries to acquire U.S. peer A. Schulman (notified May 23/deadline June 27) — German travel group TUI to acquire Spain’s Hotelbeds Group’s destinations services business (notified May 23/deadline June 27/simplified) JUNE 28 — French bank BNP Paribas to acquire ABN Amro Bank Luxembourg from Dutch bank ABN Amro (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) — Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to acquire joint control of Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified) JUNE 29 — Israeli drugmaker Teva to acquire sole control of part of U.S. consumer products maker Procter & Gamble’s OTC business in which it currently has a minority stake (notified May 25/deadline June 29) JULY 2 — British bank HSBC and U.S. payment technology services provider Global Payments to set up a joint venture in Mexico (notified May 28/deadline July 2/simplified) JULY 12 — South African chemicals company Tronox to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to JuLY 12 after the companies offered concessions) AUG 9 — German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to Aug. 9) SEPT 4 — iPhone maker Apple to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline extended to Sept. 4 from April 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation) DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 210 | 2018-05-30T15:00:00.000+03:00 | Gold Fields to set aside acquisitions, sees industry costs rising-CEO | May 30, 2018 / 12:01 PM / Updated 19 hours ago Gold Fields to set aside acquisitions, sees industry costs rising-CEO Mitra Taj, Teresa Cespedes 4 Min Read LIMA (Reuters) - South Africa’s Gold Fields is setting aside pursuit of new acquisitions for a year as it focuses on its existing operations and nearby prospects instead, the bullion producer’s chief executive told Reuters late on Tuesday. Nick Holland, CEO of Gold Fields Limited, attends the 13th International Gold & Silver Symposium in Lima, Peru May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo Gold Fields’ finances might be “a little bit negative” this year before likely improving in 2019, when the company should begin to reap the rewards from two years of heavy investing, Nick Holland said. In March, Gold Fields announced it was spending $202.6 million on a partnership with Canadian miner Asanko Gold Inc, part of a strategy of buying cash generative, operative mines. But Gold Fields plans to hold off on additional acquisitions through at least early next year. “We don’t want to really stretch ourselves,” Holland said in an interview at the International Gold & Silver Symposium in Lima, Peru. “The strategy of the company now is more focused on organic brownfields, near-mine growth, in and around where we are,” Holland said. Gold Fields operates producing mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru. It recently submitted an environmental impact assessment for its proposed Salares Norte mine in Chile, though construction would not likely begin until 2020, Holland said. The company might seek out a junior partner to help finance Salares Norte, which is estimated to cost $850 million. “That’s a big check to pay,” Holland said. “We want to build it, for sure...we’re just trying to figure out if we should do it on our own.” AUTONOMOUS MINING Holland warned that costs for the global gold mining industry will likely start rising on higher fuel prices, wages and inflation more broadly, while ore grades continue to fall and remaining reserves become harder to reach. Holland said he expects annual global gold production going forward to plateau at current levels of around 100 million ounces. “The way we’ve mined over the past 50 years is not the way we’re going to mine in the future,” Holland said. “We are going to have to look at autonomous mining, we are going to have to look at different ways of extracting the ore.” Gold Fields has already deployed remotely operated or semi-autonomous equipment in Australia, Ghana and South Africa, and plans to use more going forward, Holland said, noting deep cost savings for the iron ore industry thanks to automation. Technological advances are also helping Gold Fields extend the life of its Cerro Corona mine in northern Peru, through 2030 or maybe longer, Holland said. “We’re looking at all of our mines in terms of life extension,” Holland said. “Most have potential that we haven’t fully unlocked. And that’s the more cost-effective way for us to grow.” Holland added that the company’s South Deep mine in South Africa appears to be stabilizing. “I think things are improving slowly,” Holland said. South Deep, the company’s last South African asset, has faced numerous operational obstacles in a tough geological setting 3 km (2 miles) below the surface and made a loss of 337.6 million rand ($27 million) in 2017. Reporting By Mitra Taj and Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama 0 : 0 | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/AFRICAbusinessNews | 0 |
| 211 | 2018-05-30T15:01:00.000+03:00 | Deutsche Boerse beefs up forex business with $100 million buy | BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse AG ( DB1Gn.DE ) is beefing up its foreign exchange business with a $100 million deal to buy GTX’s Electronic Communication Network (ECN) business from GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. The company said in a statement on Wednesday that GTX’s ECN business, which had gross revenues of around $23 million in 2017, would help it add access to deep FX spot liquidity. Deutsche Boerse expects the deal to be cash accretive in the first year after closing. The acquisition should meet its return on investment target of more than 10 per cent at the latest in the third year after closing, it said. Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Victoria Bryan | https://www.reuters.com/ | 1 |
