Corporate Money articles from May 2000

Corporate Money archives from May 2000

Bonds.
May 3, 2000... The government's ukp22.5bn auction of third-generation wireless telecommunications licences now highlights the little problem of how the UK-based "winners" will pay in cash for their licences and what the government will do with the proceeds...

M&A.
May 3, 2000... WPP's Martin Sorrell pulled out of a deal with Young & Rubicam late on Saturday, claiming that WPP would not have proper control for 12 months. Y&R had been working overtime to deflect the WPP bid and was also working behind the scenes on an...

Cazenove's ukp163;250m tech fund.
May 3, 2000... Cazenove has unveiled plans for a ukp250m private equity fund aimed at the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. The fund, to be called the Cazenove New Europe Access Fund, will focus on second and third round financings for...

M&A boosts Incepta's profits.
May 3, 2000... Communications and marketing firm Incepta Group reported record pre-profits on Tuesday, up 82 per cent, partly driven by servicing the booming mergers and acquisitions market and by acquisitions of its own. David Wright, chief executive,...

Crest aims for pan-European role.
May 3, 2000... Crest, the leading UK real time securities settlement system, is reducing its tariff by a minimum of 8 per cent to 55p per transaction for all its customers, and by 67 per cent to 20p per transaction for high volume users, such as investment...

"Merger of equals" links with Nasdaq.
May 3, 2000... London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse announced their expected plan on Wednesday for a "merger of equals" to create a new company to be called iX. The new company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nasdaq to create a pan-European,...

Phone licence funding crunch.
May 3, 2000... The five "winners" in the government's ukp22.5bn auction of licences to operate third-generation wireless telecommunications networks are keeping quiet about how they intend to pay the billions in cash they have just committed themselves to....

Blue Circle escapes Lafarge.
May 3, 2000... In a dramatic conclusion to its hostile bid, French building materials group Lafarge, the world's largest, acknowledged at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that it had failed in its ukp3.65bn cash offer to takeover Blue Circle...

Bids, mergers, demergers and disposals; week ending 30/04/00.
May 3, 2000... Bidder ABN AMRO Lease Holdings Leasing company FA: ABN AMRO Group LF: Freshfields Target Dial Group Contract hire & fleet management business Vendor: Barclays FA: Credit Suisse First Boston Acc:...

Rodamco/ScotMet.
May 3, 2000... Scottish Metropolitan Property is to recommend that shareholders accept a cash offer of 116.5p a share by Haslemere Estates, a subsidiary of the Dutch property group Rodamco, with a loan note alternative. ScotMet's Scott Cairns commented that...

AXA/Sun Life.
May 3, 2000... Minority shareholders in Sun Life & Provincial Holdings have finally agreed to sell their stakes to AXA, the world's largest insurer, for 500p per share cash. This was in line with market expectations, says Reuters, and valued the 44.7 per cent...

BUPA wants CHG.
May 3, 2000... BUPA, the UK's largest private health provider, aims to acquire Community Hospitals Group for ukp230m. The 650p per share consideration is more than double the price of CHG's shares at the time the offer was tabled. Bedford based CHG is the...

Skipton's profit.
May 3, 2000... Skipton Building Society which acquired share dealing firm Dealwise for ukp3.6m in September 1996, has now sold the subsidiary to TD Waterhouse Group, the UK subsidiary of Toronto Dominion Bank for ukp82.125m. Dealwise is one of the UK's...

UK equity issues, domestic and international bond issues; week ending 30/04/00.
May 3, 2000... Bidder betinternet.com Internet based betting services provider Market: AIM Type: Admission via placing Target Nominated adviser: English Trust Nominated broker: Capital International Finance Amount...

Knutsford talks.
May 3, 2000... Knutsford, the high profile investment group formed in a blaze of publicity last November, is rumoured to be in talks to acquire an unnamed US-based financial information business worth about ukp60m. This is likely to be Knutsford's first...

Digests.
May 3, 2000... C & N rules out hostile bid C & N Touristic's long running saga to acquire Thomson Travel may finally be over, after its refusal to launch a hostile takeover bid. Thomson Travel, the UK's largest holiday company, had refused to open...

