Corporate Money articles from March 2000

Corporate Money archives from March 2000

Equities.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 2, 2000... The Euro suffered the biggest fall in its 14-month history this week. It tumbled 3.5 per cent to a fresh low against the dollar before recovering to around 97 cents. Most analysts think Euro selling partly stemmed from confused policy...

M&A.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... The Internet continued to provide plenty of action, but there was a notable deal in Tetley Tea, inventor of the tea bag, being sold to Tata Tea for ukp271m, the largest overseas acquisition undertaken by an Indian company. Tata Tea has a 23 per...

Digest.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... " Stakeholder "over complex Consultant William M Mercer has renewed its attack on the Treasury for what it describes as a "missed opportunity" over the tax regime for stakeholder pensions. "We are disappointed that the government has...

E-mail as Competition Act evidence.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... E-mail will become key evidence of possible corporate criminal acts as Competition Commission investigators police the draconian provisions of the Competition Act which came into force on Wednesday. "E-mail has been a godsend to...

Bidders to break up United Biscuits.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... In one of the most unusual takeover bids seen by the City in recent years, the two rival bidders for United Biscuits, Finalrealm and Burlington, have agreed to combine their offers into a ukp1.26bn joint proposal and to divide the spoils. Few...

Byers reads the Competition Act to UK business.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... Trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers gave a stern warning this week that firms falling foul of the new Competition Act could face huge fines. He reminded a Social Market Foundation conference this week that in 1998 the European Commission...

Digests.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... Neuer Markt flies The high-risk, high-growth Neuer Markt is expected to see about 200 new offerings this year, 160 of which will be IPOs - a 20 per cent increase on last year. Infineon, the Siemens semi-conductors business is to be floated...

Resistance to free EU electricity market.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... The EU Directive that introduced the first steps towards a single European electricity market came into effect a year ago and has had a dramatic increase in customer expectation of lower prices. But, says a new report in Standard & Poor's...

Online trading issues take centre stage.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... The development of online trading in Europe took centre stage this week as the securities industry exerted more pressure on stock exchanges. The eight biggest bourses are due to unveil limited harmonisation in November, but investment banks are...

Minimal access?(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... Fed up with the whole dotcom hype? Of those desperate to jump on the IPO bandwagon before it leaves town? Then take a look at two firms which create and market products of real substance for a highly specialised market which is reckoned to be...

Paddington's turn.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... For over a decade, the 13 acre Bishopsbridge site in Paddington, London has been waiting for the property development cycle to turn in its favour. There have been several plans over the period, but supply and demand were not in harmony. But...

Rank disposes.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... Continuing its debt-reduction strategy, the Rank Group has announced two high-profile disposals worth a total of ukp334m - the sales of the legendary Pinewood Studios in Hertfordshire, and of its Odeon Cinemas chain. Independent private...

Over-subscribed.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2000... When the IPO for interactive investor international (iii) closed last week, the personal financial services portal operator had raised ukp82.5m. The IPO was 26 times over-subscribed - 30 times by the institutions and 13 times by retail...

Bonds.
March 8, 2000... Investment funds' appetite for fixed-income assets is growing rapidly. The popularity of medium term corporate bonds is growing as the supply of UK government bonds dwindles to near zero against a background of budget surplus. Bonds are set to...

EQUITIES.
March 8, 2000... The hype surrounding next week's floation of lastminute.com has served to strengthen the hold that the new economy has on the minds of investors. But analysts are considering barriers to entry as a key indicator of market strength. The property...

M&A.
March 8, 2000... Not all is doom and gloom in the real estate sector. Some specialists are succeeding by focusing on particular products and locations. Marylebone Warwick Balfour is buying a reversionary portfolio for ukp73m in an off-market deal and is buying...

Digests.
March 8, 2000... Birth of extraMARK The London Stock Exchange has announced the creation of extraMark, a new attribute market, whose first product will be exchange-traded funds (EFTs) which, "offer investors easy access to the performance of an index by...

Biotech sector shares power ahead.
March 8, 2000... After the biotech bubble of 1997, the sector returned in strength this year as dot.com stocks reach levels that many analysts consider to be unsustainable. The International Biotechnology Trust's March newsletter says that the fast and furious...

Taking on the drugs giants.
March 8, 2000... This analysis was borne out this week when Britain's Cambridge Antibody Technology and Human Genome Sciences of the US unveiled a bold ten-year partnership to discover and develop human antibodies against major diseases - and to target the drug...

The economic `delivery phase'.
March 8, 2000... The UK's MorphoSys has seen its share price rise more than 500 per cent since January, while shares in Germany's newly-listed Evotec have grown by 180 per cent this year. Investors have concluded that the more mature European biotech companies...