| 212 | 2018-05-30T15:01:00.000+03:00 | Sri Lankan shares fall to 4-month closing low on foreign selling | COLOMBO, May 30 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares fell for a third straight session on Wednesday and posted their lowest close in more than four months, as foreign investors sold diversified stocks such as conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc and Aitken Spence Plc. A weaker rupee, political uncertainty and the recent fuel price hike also weighed on sentiment, with investors mostly keeping to the sidelines awaiting cues about the real impact of the floods that hit the island nation over the past week, brokers said. Foreign investors sold net 1.11 billion rupees worth of equities on Wednesday, turning the year-to-date foreign trade to a net outflow of 900.9 million rupees worth of shares. The Colombo stock index ended 0.5 percent weaker at 6,420.98. It fell 0.4 percent last week. Turnover was 1.7 billion rupees ($10.76 million) on Wednesday, well above this year’s daily average of 984.5 million rupees. “Market came down on heavy foreign selling on John Keells,” said Dimantha Mathew, head of research, First Capital Holdings. “Foreign investors are worried over the rupee depreciation. Currency depreciation is the major worry for foreigners in any country.” Analysts said investors are waiting to see the full impact of the floods, which killed 24 people last week. Shares of John Keells Holdings fell 2.2 percent, Aitken Spence and Company lost 8.1 percent, Sampath Bank Plc ended 1.7 percent weaker and Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc slipped 0.6 percent. The rupee hit a fresh low of 158.50 per dollar on May 16 on importer demand for the U.S. currency. Analysts said market sentiment had been dented by concerns over political instability following President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to suspend parliament last month after 16 legislators from his ruling coalition defected. On May 8, Sirisena urged his own coalition government and the opposition to end a power struggle to achieve ambitious goals including anti-corruption measures. ($1 = 158.0000 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBankingFinancial | 0 |
| 213 | 2018-05-30T15:08:00.000+03:00 | PSA production move wins deal with German unions, angers French | May 30, 2018 / 12:23 PM / a few seconds ago PSA production move wins deal with German unions, angers French Reuters Staff 2 Min Read PARIS (Reuters) - French carmaker PSA Group ( PEUP.PA ) said on Wednesday it will move production of the Opel Grandland X model from France to Germany under a deal with Opel unions, drawing immediate criticism from domestic workers’ representatives. FILE PHOTO: People walk to the Opel plant in Eisenach, Germany April 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo PSA, which bought Opel and sister brand Vauxhall from General Motors ( GM.N ) last year, agreed to build the SUV in Eisenach under a broader deal with Opel workers. On Wednesday it confirmed that Grandland assembly would end in Sochaux, eastern France, but said new overflow production of the Peugeot 5008 model would make up for some lost volume. France’s moderate CFTC union decried the move as “bad news for the plant” and demanded more information from management on the distribution of work between PSA and Opel plants. “As long as we don’t have a clear picture of 5008 volumes, the Grandland’s departure will be a concern,” said Christelle Toillon, an official with the CFE-CGC, another centrist union. PSA had been locked in a standoff with Germany’s IG Metall union until the deal was struck on Tuesday, . Tensions among national unions were already in evidence during the protracted talks, which saw German workers hold out for a 4.3 percent pay rise even as group sites in the UK, Spain and several other countries matched earlier French labor concessions including wage restraint. Under the Opel deal, which includes new production investments at other German sites, workers received five-year job guarantees in return for postponing the nationally negotiated pay hike until 2020. The agreement also validated 3,700 voluntary job cuts already underway at Opel. Reporting by Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Alexandra Hudson | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 214 | 2018-05-30T15:18:00.000+03:00 | Turkey says to go elsewhere if U.S. won't sell it F-35 jets - media | ANKARA, May 30 (Reuters) - Turkey will meet its needs elsewhere if the United States does not allow it to procure Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jets, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was Quote: d as saying by broadcaster CNN Turk on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a visit to Germany, Cavusoglu also said that Turkey’s ambassador to Washington, who had been recalled for consultations after Israeli forces killed Palestinian protesters in Gaza earlier this month, would return to Washington. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by David Dolan) | http://www.reuters.com/resources/archive/us/20180530.html | 0 |