Bonds.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Vodafone AirTouch has launched $3.5bn of short-dated floating rate notes, offered in the USA, to help pay the interim financing costs of its 3G telecoms licence and network. It is committed to paying ukp5.964bn for Licence B in cash. BT is...

Equities.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... After fresh hints from policy makers that invention may be necessary to support the sinking euro, the currency strengthened against the dollar and the yen. The French finance minister warned that intervention was a weapon in Europe's arsenal...

M&A.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The revised all cash ukp444m offer for Newscom by Newsquest, owned by US publisher Gannett, was too hot for the rival bidders to handle, and Trinity Mirror promptly dropped out of the potential bidding war. Johnson Press is also likely to...

Digests.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... FTSE capped indexes The FTSE CAP 100 and FTSE CAP All-Share indexes, launched this week, were precipitated by Vodafone's massive takeover of Mannesmann which led to Vodafone having over 14 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the...

BVCA presses pension funds on investment.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Despite pressure from the prime minister for pension funds to invest more in the venture capital sector, figures issued this week by the British Venture Capital Association show that, for the third year running, there was a significant drop in...

Mid Cap firms' gearing doubles.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The average net debt to net assets ratio of 120 UK Mid Cap "Old Economy" companies more than doubled from 25 per cent in 1997 to 52 per cent last year, says a study by corporate finance advisers Close Brothers. It predicts that gearing...

Second internet correction looms.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Despite recent wild fluctuations in share values, the IT software and services sector is still in a long run bull market, and the market remains convinced that the internet will be a "seismic economic change" in all sectors of the economy, says...

Premier League turnover rises 18%.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The 20 clubs comprising the English Premier League in 1998/99 generated a combined turnover of ukp670m representing an 18 per cent growth rate or ukp101m increase, according to Deloitte & Touche Sport. But the report suggests that there...

Digests.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... KPN still looking KPN, the Dutch telecommunications operator, which last week announced that it was in merger talks with Telefonica, leading to a possible ukp81bn deal, is now looking for other partners. This follows the breakdown in...

Gannett delivers knockout bid.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Gannett's ukp444m recommended cash offer for News Communications & Media (Newscom) has swiftly knocked out the two potential rival bidders. Both Trinity Mirror and Johnson Press announced this week that they would not launch bids for Newscom,...

"Half-way house" to going private.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The intrinsic difficulties in taking a quoted company private have reawakened the interest of venture capitalists in the quoted sector, says a report by Arthur Andersen Corporate Finance. It argues that "going private" is not the only solution...

Bids, mergers, demergers and disposals; week ending 07/05/00.
May 10, 2000... Bidder Aether Systems Financial information provider Advisers not available Target IFX Group Financial information via mobile phones provider FA: BDO Stoy Hayward LF: Cameron McKenna Finance Value...

Fairey's rights issue.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Fairey Group's unusual ukp55m rights issue to part fund the cash acquisition of Spectris, a leading German-based instrumentation of control manufacturer, may well set a trend for some "old economy" firms, unable to issue much paper during the...

Quarter 1 M and A.(mergers and acquisitions)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The volatility in month-on-month mergers and acquisitions is shown in the latest statistics on M&A involving UK companies issued by the Office of National Statistics. Expenditure on acquisitions of UK companies by other UK companies increased...

Quarter 1 bonds.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Standard & Poor's Credit Week notes that the first quarter of 2000 saw the launch of Peverel Funding, the UK's first ground-rent securitisation. The ukp103m secured note transaction used the mortgages over a portfolio of residential ground...

Wickes/Focus.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... The hostile ukp285m cash bid for Wickes by Focus Do-It-All is turning increasingly messy. FDIA questioned this week why Wickes had not given shareholders trading information about the "critical" Easter period at its recent annual general...

UK equity issues; week ending 07/05/00.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... Bidder ctrlP.com Online services provider Market: AIM Type: Placing Target Sponsor: Collins Stewart Broker: Collins Stewart Nominated adviser: Collins Stewart Nominated broker: Collins Stewart ...