High-tech entrants for FTSE 100.
March 8, 2000... The quarterly review of FTSE 100 membership this week reflects the dramatic changes in business power that have taken place over the last year. Several information and telecoms stocks look set to join the index: 12 months ago there were none....

Relegation candidates.
March 8, 2000... Firms likely to be "relegated" include Imperial Tobacco, Thames Water, as well as Hanson and Wolseley, which are both in the building materials sector. Meanwhile, Colt Telecom has raised more than ukp700m in its third capital-raising...

Property firms in buy-back moves.
March 8, 2000... Hidden away in Hammerson's results for the year to the end of December is the news that the board intends to seek authority at the forthcoming annual general meeting to purchase up to 14.9 per cent of the company's shares. Land Securities, the...

lastminute.com float creates focus on new economy.
March 8, 2000... Whatever happens to the impending floatation of lastminute.com on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, there is no doubt that the 114-page prospectus produced by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is a key document for the new economy and is probably...

3G mobile phone auction unfolds.
March 8, 2000... VodafoneAirTouch has hardly stopped to savour the triumph of its acquisition of Mannesmann before rushing to enter the UK's auction of licences for third generation (3G) "Internet in your pocket" mobile phones. 13 players registered on...

Banks shy of international consolidation.
March 8, 2000... The consolidation of Europe's banking sector took a quantum leap forward this week with the expected announcement that Deutsche Bank is to merge with its smaller rival, Dresdner Bank. Allianz, the German financial services group, which is a...

Bids, mergers, demergers and disposals; week ending 05/03/00.
March 8, 2000... Bidder Bass Leisure hospitality group LF: Davis Polk & Wardwell (US) Target Bristol Hotels & Resorts hotels LF: Jones Day Reavis Pogue (US) Finance Value (ukpm): 60.60 Details Bass believes...

Brewer to delist.
March 8, 2000... The curiously named Inhoco 1849 plc is the vehicle by which the Kershaw family shareholders, who speak for 56.5 per cent of the shares, will acquire the listed the Holt brewing company with the aim of taking it private. The offer comprises...

Sensing the market.
March 8, 2000... City Technology and First Technology both operate in the expanding safety and sensing markets in North America and Europe. First Technology's expertise is in electronic sensing, chip-on-board electronics, electromechanical sensing and switching...

Pilot training.
March 8, 2000... The predicted huge expansion in airline travel is leading to a surge in demand for pilot and flight deck training. Hence the BBA Group acquisition of Oxford Aviation from Close Brothers on a debt free basis for ukp55.4m. The cash deal will be...

Raising capital.
March 8, 2000... Sopheon, formerly named PolyDoc, an international know-ledge management software and services company, is raising ukp20m through a placing of 2.5m ordinary shares with institutions at 800p. It will use the funds to pay for the acquisition of...

Mean Fiddler.
March 8, 2000... Over the last 20 years the privately owned Mean Fiddler Group, headed by Vince Power, has developed into the UK's premier music/festival/venue promoter. Its current sales are about ukp30m a year.The group promotes the Reading Festival and the...

UK equity issues, domestic and international bond issues.
March 8, 2000... AIM 2 VCT Sector: Speciality & Other Finance Market: Official list Type: Offer Sponsor: Singer & Friedlander; Matrix-Securities Amount (ukpm): 20.00 The shares will be placed in the official investment trust...

Bonds.
March 15, 2000... Fitch IBCA's acquisition of Duff & Phelps will create a European-led third global firm in the credit ratings business, alongside the US-based Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, which share 80 per cent of the business. Demand for...

Equities.
March 15, 2000... Unofficial dealings in Lastminute.com, which is not expected to be profitable until 2004, confirmed investors' current appetite for internet stocks. Valued at ukp732m, the IPO was 40 times oversubscribed. About 190,000 retail investors received...

M&A.
March 15, 2000... BP Amoco's recommended ukp3bn cash offer for Burmah Castrol brings together two big brands and extends their global reach. The City reacted positively to the decision of Williams, the last remaining UK conglomerate, to split itself up and sell...

Candover sees strong M & A market.
March 15, 2000... Private equity house Candover Investments expects the market for buyouts in the UK and continental Europe to continue to be strong over the coming year "as the concept of shareholder value spreads and the focus on core assets continues to drive...

New FTSE confirms high-tech rise.
March 15, 2000... FTSE International's quarterly review of the FTSE Actuaries UK Share Indices reflected the revolutionary changes caused by the new economy. The review resulted in nine new entrants to the FTSE 100, mainly from the new economy, and the...