| 215 | 2018-05-30T15:29:00.000+03:00 | Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 | (Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc ( FOXA.O ) will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ), the company said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Tennis - US Open - Mens Final - New York, U.S. - September 10, 2017 - Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of Fox News Channel stands before Rafael Nadal of Spain plays against Kevin Anderson of South Africa. REUTERS/Mike Segar The Fox board also recommended backing the deal but said that it was aware of Comcast Corp’s ( CMCSA.O ) moves to make an offer for certain assets of the company. Slideshow (2 Images) Comcast said last week it was preparing a higher, all-cash offer for most of the media assets of Fox, but sources say it will only proceed if a federal judge next month allows AT&T Inc’s ( T.N ) planned $85-billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc ( TWX.N ). The announcement of the special meeting date comes after the largest U.S. cable operator Comcast put pressure on Fox and its shareholders to not rush into approving the Disney deal by going public with its plans of a “superior” offer. Disney in December offered stock then worth $52.4 billion to buy Fox’s film, television and international businesses to beef up its offering against streaming rivals Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) and Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ). A regulatory filing in April showed Comcast offered to buy most of Fox’s assets in an all-stock deal valued at $34.41 per share, or $64 billion last November, just before Disney’s offer was agreed upon. Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Shounak Dasgupta Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 0 : 0 narrow-browser-and-phone medium-browser-and-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser wide-browser-and-larger medium-browser-and-landscape-tablet medium-wide-browser-and-larger above-phone portrait-tablet-and-above above-portrait-tablet landscape-tablet-and-above landscape-tablet-and-medium-wide-browser portrait-tablet-and-below landscape-tablet-and-below Apps Newsletters Advertise with Us Advertising Guidelines Cookies Terms of Use Privacy All Quote: s delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 216 | 2018-05-30T15:33:00.000+03:00 | Turkey says to go elsewhere if U.S. won't sell it F-35 jets: media | ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday denied media reports that a deal had been reached between the United States and Turkey on a three-step plan for withdrawing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia from Syria’s Manbij. “We don’t have any agreements yet with the government of Turkey,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement in Washington. “We’re continuing to have ongoing conversations regarding Syria and other issues of mutual concern,” she said, adding that American and Turkish officials had met in Ankara last week for talks on the issue. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday Ankara and Washington had reached a technical agreement on the withdrawal plan, a move Turkey has long sought from the United States. The report comes as differences over Syria policy and Washington’s decision in December to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem have strained ties between the NATO allies. Turkey is outraged by U.S. support for the YPG militia, considering them a terrorist organization. Ankara has threatened to push its offensive in northern Syria’s Afrin region further east to Manbij. Manbij is a potential flashpoint. The Syrian government, Kurdish militants, Syrian rebel groups, Turkey, and the United States all have a military presence in northern Syria. Under the terms of the plan to be finalised during a visit by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington on June 4, the YPG will withdraw from Manbij 30 days after the deal is signed, Anadolu said, quoting sources who attended meetings at which the decisions were made. Turkish and U.S. military forces will start joint supervision in Manbij 45 days after the agreement is signed and a local administration will be formed 60 days after June 4, Anadolu said. Earlier on Wednesday, Cavusoglu told broadcaster AHaber that a timetable for the Manbij plans could be set during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, and that it could be implemented before the end of the summer. Cavusoglu was also Quote: d by media on his return flight from Germany saying that, if finalised, the plan for Manbij could be applied throughout northern Syria. However, a local Manbij official later told Reuters that Cavusoglu’s assertions that U.S. and Turkish forces would temporarily control the region were “premature” and lacked credibility. Relations between Ankara and Washington have hit a low-point due to factors such as the sentencing this month in New York of a former Turkish state bank executive to 32 months in prison for taking part in an Iran sanctions-busting scheme, a case Turkey has called a political attack. DEFENSE PROCUREMENT Turkey has also caused unease in Washington with its decision to buy S-400 surface-to-air missiles from Russia and drew criticism over its detention of a U.S. Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, on terrorism charges. Brunson faces up to 35 years in prison on charges of links to the network Ankara blames for a 2016 coup attempt. The pastor denied the charges in a Turkish court this month. A U.S. Senate committee last week passed its version of a $716 billion defense policy bill, including a measure to prevent Turkey from buying Lockheed Martin F-35 jets, citing Brunson and the Russian missile deal. Cavusoglu, however, said that if the United States blocked Turkey from buying the jets, Ankara would go elsewhere to meet its needs, adding that it was unlikely Washington would be able to back out of the deal. Turkey has plans to buy more than 100 of the F-35 jets and the Pentagon last year awarded Lockheed $3.7 billion in an interim payment for the production of 50 of the aircraft earmarked for non-U.S. customers, including Ankara. Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Tom Brown | https://www.reuters.com/ | 0 |