Back on track.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2000... A week is a long time in the world of M&A. Last week advertising and communications giant WPP and Young & Rubicam broke off merger discussions with WPP's Martin Sorrell stating that the proposed deal would not give him control for 12 months....

Digests.
May 10, 2000... Ethical Friends Friends Provident, which plans to demutualise, is to apply social responsibility policy across ukp15bn of investment funds. It will use its influence to encourage companies to adopt "best practice" on social, environmental...

QXL merges with Ricardo.
May 17, 2000... Fresh from its all-share merger with Scandinavian online auction house Bidlet, QXL has confirmed predictions by executing an all-share merger with Ricardo, based in Hamburg, to form the largest internet-based auction firm in Europe. The...

MWB in £68m agreed Liberty deal.
May 17, 2000... The expected agreed offer for Liberty, the up-market West End department store, by hyper-active property company Marylebone Warwick Balfour values the ailing store at £68m. Retail Stores, the acquisition vehicle, is offering an agreed 300p...

German business.
May 17, 2000... The latest five-year survey of Germany's Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) reveals that one in nine owners of Germany's estimated three million family-owned small to medium-sized businesses will step down over the next five years....

FX online.
May 17, 2000... ANZ Investment Bank has launched an internet-based foreign exchange trading platform for corporate and institutional clients. Developed in partnership with Reuters, Anz.com FX Online offers customers a free electronic service through which they...

TeleCity gives new internet focus.
May 17, 2000... After the dotcom frenzy about business to consumer business models (B2C) and, to a lesser extent, business to business (B2B), attention is beginning to switch to firms which provide infrastructure for internet companies. The flotation of 25 per...

Dotcom cash flow crisis looms.
May 17, 2000... With internet sport retailer Boo.com widely reported to be close to collapse unless it secures additional funding, PricewaterhouseCoopers has issued figures indicating that most floated internet companies could run out of money within 15 months...

Taking the plunge.
May 17, 2000... Streets Online, the entertainment e-tailer, which intends to float at the end of June, has cut its original ukp150m valuation in half because of negative market sentiment towards internet stocks. The online music, books, computer games and...

BSkyB/Sport Internet.
May 17, 2000... British Sky Brodcasting's ukp301m takeover of Sport Internet coincided with the deadline for the first round of bidding for the next Premier League broadcast contract. The current four-year contract, for which BSkyB paid ukp670m, expires at the...

Preussag tops C&N.
May 17, 2000... Despite six weeks of negotiation with C&N Touristic, Thomson Travel has accepted a ukp1.8bn takeover by Preussag to create the world's largest travel company. Preussag is now likely to sell its controlling stake in Thomas Cook, Thomson's rival...

Cool reception.
May 17, 2000... The City has so far given a cool reception to Granada Group's agreed all-share, nil-premium merger with contract caterer Compass Group, which will create a company worth ukp17.5bn .The merger will be followed within 12 months by a demerger of...

Digests.
May 17, 2000... Spain faces court action The European Commission is preparing to take the Spanish government to the European Court of Justice over Spain's blocking of corporate takeovers by partly-stated-owned foreign companies. Two weeks ago, Madrid...

Purple Technologies'.
May 24, 2000... Purple Technologies' recent acquisition of Oxford Softworks for an undisclosed sum, could be big news in about five years. Research carried out by the Gartner Group indicates that by 2005, mobile phones will be the most common client device...

Digests.
May 24, 2000... Vivendi drops out Vivendi, the giant French utility group, has withdrawn from the auction for Germany's third-generation mobile phone licences two weeks after registering for the auction. It objects to the German's decision to hold a...

Bonds.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... Following initial fears that huge gains in US tech stocks and equities generally would feed through into the bond markets to cause a tumble, gilts recovered to close at a seven-week high. June futures settled at 114.06 (up 0.60). Traders in...

Equties.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... After seeing Nasdaq rally earlier this week it was no surprise that the top 10 gainers on Wednesday in the FTSE-100 were almost all technology, media and telecommunications stocks. Software producer CMG was top. It rose 116.5 points to close on...

Digest.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... VCs still keen on dotcoms A volatile market is failing to dent the hunger of venture capitalists (VCs) for new economy investments, according to the latest private equity confidence survey by Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance. The survey...