Reckitt struggles to clean up results.
March 15, 2000... When Reckitt & Colman merged with Dutch consumer products group Benckiser last year the conglomerate boasted many world famous brands, such as Harpic, Lemsip, Calgonit and Dettol. But all was not well: the firm issued a profits warning in...

Company Law review group clarifies directors' duties.
March 15, 2000... A legal definition of the duties of company directors moved closer this week with a new report to the Department of Trade and Industry by the independent Company Law Review Steering Group. The steering group's consultation paper in effect...

Germans ponder new takeover rules.
March 15, 2000... In the wake of VodafoneAirTouch's successful hostile bid for Mannesman and Deutsche Bank's merger with Dresdner Bank, Germany is considering passing a law laying down binding rules for corporate takeovers. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says the...

LVMH sparkles with 40% profits rise.
March 15, 2000... The LVMH Group, the French luxury goods giant, has set itself an impressive target for 2000: it is chasing operating growth of at least 20 per cent. This could be on the cards, given that the group has just turned in strong figures for 1999,...

Dealing cars.
March 15, 2000... Pendragon's agreed bid for Lex Service is structured by an initial cash payment of ukp78m, subject to an adjustment based on the value of Lex's net assets at the end of March with a maximum consideration of ukp94.85m to be funded by new banking...

Carrier 24.
March 15, 2000... Munich-based Carrier 24, a broadband start-up company, has been acquired by FTSE 100 telecoms and internet company Energis for DM65m (ukp20m) including unstated liabilities. Carrier24 was formed last May and holds licences in Germany, Austria,...

Weighing up.
March 15, 2000... FTSE 100 company Marconi is selling the Avery Berkel Group, the UK market leader in retail and industrial weighing, to Weigh-Tronix for ukp102.5m payable in cash plus warrants to subscribe for five per cent of the equity of the combined...

Unlocking value.
March 15, 2000... The City has responded enthusiastically to Williams' plan to split itself into Chubb Security Services and Kidde fire protection, and sell the Yale locks business to Assa Abloy for ukp825m in cash and shares. The shares, which have under...

Sanctuary.
March 15, 2000... The Sanctuary Group, which specialises in intellectual property rights in the media, music and entertainment fields, is acquiring CMC International Records for ukp4.4m. CMC holds the back catalogues of a clutch of rock bands, such as Lynyrd...

UK equity issues, domestic and international bond issues; week ending 12/03/00.
March 15, 2000... Bidder Biocompatibles International Sector: Health Market: Official List Type: Placing Target Underwriter: Merrill Lynch; Dresdner Kleinwort Benson PR Adviser: Financial Dynamics Finance Amount (ukpm):...

Schroder Ventures invests E70m.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2000... Schroder Ventures has invested E70m in Speed Ventures, a European incubator for start-up and early stage internet and wireless ventures. It is described as the largest private equity funding for a European incubator to date. Speed Ventures has...

Germany's CGT plan under fire.(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2000... Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) is reported to be facing increasing pressure from within its own ranks not to abolish capital gains tax on disposals of corporate cross share holdings. Some senior members of the party consider...

EU take-over directive closer.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2000... The much-delayed EU takeover directive is likely to become law later this year following reports that the UK and Spain have reached agreement about how it will be administered in Gibraltar. The directive, which gives protection to minority...

Bertelsmann/AOL split.
March 22, 2000... Bertelsmann, Europe's largest media group, has sold its stake in AOL Europe, the internet service provider, in a complex deal worth $6.75bn to $8.25bn. Bertelsmann intends to use the proceeds to fund content and e-commerce acquisitions....

Brown sets up fund managers probe.
March 22, 2000... After the week's damning report by Don Cruickshank on the banking sector (see page 3), the Chancellor announced a fundamental review of the British fund management industry in his budget speech. The review will be carried out by Paul Myners,...

Euronext considers target bourses.
March 22, 2000... The merger of the Belgian, Dutch and French stock exchanges this week to form Euronext represents a major move towards a restructuring of the way equities, bonds and derivatives are traded in Europe.The new body intends to seek a stock market...

Equities.
March 22, 2000... The demutualisation vote at the London Stock Exchange, and Euronext, the exchange formed by the merging of the Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam bourses, bagged the headlines, but Nasdaq plans to open in London later this year. And E-Crossnet, the...

LSE goes public.
March 22, 2000... The London Stock Exchange has paved the way for the constitutional changes necessary for it to re-register as a public company with transferable shares, ending almost 200 years as a mutual organisation. An overwhelming majority of B...

YJL builds share.
March 22, 2000... Britannia Group, the Cheltenham-based construction company whose main trading names are Britannia Construction and Birchwood, is recommending a ukp12.2m cash offer from YJL, formerly Y J Lovell (Holdings). Britannia chief executive officer...