| 217 | 2018-05-30T15:34:00.000+03:00 | Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 | May 30, 2018 / 12:35 PM / Updated 10 minutes ago Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 Reuters Staff 1 Min Read (Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc ( FOXA.O ) will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ), the company said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: The 21st Century Fox logo is displayed on the side of a building in midtown Manhattan in New York, U.S., February 27, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson The Fox board also recommended backing the deal but said that it was aware of Comcast Corp’s ( CMCSA.O ) moves to make an offer for the company. Comcast said last week it was preparing a higher, all-cash offer for most of the media assets of Fox, but sources say it will only proceed if a federal judge next month allows AT&T Inc’s ( T.N ) planned $85-billion (64 billion pounds) acquisition of Time Warner Inc ( TWX.N ). Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 218 | 2018-05-30T15:41:00.000+03:00 | BRIEF-Engie buys Swiss company Priora FM SA | May 30 (Reuters) - Engie SA: * ENGIE Switzerland acquires Priora FM SA from Priora Group, further expanding its business for airports * Priora FM SA is based in Geneva, handles the management of buildings, infrastructures and performs all facility management tasks for its clients. | https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/europe | 1 |
| 219 | 2018-05-30T15:44:00.000+03:00 | Blackstone sees scope for Italian deals despite political strife | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alternative asset manager Blackstone Group LP ( BX.N ) is still open to doing deals in Italy despite political turmoil in the euro zone country, President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: The ticker and trading information for Blackstone Group is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid “Sure. It’s a function of price,” Gray said at a conference organized by Deutsche Bank, when asked if the company would buy Italian assets right now. “If you look back after Brexit, in our real estate business, we bought a couple of hundred million of pounds of warehouses. It was literally 10 days after Brexit. We tend to focus more on long-term value than short-term market movements.” Gray also said Blackstone, with $449.6 billion of assets under management, continues to consider switching over from a partnership to a corporation after peers KKR & Co LP ( KKR.N ) and Ares Management ( ARES.N ) said they would convert this year. “We’re going to watch it, see what markets do, see how these companies trade, think about it ourselves,” Gray said. “When we think it’s the right time, we’ll make that decision,” Gray added. In January, Blackstone agreed to buy a majority stake in the Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters Corp ( TRI.N ), ( TRI.TO ), the parent company of Reuters News, in a $20 billion deal. Reuters News will remain part of Thomson Reuters. (This version of the story removes extraneous word from second paragraph) Reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Richard Chang | https://in.reuters.com/markets/bonds | 0 |
| 220 | 2018-05-30T15:53:00.000+03:00 | Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 | May 30, 2018 / 12:33 PM / Updated 27 minutes ago Fox sets Disney deal vote for July 10 Reuters Staff 2 Min Read (Reuters) - Twenty-First Century Fox Inc ( FOXA.O ) will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ), the company said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: The Twenty-First Century Fox Studios flag flies over the company building in Los Angeles, California U.S. November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson The Fox board also recommended backing the deal but said that it was aware of Comcast Corp’s ( CMCSA.O ) moves to make an offer for certain assets of the company. Comcast said last week it was preparing a higher, all-cash offer for most of the media assets of Fox, but sources say it will only proceed if a federal judge next month allows AT&T Inc’s ( T.N ) planned $85-billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc ( TWX.N ). The announcement of the special meeting date comes after the largest U.S. cable operator Comcast put pressure on Fox and its shareholders to not rush into approving the Disney deal by going public with its plans of a “superior” offer. Disney in December offered stock then worth $52.4 billion to buy Fox’s film, television and international businesses to beef up its offering against streaming rivals Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) and Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ). A regulatory filing in April showed Comcast offered to buy most of Fox’s assets in an all-stock deal valued at $34.41 per share, or $64 billion last November, just before Disney’s offer was agreed upon. Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Shounak Dasgupta | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/ | 0 |
