Corporate Money articles from December 1999

Corporate Money archives from December 1999

Bonds.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Poor performance on the equity markets worldwide gave government bonds the impetus to register strong gains on Tuesday, with US Treasuries leading the way. New issuers showed an interesting penchant for the Polish zloty this week with a 200m...

Equities.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The seemingly relentless bullish FTSE drive was called to an abrupt halt on Tuesday, as worries about a possible UK interest rate rise in the near future joined forces with a poor Wall St performance overnight. The 100 index closed down 1.4%,...

Charities' urge to merge.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... There are about 190,000 charities on the Charities Register and one in five is seeking to merge, according to a survey by Charles Russell, a City firm of solicitors. Based on a sample of 150 charities and not-for-profit organisations, the...

Man U richest club - for now.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Deloitte &Touche says that Italian and Spanish football clubs look set to emerge as the richest soccer clubs in the world based on turnover. Currently Manchester United leads with a turnover [pound]87.9m in 1997/98, about 20 per cent more than...

Auditing investment businesses.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Auditing Practices Board has published Consultation Draft Practice Note 21 on auditing investment businesses. It replaces PN 1 first issued in 1992. The draft includes an example of reports to regulators and guidance on review reports on...

Blameless partners to escape own liability.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Blameless and "sleeping" partners of professional firms, such as lawyers, accountants, actuaries, architects and surveyors, can sleep a bit easier in their beds following the publication of the Limited Liability Partnerships Bill. This will...

Media tycoons in [pound]7.8bn merger as OFT ponders new television rules.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The agreed [pound]7.8bn all paper merger between Carlton Communications and United News & Media is dwarfed by the [pound]79bn hostile offer for Mannesmann by VodafoneAirtouch. But big media deals grab the headlines, and this one is unusual in...

Greenwich NatWest urges [pound]1.15bn Government-backed bond.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Mayor of London contest has descended temporarily into recrimination and farce with the resignation of Jeffrey Archer and Ken Livingstone's grilling by the Labour Party's "Star Chamber". But one serious election issue has at least been...

`New' kid on the telco block stakes claim.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The sweeping consolidation which has hit the telecommunications sector in Europe showed no signs of abating this week, as the newly formed Telia/Telinor entity bid for Irish mobile phone operator Esat Telecom. Given the level of activity...

Caledonia Offer.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Caledonia Investments, the diversified industry and investment company, has made a recommended offer for engineering group Sterling which values the company at [pound]96.1m. The complex mixed share and cash bid consists of 0.2642 new Caledonia...

DMGT bids for BUP.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Media group Daily Mail & General Trust has received the go-ahead from the board of Bristol United Press with regard to a [pound]121.5m cash offer. The bid values BUP at 742.5p per share, a substantial 43% premium. The company has already...

Marconi expands.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... A big week for Marconi saw the [pound]95m acquisition of the public networks division of German company Robert Bosch Group, coupled with renewed interest in the group's shares prompted by the removal of its defence division. The acquisition is...

Sports media move.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Sportsworld Media Group has made its third and most substantial acquisition of the year, with the [pound]22.4m purchase of Australian diversified media company Media Holdings. The group had already acquired Stuart Sawyer and Lone Eagle earlier...

Thames' US deal.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Eager to keep up with its international rivals, UK utility Thames Water has acquired US counterpart E'Town for [pound]367.9m. French companies Vivendi and Suez Lyonnais des Eaux have both been on the acquisition trail in the US this year...

Scots' OK from US.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Utility group ScottishPower announced the successful completion of its merger with US equivalent PacifiCorp this week, and celebrated with the issue of a 40-year [pound]50m bond. The merger, which was first announced in December of last year,...

Insurance income up 62%.
December 8, 1999... The average UK annual household expenditure on all forms of insurance, including personal pensions, in 1997-98 was [pound]1,220, says the latest edition of Insurance Facts, Figures and Trends, published by the Association of British Insurers....

Serviced office sector seeks rethink on property valuation and lending.
December 8, 1999... When Regus, the UK's leading serviced office provider, abandoned its planned flotation almost at the last minute earlier this year, it did so against a backdrop of negative market and press sentiment towards the serviced office business. It was...

Dixons looks to Oslo.
December 8, 1999... Consumer electronics giant Dixons made a dramatic move into Europe this week, via the [pound]444m recommended offer for Norwegian equivalent, Elkjop. The deal, which consolidates Dixons' position as number one in the European market, was...

Enic's Czech buy.
December 8, 1999... Media giant Enic increased its presence on the Continental football stage this week, with the acquistion of further interests in Czech club SK Slavia Praha for [pound]2.6m. The group already holds major stakes in clubs in Greece, as well as the...

Papa John's takeout.
December 8, 1999... Papa John's, America's largest pizza company, has moved to expand its UK presence, with the [pound]20m acquisition of Perfect Pizza. Perfect, which is the UK's largest independent pizza delivery and takeaway business, has grown substantially...

Yorkshire dye deal.
December 8, 1999... Yorkshire Group announced this week that it had agreed to acquire the Textile Dyes and European Industrial Dyes businesses of US-based CK Witco for [pound]54.1m. The deal, which involves a consideration divided between cash and shares, is a...

UK equity issues, domestic and international bond issues; week ending 5/12/99.
December 8, 1999... COMPANY 365 Corporation Sports web-site operator Sector: Software & Computer Services TERMS Market: Official List Type: Introduction Amount ([pound]m): 75.5 Price (p): 160 No of shares: 47,193,899 ...

Galaxy moves to AIM.
December 8, 1999... Galaxy Media Corporation has undergone a major facelift this week, inspired by its acquisition of Gaming Internet for [pound]40.2m. The company proposed a capital reorganisation which involved a placing of New Shares, followed by the...

Trouble in Scandinavian telecoms paradise.
December 15, 1999... It is fitting somehow that the last EuroNews of the year should concern a troubled Continental transaction. In a year which has given us rapid consolidation in the financial and telecommunications sector, propelled by the messy tri-partite...

Waddington to sell.
December 15, 1999... Timber business Mansfield has agreed an offer to take over Leeds-based packaging company Waddington. The bid, which comprises 28.6 new Mansfield shares plus 100p in cash for every Waddington share, values the company at approximately...

Eve set to take offer.
December 15, 1999... Telecommunications and power networks company Eve Group has recommended a [pound]40.6m offer from engineering group Peterhouse. Eve chairman Michael Fairbrother commented: "I believe that Eve's prospects will be enhanced by the opportunities...

Sanderson MBO.
December 15, 1999... IT software and services group Sanderson is waving goodbye to its listing in favour of an Alchemy Partners-backed management buy-out worth [pound]114.5m. The deal will see chairman and founder Paul Thompson sell his 12% stake in the company for...

Peacock flotation.
December 15, 1999... Discount clothing retail group Peacock gave the turbulent sector some cause for optimism with its flotation on London's Official List. The company placed around two-thirds of its share capital at 163p. Peacock floated well on the high end of...

BG index-linked note.
December 15, 1999... BG, the UK listed utility, issued its long-awaited index-linked bonds this week, valued at over [pound]1.5bn, some 10% of its market capitalisation. The move, which was announced in June of this year (see Corporate Money, 23 June, p3), works as...

Colt taps the market for another [pound]700m to fund pan-European expansion.
December 15, 1999... > Colt Telecoms has a market capitalisation of over [pound]19bn, not far short of Tesco and Marks & Spencer put together, but has never made a profit and its gearing is a dizzy 184 per cent. Its share price soared 141p this week to...