Stanley on-line.
March 22, 2000... FTSE Small Cap firm Stanley Leisure has become the first licensed casino company in Great Britain to operate on-line by acquiring the business and assets of two profitable on-line internet casinos, operating off-shore under the brand names of...

Pension funds object to BVCA report.
March 22, 2000... Over the last nine months or so the British Venture Capital Association has criticised pension funds for what it describes as a timid and bureaucratic approach to backing new business start-ups. The Prime Minister added his weight to the attack...

USS returns to buy Gyle from M&S.
March 22, 2000... In an important property transaction with a neat ending, Marks & Spencer has sold its feuhold interest in the Gyle Shopping Centre on the western outskirts of Edinburgh to the Universities Superannuation Scheme for ukp186.75m. M&S has realised...

Full disclosure key to property sector.
March 22, 2000... Prestbury Group, the AIM-listed property investment company which floated in 1997, has cast a renewed spotlight on the mis-priced property sector by giving a theoretical break-up value of the company in the firm's accounts for the year to the...

Bonds.
March 22, 2000... With the chancellor announcing ukp12.2bn of gilts next fiscal year, the UK's biggest engineering group, Invensys, launched its first international bond. A market leader in software-based controls, the firm was founded in 1998 by the merger of...

Misys' IE Group bid.
March 22, 2000... FTSE 100 computer services group Misys is moving more strongly into retail financial services with a recommended cash offer worth ukp20.9m for IE Group, which owns an organisation of independent financial advisers, the IFA Network and a...

Bingo Boom.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2000... Gala Clubs, formed after a management buy-in from Bass in 1997, is the market leader in bingo in the UK with 149 clubs. It was formed by a syndicate of equity investors led by PPM Ventures, the private equity arm of Prudential. Gala took over...

M&A.
March 29, 2000... The recommended ukp200m cash offer by retail entrepreneur Philip Green for Storehouse's Bhs chain looks set to cause yet more convulsions on the High Street amid reports that he intends to take the brand up-market. The recommended ukp347m share...

Blue Circle defends value.
March 29, 2000... As forecast, Blue Circle Industries' defence against the opportunistic ukp3.4bn hostile bid by Lafarge now includes a statement of the upside potential of its land holdings which extend to 46,000 acres (Corporate Money, 23 February).These...

Blood on the High Street.
March 29, 2000... After coming close to making an audacious bid for Marks & Spencer earlier this year, Monaco-based retail entrepreneur Philip Green has agreed heads of terms with troubled retailer Storehouse to buy its Bhs division, the mid-market clothing and...

Beeson Gregory float to create high technology fund.
March 29, 2000... Following Peel Hunt last month, Beeson Gregory Group has become the latest small stockbroking firm to float on the London Stock Exchange on the back of the surge in capital into technology stocks. The placing and public offer this week of 27.5...

ukp1.6bn of debt drags Hyder down.
March 29, 2000... The sale and break up of Hyder, once one of Wales' most successful companies, moved closer this week with the announcement that the debt-laden water and electricity supplier is reviewing a range of options including the sale of the entire...

QXL buys auction rival for ukp347m.
March 29, 2000... In the biggest acquisition to date by a UK internet company, online auction house QXL has acquired its Scandinavian opposite number, Bidlet, for ukp347m in an all-paper transaction. It is also a deal which highlights the rapid consolidation of...

Co-ops merge at last.
March 29, 2000... The fourth attempt in the last 15 years to engineer a merger between the Co-operative Retail Society and the Co-operative Wholesale Society has finally been crowned with success when members of CRS unanimously approved the merger last Saturday....

Broken biscuits.
March 29, 2000... The unusual joint bid for United Biscuits has become unconditional with Finalrealm either owning, controlling or receiving valid acceptances for 260m United Biscuits shares, representing a 54.8 per cent holding. Last month, rival bidders...

Profitable exit.
March 29, 2000... NatWest Equity Partners has realised a useful profit from its ukp11m investment in the ukp20m MBO of Stockport-based Pennine Retail Systems in May 1999. It has now sold Pennine to Guildford-based IT group Alphameric, for ukp60m. The acquisition...

S&N sells more pubs.
March 29, 2000... Scottish & Newcastle, the brewing and leisure group, is selling 361 pubs to the Pub Estate Company for ukp100m in cash in order to bring its tied estate below the limit imposed by the 1989 Beer Orders. This legislation restricts the number of...

Portfolio sales.
March 29, 2000... The Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Company has now exchanged contracts for the sale of the bulk of its investment property portfolio with Whitehall Green, a 50/50 general partnership between Green Propety and the Whitehall Fund. The...