| 221 | 2018-05-30T15:53:00.000+03:00 | Sweden set to close $1 bln Patriot missile deal | STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will close a deal in the next few weeks with U.S. arms maker Raytheon Co ( RTN.N ) to buy the Patriot air defense missile system as it modernizes its armed forces amid heightened tensions with Russia. FILE PHOTO: Logo of the U.S. defense company Raytheon is pictured at an international military fair in Kielce, Poland September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel Moscow’s brief war with Georgia in 2008 and its annexation of the Crimea Peninsula six years later has pushed Sweden, not a NATO member but with close ties to the alliance, to rebuild its armed forces after decades of neglect. “We are now done negotiating with the U.S. about Patriot and will now ask the government’s permission to sign the contract,” said Joakim Lewin, head of the Army Design Office at the Swedish Materiel Administration (FMV), which procures and maintains equipment for the military. The deal is initially worth around 10 billion crowns ($1.13 billion) and is the biggest military purchase since 2013 when Sweden started to upgrade 60 Saab SAAB.ST Gripen fighters, a deal worth around 47 billion crowns. Sweden’s current air defense system, which is over a decade old, cannot shoot down enemy ballistic robots. According to Lewin, the Patriot deal includes four firing units, parts, training and an undisclosed number of missiles. The contract also includes an option to expand the purchase to up to 300 missiles. If the option is used, the final bill will be around $3 billion, Lewin said. Delivery is expected to start in 2021. So far, 15 other countries have purchased the Patriots, including NATO members Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland. Neutral Switzerland has said it is considering Patriot among other systems. The Swedish government has until August 10th to make a final decision on the deal. Reporting by Johan Sennero; Editing by Simon Johnson and Mark Potter | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 0 |
| 222 | 2018-05-30T15:56:00.000+03:00 | Sweden set to close $1 billion Patriot missile deal | May 30, 2018 / 12:59 PM / a few seconds ago Sweden set to close $1 billion Patriot missile deal Reuters Staff 2 Min Read STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will close a deal in the next few weeks with U.S. arms maker Raytheon Co ( RTN.N ) to buy the Patriot air defense missile system as it modernizes its armed forces amid heightened tensions with Russia. FILE PHOTO: Logo of the U.S. defense company Raytheon is pictured at an international military fair in Kielce, Poland September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel Moscow’s brief war with Georgia in 2008 and its annexation of the Crimea Peninsula six years later has pushed Sweden, not a NATO member but with close ties to the alliance, to rebuild its armed forces after decades of neglect. “We are now done negotiating with the U.S. about Patriot and will now ask the government’s permission to sign the contract,” said Joakim Lewin, head of the Army Design Office at the Swedish Materiel Administration (FMV), which procures and maintains equipment for the military. The deal is initially worth around 10 billion crowns ($1.13 billion) and is the biggest military purchase since 2013 when Sweden started to upgrade 60 Saab SAAB.ST Gripen fighters, a deal worth around 47 billion crowns. Sweden’s current air defense system, which is over a decade old, cannot shoot down enemy ballistic robots. According to Lewin, the Patriot deal includes four firing units, parts, training and an undisclosed number of missiles. The contract also includes an option to expand the purchase to up to 300 missiles. If the option is used, the final bill will be around $3 billion, Lewin said. Delivery is expected to start in 2021. So far, 15 other countries have purchased the Patriots, including NATO members Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland. Neutral Switzerland has said it is considering Patriot among other systems. The Swedish government has until August 10th to make a final decision on the deal. Reporting by Johan Sennero; Editing by Simon Johnson and Mark Potter | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 223 | 2018-05-30T16:00:00.000+03:00 | Adidas takes 12-10 lead over Nike in World Cup shirt deals | BERLIN (Reuters) - Adidas ( ADSGn.DE ) can declare itself the winner over arch rival Nike ( NKE.N ) in the upcoming soccer World Cup even before the first match kicks off as it is kitting out the most teams. However, the German sportswear brand, which is also the official sponsor of the tournament, expects only a limited financial impact, partly because this year’s World Cup takes place in Russia, where the economy is in the doldrums. “The World Cup in Russia does carry lower financial opportunities than the similar event four years ago in Brazil,” Adidas Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted said earlier this month. “At the same time, we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fantastic way of bringing our brand to life globally,” Rorsted added. Since the last tournament