Vodafone sells Orange for ukp31bn.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... France Telecom finally struck a deal on Tuesday with Vodafone Airtouch to buy Orange in a ukp31bn deal. Under the terms of the deal, France Telecom will pay ukp13.8bn in cash and ukp11.3bn in stock at a price of euro140.2 per share, and will...

Standard Life under pressure.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... UK mutual life insurer Standard Life came under increasing pressure last weekend from policyholders in favour of demutualisation. The vote, which will decide the future of the company will take place on June 27 but the build up has seen some...

AIM needs European awakening.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... There is an urgent need to get the euro debate into the boardrooms of AIM companies, says business advisor Pannell Kerr Forster in its third annual survey of the Alternative Investment Market. Based on a survey of 111 chairmen and chief...

Whitbread goes on the wagon.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... After nearly 260 years of brewing some of the UK's favourite beers, Whitbread Plc has decided to refocus its efforts on its portfolio of leisure brands. Last Thursday the company sold its brewing business, The Whitbread Beer Company (WBC), to...

Digest.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... Tube finance study The Greater London Assembly has commissioned a new study into options for financing the modernisation of London's underground. It has commissioned the Industrial Society to prepare a report by mid-September which will...

Baan bought by Invensys.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... Baan, the troubled Dutch software firm, has secured its future through a deal with British engineering group Invensys. At the start of the year Baan had been worth $3.3bn - already well down on its 1998 high of $11bn - but the bid from Invensys...

European bidding war for Freeserve likely.(International Pages)(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... UK high street retailer Dixons is to auction its 80% stake in leading internet service provider (ISP) Freeserve and a number of European ISPs and telecoms companies are already finalising their bids. According to The Financial Times companies...

Bids, mergers, demergers and disposals; week ending 28/05/00.(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
May 31, 2000... Bidder Cadbury Schweppes Confectionary & beverage group LF: Barbe Carpentier Thibault Gronener & Associates PR: Maitland Consultancy Target Sugar confectionary portfolio Chewing gum & candy business Vendor:...

Carry on Carlton.(Carlton Communications)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 31, 2000... Media group Carlton Communications is taking a big leap into the world of new media, with a number of internet, advertising and broadcasting ventures. Carlton has bought Screenvision, the top-ranked cinema advertising company in the US,...

Paper purchase.(Arjo Wiggins Appleton)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 31, 2000... Papermaker Arjo Wiggins Appleton has agreed to a ukp2.2bn takeover by French group Worms & Cie, which is owned by the Agnelli family in Italy. The acquisition price represents a premium of approximately 35% over the closing market price of 192p...

SPARK snaps up Softtechnet.(NewMediaSPARK)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 31, 2000... UK investment fund NewMediaSPARK is to buy rival Softtechnet in an all-share deal which values the latter at ukp33.5m. The offer represents a 65% premium over Softtechnet's closing price last Thursday of 14.5p per share. However, it is...

Mediasurface secures ukp21m.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... Mediasurface, supplier of integrated e-business content management solutions, has secured an investment totalling ukp21m. The investment funds have come from some of Europe's leading investors including 3i, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson,...

Xitec Software gets ukp7m.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... ECI Ventures has provided up to ukp7m as expansion funding to Xitec Software, which provides software products and supporting consultancy services to enable companies to move their mainframe applications to an open systems computing...

Photobition US expansion.(Brief Article)
May 31, 2000... Photobition, the display graphic supplier, has acquired Seattle-based Ivey Seright for ukp13.2m. The acquisition represents a major step towards the completion of Photobition's US display graphics network, with approaching twenty businesses...

UK equity issues; week ending 28/05/00.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
May 31, 2000... Issuer General Industries Property investment company Market: AIM Type: Placing Advisers Nominated adviser: Charles Stanley & Co Nominated broker: Charles Stanley & Co Law Firm: Morgan Cole Terms ...

M&A.
May 31, 2000... There were 34 deals worth a total of ukp4.16bn, giving a total of 771 deals with a total value of ukp286.88bn so far this year. Worms & Cie took Arjo in a recommended offer of ukp2.2bn and the Iceland Group is to merge with fellow retailer...