in 2014, Adidas has grown sales rapidly in areas other than soccer, capitalizing on booming demand for its retro basketball sneakers and springy Boost running shoes to outpace Nike, particularly in the U.S. market. Nevertheless, soccer remains important for the image of the German brand, which has supplied the World Cup match ball since 1970 and has a deal to sponsor the event until 2030. It also announced last week it will extend its partnership with the UEFA Champions League until 2021. After Nike kitted out more teams for the first time in Brazil in 2014, Adidas has fought back, this year sponsoring 12 of the 32 participating teams, including strong contenders like Germany and Spain, along with hosts Russia. Nike, which only got heavily involved in soccer when the World Cup was played in the United States in 1994, is supplying shirts for 10 countries, including Brazil, France and England. “The World Cup is such a powerful moment in sport, and we look forward to amplifying its energy,” Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker said in March. (For graphic on kit manufacturers throughout World Cup tournaments, click tmsnrt.rs/2JiAK6W ) Slideshow (2 Images) NO IRANIANS WEAR NIKE While team deals are important for sales of soccer jerseys, more critical for sales of boots is the sponsorship of top players, particularly the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who wears Nike, and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, in Adidas. Nike expects 60 percent of all the players heading to Russia will be wearing its boots, including almost half the German and Spanish team and three-quarters of the Russians, even though they will be wearing Adidas shirts. An exception is Iran, which faces new sanctions after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal. Nike says none of the country’s players are wearing its shoes, while Adidas is providing the team’s jerseys. A Nike spokesman said: “This has no relation to any political situation.” German brand Puma ( PUMG.DE ) is a distant third, sponsoring just four relatively lowly teams in the competition, compared with the eight it kitted out in 2014, dented by the failure of its top team Italy to qualify. Still, Puma Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden says the World Cup has helped its order book for the second and third quarters. Adidas reported soccer-related sales of 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in 2014, when it sold 14 million official match balls and 8 million jerseys, including 3 million for the winning German team. Sales rose to 2.5 billion euros by 2016, but slipped as a proportion of total Adidas revenue to 13.5 percent from 14.5 percent in 2014. It has not disclosed figures since then. Nike saw soccer sales fall a currency-adjusted 4 percent to $2 billion for its fiscal year ended May 31, 2017, accounting for less than 6 percent of group revenue. The World Cup could add about 3 to 4 percentage points to Adidas group revenue growth in 2018, lower than previous tournaments due to the fact it is happening in Russia, according to Piral Dadhania, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. However, Dadhania noted much of the benefit occurs before the event as the jerseys have already been sold to retailers. “Any incremental boost during or after the event relating to jersey sales depends on the extent to which specific teams progress through the competition,” Dadhania said. Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by David Holmes | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews | 0 |
| 224 | 2018-05-30T16:00:00.000+03:00 | 'Words with Friends' maker Zynga buys Gram Games for $250 mln | (Reuters) - Zynga Inc ( ZNGA.O ) has bought mobile gaming startup Gram Games for $250 million to boost its portfolio of franchise-based titles, it said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO - The Zynga logo is pictured at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California April 23, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo With Istanbul-based Gram, the company behind “Words with Friends” and “Farmville” will gain access to easy-to-play and addictive titles such as “1010!” and “Merge Dragons!”. “Merge Dragons!” in particular had the potential to become a long-running franchise for Zynga, its Chief Executive Officer Frank Gibeau said in a statement. The acquisition is Zynga’s latest attempt to bolster its mobile gaming business — which generates revenue through ads and in-game purchases of additional features — as it shifts focus away from once-popular titles such as “Farmville”. Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar | http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews | 1 |
| 225 | 2018-05-30T16:03:00.000+03:00 | Adidas takes 12-10 lead over Nike in World Cup shirt deals | May 30, 2018 / 1:04 PM / Updated 42 minutes ago Adidas takes 12-10 lead over Nike in World Cup shirt deals Emma Thomasson 5 Min Read BERLIN (Reuters) - Adidas ( ADSGn.DE ) can declare itself the winner over arch rival Nike ( NKE.N ) in the upcoming soccer World Cup even before the first match kicks off as it is kitting out the most teams. FILE PHOTO: Shareholders arrive for Adidas annual general meeting in Fuerth near Nuremberg, Germany, May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo/File Photo However, the German sportswear brand, which is also the official sponsor of the tournament, expects only a limited financial impact, partly because this year’s World Cup takes place in Russia, where the economy is in the doldrums. “The World Cup in Russia does carry lower financial opportunities than the similar event four years ago in Brazil,” Adidas Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted said earlier this month. “At the same time, we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fantastic way of bringing our brand to life globally,” Rorsted added. Since the last tournament in 2014, Adidas has grown sales rapidly in areas other than soccer, capitalising on booming demand for its retro basketball sneakers and springy Boost running shoes to outpace Nike, particularly in the U.S. market. Nevertheless, soccer remains important for the image of the German brand, which has supplied the World Cup match ball since 1970 and has a deal to sponsor the event until 2030. It also announced last week it will extend its partnership with the UEFA Champions League until 2021. After Nike kitted out more teams for the first time in Brazil in 2014, Adidas has fought back, this year sponsoring 12 of the 32 participating teams, including strong contenders like Germany and Spain, along with hosts Russia. Nike, which only got heavily involved in soccer when the World Cup was played in the United States in 1994, is supplying shirts for 10 countries, including Brazil, France and England. “The World Cup is such a powerful moment in sport, and we look forward to amplifying its energy,” Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker said in March. NO IRANIANS WEAR NIKE While team deals are important for sales of soccer jerseys, more critical for sales of boots is the sponsorship of top players, particularly the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who wears Nike, and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, in Adidas. Nike expects 60 percent of all the players heading to Russia will be wearing its boots, including almost half the German and Spanish team and three-quarters of the Russians, even though they will be wearing Adidas shirts. An exception is Iran, which faces new sanctions after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal. Nike says none of the country’s players are wearing its shoes, while Adidas is providing the team’s jerseys. German brand Puma ( PUMG.DE ) is a distant third, sponsoring just four relatively lowly teams in the competition, compared with the eight it kitted out in 2014, dented by the failure of its top team Italy to qualify. Still, Puma Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden says the World Cup has helped its order book for the second and third quarters. Adidas reported soccer-related sales of 2.1 billion euros (1.8 billion pounds) in 2014, when it sold 14 million official match balls and 8 million jerseys, including 3 million for the winning German team. Sales rose to 2.5 billion euros by 2016, but slipped as a proportion of total Adidas revenue to 13.5 percent from 14.5 percent in 2014. It has not disclosed figures since then. Nike saw soccer sales fall a currency-adjusted 4 percent to $2 billion for its fiscal year ended May 31, 2017, accounting for less than 6 percent of group revenue. The World Cup could add about 3 to 4 percentage points to Adidas group revenue growth in 2018, lower than previous tournaments due to the fact it is happening in Russia, according to Piral Dadhania, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. However, Dadhania noted much of the benefit occurs before the event as the jerseys have already been sold to retailers. “Any incremental boost during or after the event relating to jersey sales depends on the extent to which specific teams progress through the competition,” Dadhania said. Graphic: Kit manufacturers throughout World Cup tournaments - tmsnrt.rs/2JiAK6W Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by David Holmes | http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml | 0 |
| 226 | 2018-05-30T16:10:00.000+03:00 | REFILE-UPDATE 1-Blackstone sees scope for Italian deals despite political strife | (Removes extraneous word from second paragraph) By Joshua Franklin NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Alternative asset manager Blackstone Group LP is still open to doing deals in Italy despite political turmoil in the euro zone country, President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said on Wednesday. “Sure. It’s a function of price,” Gray said at a conference organized by Deutsche Bank, when asked if the company would buy Italian assets right now. “If you look back after Brexit, in our real estate business, we bought a couple of hundred million of pounds of warehouses. It was literally 10 days after Brexit. We tend to focus more on long-term value than short-term market movements.” Gray also said Blackstone, with $449.6 billion of assets under management, continues to consider switching over from a partnership to a corporation after peers KKR & Co LP and Ares Management said they would convert this year. “We’re going to watch it, see what markets do, see how these companies trade, think about it ourselves,” Gray said. “When we think it’s the right time, we’ll make that decision,” Gray added. In January, Blackstone agreed to buy a majority stake in the Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters Corp, , the parent company of Reuters News, in a $20 billion deal. Reuters News will remain part of Thomson Reuters. Reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Richard Chang | https://in.reuters.com/finance/deals | 0 |
